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Dewey, John ... dhrupad
Dewey, John
American philosopher and educator who was one of the founders of the philosophical school of pragmatism, a pioneer in functional psychology, and a leader of the progressive movement in education in the United States.
Dewey, Melvil
American librarian who devised the Dewey Decimal Classification for library cataloging and, probably more than any other individual, was responsible for the development of library science in the United States.
Dewey, Thomas E.
vigorous U.S. prosecuting attorney whose successful racket-busting career won him three terms as governor of New York (1943-55). A long-time Republican leader, he was his party's presidential nominee in 1944 and 1948 but lost in both elections.
Dewhurst, Colleen
American actress who was the leading Broadway interpreter of the plays of Eugene O'Neill in the second half of the 20th century.
DeWitt, Lydia Maria Adams
nee Adams American experimental pathologist and investigator of the chemotherapy of tuberculosis.
Dewsbury
town in Kirklees metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, England. It lies along the River Calder 9 miles (14 km) south-southwest of Leeds. Dewsbury (which was mentioned in Domesday Book in 1086) had a woolen ...
Dewson, Mary Williams
American economist and political organizer, closely associated with the political campaigns and administrative programs of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Dexippus, Publius Herennius
Roman historian and Athenian statesman, one of the principal authorities for the history of the mid-3rd century AD.
Dexter, John
British director of stage plays and operas.
dextromethorphan
synthetic drug related to morphine and used in medicine as a cough suppressant. The hydrobromide salt of dextromethorphan occurs as white crystals or a white crystalline powder, soluble in water, alcohol, and chloroform. It acts upon the central nervous system ...
dey
in the Ottoman provinces of Algiers and Tunis, an honorary title conferred upon exceptionally able corsair leaders; also, a lower rank of officer in the Janissaries. In late 16th-century Tunis, a dey commanded the army and eventually was in sole ...
Deyssel, Lodewijk van
leading Dutch writer and critic of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Dezful
city, southwestern Iran. It lies on the high left bank of the Dez River, 469 feet (143 metres) in elevation, close to the foothills of the Zagros Mountains. The name, meaning Dez Bridge, is derived from the imposing bridge, 1,345 ...
Dezhnyov, Cape
cape, extreme eastern Russia. Cape Dezhnyov is the easternmost point of the Chukchi Peninsula and of the entire Eurasian landmass. It is separated from Cape Prince of Wales in Alaska by the Bering Strait. The Russian name was given in ...
Dezhnyov, Semyon Ivanov
Russian explorer, the first European known to have sailed through the Bering Strait.
Dga'-ldan
leader of the Dzungar tribes of Mongols (reigned 1676-97). He conquered an empire that included Tibet in the southwest and ranged across Central Asia to the borders of Russia on the northeast.
Dge-lugs-pa
since the 17th century, the predominant Buddhist order in Tibet and the sect of the Dalai and Panchen lamas.
DGI
the secret intelligence agency of Cuba. The agency was established with the help of the Soviet KGB in 1961, following Fidel Castro's rise to power. The DGI provided Castro with advanced warning of the Bay of Pigs invasion backed by ...
DGSE
("External Documentation and Counterespionage Service"), secret intelligence and counterintelligence service that operates under the defense ministry of the French government. This agency was established in 1947 to combine under one head a variety of separate agencies, some dating from the ...
Dhahran
town, northeastern Saudi Arabia. It is located in the Dammam oil field, just south of the Persian Gulf port of Al-Dammam and near the site of the original discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia in 1938. It now serves as ...
Dhaka
city and capital of Bangladesh, located just north of the Burhi Ganga River, a channel of the Dhaleshwari, in the south-central part of the country. Its name is said to refer to the dhak tree, once common in the area, ...
Dhamar
town, western Yemen, lying in the Yemen Highlands, in a valley 12 miles (19 km) wide between two volcanic peaks at 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level. Although local tradition dates many of the sites in the district to ...
Dhammapada
probably the best-known book in the Pali Buddhist canon. It is an anthology of basic Buddhist teachings (primarily ethical teachings) in a simple aphoristic style. As the second text in the Khuddaka Nikaya ("Short Collection") of the Sutta Pitaka ("Basket ...
Dhamtari
town, eastern Chhattisgarh state, central India, just west of the Mahanadi River. The town is a rail-spur terminus and trade centre for agricultural and forest products. Rice and flour milling and shellac manufacture are the chief industries. Dhamtari has an ...
Dhanbad
city, eastern Jharkhand state, northeastern India. It lies in the Damodar River valley near the Jharia coalfield and is an important agricultural-trade centre. The Indian School of Mines, affiliated with the University of Bihar, and the Central Fuel Research Institute ...
Dhanvantari
in Hindu mythology, the physician of the gods. According to legend, the gods and the demons sought the elixir amrta by churning the milky ocean, and Dhanvantari rose out of the waters bearing a cup filled with the elixir. The ...
