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A

Alexander the Great

(356 BCE-323 BCE) He conquered most of the ancient world from Asia Minor to Egypt and India, which began the Hellenistic culture which was a blending of Greek, Persian, Indian, and Egyptian influences.

algebra

A branch of mathematics pioneered by Islamic mathematician al-Khwarizimi in which letters are used to represent unknown numbers to generalize arithmetic.

Allied Powers

Alliance of Great Britain, Soviet Union, United States, and France during World War II.

American Revolution

Political revolution in the British North American Colonies starting in 1776 that removed the colonies from Great Britain’s control, and established an independent nation know as the United States of America.

Amin, Idi

(1925?- ) President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. His brutal regime resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of people, as well as the near total ruin of Uganda. He was overthrown and exiled to Saudi Arabia in 1979.

Amritsar Massacre

April 3rd of 1919. British soldiers killed close to 400 unarmed Indian men, women, and children, and wounded 1,100 more. People had gathered in the center of town to protest British occupation of their country, and to demand equality. This was a turning point in British domination of India. Independence movements became very popular and eventually forced India's independence.

Analects, The

Collection of moral and social teachings of Confucius, including the concept of the Five Relationships.

anatomy

The branch of science that studies the physical structure of living organisms.

ancestor worship

Worship given to deceased relatives who are believed to be closer to the Gods, and therefore able to grant favors.

Animism

The oldest known type of belief system in the world. It is still practiced in a variety of forms in many traditional societies. Animists practice nature worship. They believe that everything in the universe has a spirit. This is exemplified by the practices of the Plains Indians in North America who would praise the spirit of the buffalo that they killed for giving its life to them so that they might survive. Animists also believed that ancestors watch over the living from the spirit world. This belief resulted in ancestor worship as a means of communicating with and showing respect to ancestors.


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