(Encyclopedia) Muscle Shoals, town (1990 pop. 9,611), Colbert co., NW Ala., on the Tennessee River opposite Florence; inc. 1923. Chemicals, truck trailers, and nuts, screws, and bolts are…
(Encyclopedia) Muhammad Zahir ShahMuhammad Zahir Shahməhămˈəd [key]Muhammad Zahir Shahzäˈhĕr shä [key], 1914–2007, last king of Afghanistan. In 1933 he became king after his father, Muhammad Nadir…
(Encyclopedia) Holness, Andrew, 1972–, Jamaican politician, prime minister of Jamaica (2011–12, 2016–). A member of the Jamaica Labor party (JLP), Holness served (1996–2000) as special assistant to…
(Encyclopedia) mass-luminosity relation, in astronomy, law stating that the luminosity of a star is proportional to some power of the mass of the star. More massive stars are in general more luminous…
(Encyclopedia) Biya, PaulBiya, Paulbēyĕ [key], 1933–, Cameroonian political leader. Educated in Cameroon and France, where he studied at the Sorbonne and other institutions, he joined Cameroon's…
(Encyclopedia) despotism, government by an absolute ruler unchecked by effective constitutional limits to his power. In Greek usage, a despot was ruler of a household and master of its slaves. The…
(Encyclopedia) CumaeCumaeky&oomacr;ˈmē [key], ancient city of Campania, Italy, near Naples. According to Strabo, it was the earliest Greek colony in Italy or Sicily, and it seems to have been…
(Encyclopedia) Somoza Debayle, AnastasioSomoza Debayle, Anastasioänästäsˈyō sōmōˈsä ᵺābīˈlā [key], 1925–80, president of Nicaragua (1967–72, 1974—79). The younger son of dictator Anastasio Somoza, he…
(Encyclopedia) Beria, Lavrenti PavlovichBeria, Lavrenti Pavlovichləvrĕnˈtyē pävˈləvĭch bâˈrēə [key], 1899–1953, Soviet Communist leader, b. Georgia. He rose to prominence in the Cheka (secret police…
(Encyclopedia) actinometeractinometerăkˌtənŏmˈətər [key], instrument used to measure the heating power of radiation. Actinometers are used chiefly in meteorology to measure solar radiation as…
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