(Encyclopedia) PtahPtahptä [key], in Egyptian religion, great god of Memphis. He was one of the important gods of ancient Egypt and, according to Memphite theology, created the universe through the…
(Encyclopedia) depressant, any one of various substances that diminish functional activity, usually by depressing the nervous system. Barbiturates, sedatives, alcohol, and meprobamate are all…
(Encyclopedia) Chagas' disease, disease of South and Central America caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. It usually affects children and young adults and is transmitted by the feces of infected…
(Encyclopedia) McCullers, Carson, 1917–67, American novelist, b. Columbus, Ga. as Lula Carson Smith, studied at Columbia. The central theme of her novels is the spiritual isolation that underlies the…
History
History of Valentine's Day Pagan festivals, Christian saints, Chaucer's love birds, and the Greeting Card Association of America Valentine's Day by the Numbers Statistics from the U.…
Born: 1933Birthplace: Baltimore, Md. Implantable defibrillator—Heilman, Langer, Mower, and Mirowski: This team of doctors developed the implantable defibrillator, an internal electronic device that…
Jeff Porcaro was one of the top studio drummers in pop music during the 1970s and 1980s. While still a teenager he began playing with Sonny and Cher, and during the next two decades he played behind…
A fierce Serb nationalist, Slobodan Milosevic became president of Serbia in 1989 in that country's first democratic elections since World War I. He then became President of Yugoslavia in 1997. By…
Name at birth: Lula Carson SmithCarson McCullers was a critically acclaimed author of several popular novels in the 1940s and '50s, including The Heart is a Lonely Hunter (1940) and The Member of the…
Born: 1933Birthplace: Tarentum, Pa. Implantable defibrillator—Heilman, Langer, Mower, and Mirowski: This team of doctors developed the implantable defibrillator, an internal electronic device that…
