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From New World Encyclopedia
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Adolphe Adam

French composer Adolphe Adam composed the music for the Christmas carol "O Holy Night"

Violin

Violin makers are called "luthiers"

Sir Thomas Browne

The seventeenth century English author Sir Thomas Browne merged the new method of scientific inquiry with his Christian faith

Songhai Empire

At its height, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Songhai Empire was the largest empire in West Africa

Iran-Iraq War

The First Persian Gulf War was between the armed forces of Iraq and Iran and lasted from September 1980 until August 1988

Wovoka

Wovoka, also known as Jack Wilson, was a Paiute shaman who received a vision of peace and instructions on how to perform the Ghost Dance

Holy Sepulchre

the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is considered the holiest Christian site in the world, built at the place of Jesus' crucifixion and burial

Academies (Shuyuan)

Yuelu Academy (Shuyuan) was established in 976 C.E. and still exists today as Hunan University

Bette Davis

Bette Davis co-founded the "Hollywood Canteen," a club providing food, dancing, and entertainment by Hollywood stars for servicemen on their way to fight overseas in World War II

Book of Jeremiah

The Book of Jeremiah is best known for its theme of the "New Covenant" that involves a personal relationship with God

Xiuzhen

Xiuzhen means “to practice and learn the way of the truth” and is the principal technique in the Taoist quest for immortality

Family

The UN declared the family the fundamental unit of society and entitled to protection by the State

China

In Chinese, China is called "Zhongguo," meaning "central state"

Thesaurus

The word "thesaurus" comes from a Greek word meaning "treasury"

Naturalization

The term naturalization originates in the concept of "natural born" citizens

Drawing and quartering

In Britain, the penalty of drawing and quartering was usually reserved for commoners, including knights. Noble traitors were merely beheaded

Earth lodge

Several Plains Indians tribes lived in semi-subterranean buildings covered with earth, known as earth lodges

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman was buried with full military honors at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York

Stanford University

Frederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who created New York’s Central Park, designed the physical plan for Stanford University

Morse Code

Morse code has been in use for more than 160 years — longer than any other electronic encoding system

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking was born on the 300th anniversary of Galileo's death and died on the 139th anniversary of Einstein's birth

Edward Rutledge

Edward Rutledge was the youngest of all the signers of the Declaration of Independence

Fidel Castro

Castro's dying wish was to avoid a cult of personality developing by banning statues and naming of streets in his honor

Oratory

Cicero suggested that the best orator should be the best human being, understanding the correct way to live, acting upon it by being active in politics, and instructing others through speeches, through example, and through making good laws.

Ming Dynasty

The Great Wall of China was built primarily during the Ming Dynasty (1368 to 1644)

Victor Turner

Victor Turner coined the term "communitas," referring to an unstructured state in which all members of a community are equal allowing them to share a common experience, usually through a rite of passage

Classical music

Classical music is considered primarily a written musical tradition, preserved in music notation

Victorian era

The Victorian era was a time of unprecedented population increase in England

Ezekiel

Ezekiel prophesied the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, the rebuilding of the Temple, and the coming of the Messianic King

Baal

Baal is the archetypal fertility deity: his death brings drought and his resurrection brings rain and new life

Joseph Warren

Joseph Warren died during the Battle of Bunker Hill, fighting in the front lines for the American Revolution

Cocos (Keeling) Islands

The geographical and historical isolation of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands has resulted in the development an ecosystem with unique floral and faunal habitats

Wellesley College

Wellesley College was founded by Pauline and Henry Fowle Durant to give women an opportunity for higher education

Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath was the first poet to win a Pulitzer Prize posthumously, for The Collected Poems published almost twenty years after her death by suicide

Colin Powell

Colin Powell began his military career in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps at City College of New York

Jiang Qing

Jiang Qing, better known as Madame Mao, studied literature and drama and was a successful actress prior to marrying Chairman Mao Zedong

Modern dance

Modern dance developed in the twentieth century as a rebellion not only against the constraints of classical ballet but as a way to express contemporary social concerns

George Steinbrenner

George Steinbrenner changed the manager of the New York Yankees twenty times during his first twenty-three seasons.

Lee Falk

Lee Falk's comic strip character 'The Phantom' inspired the costumed image of what has today become known as the "superhero."

North Carolina

At 6,684 feet, Mount Mitchell is the highest point in the U.S. East of the Mississippi River.