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Lycurgus
Lycurgus , traditional name of the founder of the Spartan constitution. The earliest mention of him is in Herodotus. Nothing is known of his life—when he lived or if he was a real man, a god, or a mythical figure. However, he is generally associated with the 7th cent. BC at the time when a rev...
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thermography
thermography , contact photocopying process that produces a direct positive image and in which infrared rays are used to expose the copy paper. In a specially designed machine the original is placed in contact with a copy paper containing a heat-sensitive substance. As the infrared rays produced in ...
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Human Genome Project
Human Genome Project international scientific effort to map all of the genes on the 23 pairs of human chromosomes and, to sequence the 3.1 billion DNA base pairs that make up the chromosomes (see nucleic acid ). Begun in 1990 with the goal of enabling scientists to understand the basis of gene...
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smelting
smelting in metallurgy, any process of melting or fusion, especially to extract a metal from its ore. Smelting processes vary in detail depending on the nature of the ore and the metal involved, but they are typified in the use of the blast furnace .
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Kyoto Protocol
Kyoto Protocol (11 Dec. 1997) The first international agreement in which the world's industrial nations concluded a verifiable agreement to reduce their emissions of six greenhouse gasses in order to prevent global warming. By 2012, the 174 signatory states agreed to reduce emissions by 5.2 per cent...
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Roundell Palmer Selborne, 1st earl of
Roundell Palmer Selborne, 1st earl of , 1812-95, British jurist and statesman. Called to the bar in 1837, he entered Parliament in 1847 as a nominal Conservative. He soon was associated more with the Liberals, however, and served Lord Palmerston as solicitor general (1861-63) and Palmerston and Lord...
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houri
houri [Arab.,=black-eyed], one of the beautiful maidens said by some Muslims to dwell in paradise for the enjoyment of the faithful. The passages in the Qur'an detailing the physical delights of heaven are considered by many Muslim critics as allegorical.
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limner
limner , the work of untrained, generally anonymous artists active in the English American colonies. Characteristic examples of their paintings show flat, awkward, often frontal figures in richly detailed costumes and landscape settings copied from European prints. The limner tradition extended well...
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Henry V
Henry V 1387-1422, king of England (1413-22), son and successor of Henry IV .
Early Life
Henry was probably brought up under the care of his uncle, Henry Beaufort . He was knighted by Richard II in 1399 and created prince of Wales when his father usurped the throne in the same year. Wit...
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Babism
Babism , system of doctrines proclaimed in Persia in 1844 by Ali Muhammad of Shiraz. Influenced by the Shaykhi Shiite theology that viewed the Twelve Imams as incarnations of the Divine, Ali Muhammad proclaimed himself the Bab, the living door to the twelth Imam and the knowledge of God, and sent ...
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