Category Archives: Reference

“People of Japan, residing throughout its four major islands. Pushed north by the Japanese people over the last 2,000 years, the few remaining pure Ainu today live principally in N Hokkaido, Sakhalin, and the Aleutians. Originally physically and culturally distinct from the Japanese, their language and origins and their role in Japanese history and prehistory have been the subject of scholarly debate. The Ainu were traditionally hunters, fisherman, and trappers; their religion centered on spirits believed to be present in animals and the natural world.”

Excerpted from: Stevens, Mark A., Ed. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.

“Third secretary-general of the United Nations (1961-1971), the first Asian to hold the post. Born in Myanmar (Burma), he was educated at the University of Yangon but had to leave before graduating. He taught high school before entering government service. Posted to the U.N. in 1952, he became Burma’s U.N. ambassador in 1957. In 1961 he became acting secretary-general after Dag Hammarskjold’s death; he became permanent secretary-general in 1962. In his two full terms (1962-1971), he played a diplomatic role in the Cuban missile crisis, devised a plan to end the Congolese civil war (1962), and sent peacekeeping forces to Cyprus (1964).”

Stevens, Mark A., Ed. The Merriam Webster Collegiate Encyclopedia. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, 2000.