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koan

(Encyclopedia)koan kōˈän [key] [Jap.,=public question; Chin. kung-an], a subject for meditation in Ch'an or Zen Buddhism, usually one of the sayings of a great Zen master of the past. In the formative period of ...

Eric XIV

(Encyclopedia)Eric XIV, 1533–77, king of Sweden (1560–68), son and successor of Gustavus I. To strengthen the power of the crown, he limited (1561) the privileges of the royal dukes. He forbade the marriage of ...

Gorey, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Gorey, Edward, 1925–2000, American illustrator and writer, b. Chicago, grad. Harvard, 1950. He lived and worked in New York City and Cape Cod until 1986 when he moved permanently to the Cape. Gorey ...

Guy Blache, Alice

(Encyclopedia)Guy Blache or Guy-Blaché, Alice, 1873–1968, French-American filmmaker, b. Paris as Alice Guy. The first woman filmmaker, she directed, produced, wrote screenplays for, or supervised some 1,000 film...

Ickes, Harold LeClaire

(Encyclopedia)Ickes, Harold LeClaire ĭkˈēz [key], 1874–1952, American statesman, b. Blair co., Pa. As a Chicago newspaper reporter and later as a lawyer, he became interested in local reform politics. Original...

martial arts

(Encyclopedia)martial arts, various forms of self-defense, usually weaponless, based on techniques developed in ancient China, India, and Tibet. In modern times they have come into wide use for self-protection, as ...

McCormick, Cyrus Hall

(Encyclopedia)McCormick, Cyrus Hall, 1809–84, inventor of the reaper, b. Rockbridge co., Va. His father, Robert McCormick (1780–1846), had worked intermittently for over 20 years at his blacksmith shop on a rea...

Constantius III

(Encyclopedia)Constantius III, d. 421, Roman emperor of the West (421). In 411, as general of Honorius, he defeated Gerontius and Constantine; thereafter he was the virtual ruler of the West. Aspiring to the hand o...

Fletcher, John

(Encyclopedia)Fletcher, John, 1579–1625, English dramatist, b. Rye, Sussex, educated at Cambridge. A member of a prominent literary family, he began writing for the stage about 1606, first with Francis Beaumont, ...

foot-and-mouth disease

(Encyclopedia)foot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease, highly contagious disease almost exclusive to cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and other cloven-hoofed animals. It is caused by a virus, specifically an a...
 

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