Cyrus [sahy-ruhs]

Cyrus

[sahy-ruhs]
Adler, Cyrus, 1863-1940, American Jewish educator, grad. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1883, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1887. He taught Semitic languages at Johns Hopkins from 1884 to 1893. He was for a number of years librarian and then secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was the founder of the American Jewish Historical Society, was one of the editors of the Jewish Encyclopedia, and edited the American-Jewish Year-Book after 1899. He was president of Dropsie College from 1908 to 1940 and of the Jewish Theological Seminary after 1924. He was a founder of the American Jewish Committee and of the Jewish Welfare Board. His writings include a number of articles on comparative religion, Assyriology, and Semitic philology; Jews in the Diplomatic Correspondence of the United States (1906), and, with Allan Ramsay, Told in the Coffee House (1898).

See biography by A. A. Neuman (1942).

Thomas, Cyrus, 1825-1910, American anthropologist and entomologist, b. Kingsport, Tenn. He was a lawyer, then a minister (1865-69) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. He was associated with the U.S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories from 1869 to 1873. As state entomologist of Illinois (1874-76) and a member of the U.S. Entomological Commission (1876-77), he helped bring under control the insect plague that was retarding the agriculture of the border states. In 1882 he left natural science for social science, becoming archaeologist to the newly established U.S. Bureau of Ethnology, where he served until his death. Besides numerous articles on entomology and archaeology, he wrote Introduction to the Study of North American Archaeology (1898) and The Indians of North America in Historic Times (1903).

(born March 27, 1917, Clarksburg, W.Va., U.S.—died Jan. 12, 2002, New York, N.Y.) U.S. public official. After receiving his law degree from Yale University in 1942, he enlisted in the navy and served until 1946, when he joined a law firm in New York City. He was appointed general counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense in 1960. In 1962 he became secretary of the army, and in 1963 Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson named him deputy secretary of defense. Initially a vigorous supporter of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, his viewed changed after his resignation in 1967, and by 1968 he was urging Johnson to stop the bombing of North Vietnam. In that year he was sent to Paris with W. Averell Harriman to negotiate peace with the North Vietnamese. As secretary of state (1977–80) under Pres. Jimmy Carter, he worked to obtain the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II (SALT II) arms-control treaty and was instrumental in the Camp David accords. He resigned in 1980 in protest of Carter's plan to send a secret military mission to rescue American hostages held in Tehrān, Iran (see Iran hostage crisis).

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Cyrus McCormick.

(born Feb. 15, 1809, Rockbridge county, Va., U.S.—died May 13, 1884, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. industrialist and inventor. He is generally credited with the development (from 1831) of the mechanical reaper, which revolutionized the harvesting of grain. By 1850 the McCormick reaper was known throughout the U.S.; its prizes and honours, including the Grand Medal of Honour at the 1855 Paris exposition, made it famous around the world. In 1902 the McCormick Harvesting Co. joined with other companies to form International Harvester Co., with McCormick's son Cyrus, Jr., as its first president.

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known as Cyrus the Great

(born circa 585, Media or Persis—died circa 529, Asia) Conqueror who founded the Achaemenian Empire (see Achaemenian dynasty). The grandson of Cyrus I (fl. late 7th century BC), he came to power by overthrowing his maternal grandfather, the king of the Medes. The empire he developed was thenceforth centered on Persia and included Media, Ionia, Lydia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine. Cyrus conquered by diplomacy as well as by force. The subject of a rich legend in Persia and Greece (recorded by Xenophon and others), he was called the father of his people. He appears in the Bible as the liberator of the Jews held captive in Babylon. He died battling nomads in Central Asia. His legacy is the founding not only of an empire but of a culture and civilization that continued to expand after his death and lasted for two centuries. He exerted a strong influence on the Greeks and Alexander the Great. Awarded heroic qualities in legend, he has long been revered by Persians almost as a religious figure. In 1971 Iran celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of his founding of the monarchy.

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(born March 27, 1917, Clarksburg, W.Va., U.S.—died Jan. 12, 2002, New York, N.Y.) U.S. public official. After receiving his law degree from Yale University in 1942, he enlisted in the navy and served until 1946, when he joined a law firm in New York City. He was appointed general counsel for the U.S. Department of Defense in 1960. In 1962 he became secretary of the army, and in 1963 Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson named him deputy secretary of defense. Initially a vigorous supporter of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, his viewed changed after his resignation in 1967, and by 1968 he was urging Johnson to stop the bombing of North Vietnam. In that year he was sent to Paris with W. Averell Harriman to negotiate peace with the North Vietnamese. As secretary of state (1977–80) under Pres. Jimmy Carter, he worked to obtain the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks II (SALT II) arms-control treaty and was instrumental in the Camp David accords. He resigned in 1980 in protest of Carter's plan to send a secret military mission to rescue American hostages held in Tehrān, Iran (see Iran hostage crisis).

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(born June 18, 1850, Portland, Maine, U.S.—died June 7, 1933, Wyncote, Pa.) U.S. publisher. Curtis began publishing a local weekly in Portland. When fire destroyed his plant, he moved to Boston; there he published The People's Ledger magazine, which he continued after his move to Philadelphia in 1876. In 1879 he founded The Tribune and Farmer, from the women's section of which he formed the Ladies' Home Journal. In 1890 he organized the Curtis Publishing Co. Later acquisitions included The Saturday Evening Post (1897) and several newspapers. His daughter Mary Louise (1876–1970) founded the Curtis Institute of Music and named it for her father.

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(born June 18, 1850, Portland, Maine, U.S.—died June 7, 1933, Wyncote, Pa.) U.S. publisher. Curtis began publishing a local weekly in Portland. When fire destroyed his plant, he moved to Boston; there he published The People's Ledger magazine, which he continued after his move to Philadelphia in 1876. In 1879 he founded The Tribune and Farmer, from the women's section of which he formed the Ladies' Home Journal. In 1890 he organized the Curtis Publishing Co. Later acquisitions included The Saturday Evening Post (1897) and several newspapers. His daughter Mary Louise (1876–1970) founded the Curtis Institute of Music and named it for her father.

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Cyrus McCormick.

(born Feb. 15, 1809, Rockbridge county, Va., U.S.—died May 13, 1884, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. industrialist and inventor. He is generally credited with the development (from 1831) of the mechanical reaper, which revolutionized the harvesting of grain. By 1850 the McCormick reaper was known throughout the U.S.; its prizes and honours, including the Grand Medal of Honour at the 1855 Paris exposition, made it famous around the world. In 1902 the McCormick Harvesting Co. joined with other companies to form International Harvester Co., with McCormick's son Cyrus, Jr., as its first president.

Learn more about McCormick, Cyrus Hall with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Cyrus (in modern Persian, کوروش – Kurush – and in Greek, Kyros) is a common Persian given name.

It most commonly refers to Cyrus the Great, but has many other uses.

Persian monarchs and princes

  • Cyrus I of Anshan (ca. 650 BC), King of Persia
  • Cyrus II of Persia (559–529 BC) – also known as Cyrus the Great – the grandson of Cyrus I, an Achaemenid ruler and the founder of the Persian Empire

(See also: Cyrus Cylinder, Cyrus in the Judeo-Christian tradition and Cyrus the Great in the Quran)

Other persons named Cyrus

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