Dhar
town, western Madhya Pradesh state, central India. The town, a major agricultural centre, is connected by road with Indore. Cotton ginning and handicraft weaving are the chief industries. On the northern slopes of the Vindhya Range, Dhar commands one of ...
dharana
in the Yoga system of Indian philosophy, the sixth of the eight stages intended to lead the aspirant to samadhi ("self-collectedness"), the state of perfect concentration. In dharana, the mind concentrates its attention on a single external object. Sufficient prolongation ...
dharani
in Buddhism and Hinduism, a sacred Sanskrit phrase of great efficacy, used as a verbal protective device or talisman and as a support or instrument for concentration. The dharani is a short summary of the essential doctrine ...
dharma
key concept with multiple meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
Dharma-Thakur
folk deity of eastern India having complex characteristics and obscure origins. Dharma-Thakur is worshiped as the "high god" of a large number of villages of the Rahr Plains, a region that comprises the greater part of modern West Bengal state. ...
Dharmakirti
Indian Buddhist philosopher and logician. He asserted that inference and direct perception are the only valid kinds of knowledge and that, in the processes of the mind, cognition and the cognized belong to distinct moments. According to him, the object ...
dharmapala
in Tibetan Buddhism, any one of a group of eight divinities who, though benevolent, are represented as hideous and ferocious in order to instill terror in evil spirits.
Dharmapuri
town, northwestern Tamil Nadu state, southeastern India. It was known in early Tamil cankam literature as the home of the poet Avvaiyar (2nd century AD). It is now an agricultural trade centre and contains some light industry. About 30 miles ...
dharmashastra
("righteousness science"), ancient Indian body of jurisprudence that is still fundamentally the family law of Hindus living in territories outside India (e.g., Pakistan, Malaysia, East Africa) and is in force, subject to legislative modification, in India. Dharmashastra is not primarily ...
dharmasutra
("righteousness thread"), any of several manuals of human conduct that form the earliest source of Hindu law. They consist chiefly of strings (or "threads") of terse rules containing the essentials of law relating to man and his fellows and to ...
Dharmavamsa
also spelled Dharmawangsja, or Dharmawangsa king of eastern Java from about 985 and the first historical Javanese whose life is known in any detail.
Dharmshala
city, western Himachal Pradesh state, northwestern India, located on a lower slope of the Himalayas. Dharmshala is a scenic health resort. Aerated water is bottled there, and slate is quarried nearby. The city was virtually destroyed by an earthquake in ...
Dhaulagiri
mountain massif of the Himalayas in north-central Nepal, on the western side of the deep Kali Gandak River gorge. Many of its snow- and glacier-covered peaks exceed 25,000 feet (7,620 m), including Dhaulagiri I, II, III, and IV. At 26,795 ...
Dhebar Lake
large reservoir lake, in the southeastern Aravalli Range, south-central Rajasthan state, northwestern India. The lake, approximately 20 square miles (50 square km) in area when full, was originally named Jai Samand and was formed by a marble dam built across ...
Dhekelia
British military enclave in southeast Cyprus, retained as a "sovereignty base area" by the United Kingdom under the 1959 London Agreement granting independence to Cyprus. It is located northeast of Larnaca on the northern shore of Larnaca Bay, and its ...
Dhenkanal
town, east-central Orissa state, eastern India. Named for Dhenka, a medieval chieftain of the Savara (Saora, or Sora) tribe, Dhenkanal is a marketplace for rice, oilseeds, and timber and is a centre of handloom weaving. It was formerly the capital ...
dhikr
(Arabic: "reminding oneself," or "mention"), ritual prayer or litany practiced by Muslim mystics (Sufis) for the purpose of glorifying God and achieving spiritual perfection. Based on the Qur'anic injunctions "Remind thyself [udhkur] of thy Lord when thou forgettest" (18:24) and ...
Dhiliyiannis, Theodoros
Dhiliyiannis also spelled Deligiannis, or Diliyiannis politician who was prime minister of Greece five times (1885-86, 1890-92, 1895-97, 1902-03, 1904-05). He was a resolute advocate of aggressive and often irresponsible irredentism. His bitter rivalry with the reformist politician Kharilaos Trikoupis ...
Dhlomo, R R R
African novelist, journalist, and editor who wrote in Zulu and English. His An African Tragedy (1928) was the first novel in English by a Zulu writer.
Dhofar
historical region in southern Oman, extending from Cape Ash-Sharbatat on the coast of the Arabian Sea southwestward to the Oman-Yemen border. The region's northern boundary has never been defined, but generally included in the territory is the Wadi Mughshin, located ...
dhole
wild Asian carnivore of the dog family (Canidae), found in central and southeastern wooded areas and distinguished structurally by the lack of one pair of lower molars. Its length ranges between 76 and 100 cm (30 and 40 inches), exclusive ...
Dholpur
town, eastern Rajasthan state, northwestern India, situated just north of the Chambal River. The original town was founded by Raja Dholan Deo in the 11th century, when it was called Dhawalpur, a name since contracted to Dholpur. The present town ...
dhoti
long loincloth traditionally worn in southern Asia by Hindu men. Wrapped around the hips and thighs with one end brought between the legs and tucked into the waistband, the dhoti resembles baggy, knee- length trousers.
dhow
one- or two-masted Arab sailing vessel, usually with lateen rigging (slanting, triangular sails), common in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. On the larger types, called baggalas and booms, the mainsail is considerably bigger than the mizzensail. Bows are ...
dhrupad
in Hindustani music, ancient vocal musical form in four parts preceded by extensive introductory improvisation (alapa) and expanded by rhythmic and melodic elaborations. It is related to the shorter, later kayal, which has somewhat eclipsed the dhrupad in popularity.
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