(Encyclopedia) Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1947–, Taiwanese film director, b. Guangdong, China. His first feature film, Cute Girl (1980), and subsequent ones were generally saccharine romances until the…
(Encyclopedia) Grisham, John, 1955–, American novelist and lawyer, b. Jonesboro, Ark., B.S. Mississippi State Univ., 1977, J.D. Univ. of Mississippi School of Law, 1981. He practiced law for nearly a…
(Encyclopedia) Open University, headquartered at Milton Keynes, England; founded 1969 as the Univ. of the Air. In 1971 a distance learning program was begun that now consists of correspondence…
(Encyclopedia) Smith, Emmitt (Emmitt James Smith 3d), 1969–, U.S. football player, b. Pensacola, Fla. An All-America running back at the Univ. of Florida, Smith spent nearly his entire National…
(Encyclopedia) ShemaiahShemaiahshĕmˌāīˈə [key], in the Bible. 1 Prophet at the time of Rehoboam. 2 False prophet during the Captivity. 3 False prophet hired to discredit Nehemiah. 4 Descendant of…
(Encyclopedia) turkey, common name for a large game and poultry bird related to the grouse and the pheasant. Its name derives from its “turk-turk” call. Turkeys are indigenous to the New World;…
(Encyclopedia) McTaggart, John McTaggart Ellis, 1866–1925, British philosopher. A student of G. W. Hegel, by whom he was strongly influenced, he taught at Trinity College, Cambridge (1897–1923).…
(Encyclopedia) epoch, unit of geologic time that is a subdivision of a period. The Pleistocene and Holocene epochs, for example, are divisions of the Quaternary period. Epoch is also used to describe…
(Encyclopedia) Byng, John, 1704–57, British admiral; son of George Byng, Viscount Torrington. Sent (1756) to prevent the French from taking Minorca, he arrived when the island was already under siege…
(Encyclopedia) era, period of historic time. In geology, it is the name applied to large divisions of geological process, e.g., Paleozoic era (see geology). In chronology an era is a period reckoned…
