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harmonica

(Encyclopedia)harmonica. 1 The simplest of the musical instruments employing free reeds, known also as the mouth organ or French harp. It was probably invented in 1829 by Friedrich Buschmann of Berlin, who called h...

Ruanda-Urundi

(Encyclopedia)Ruanda-Urundi ro͞oänˈdä-o͞oro͞onˈdē [key], former colonial territory, central Africa, now divided between the independent states of Rwanda and Burundi. The original inhabitants of the area wer...

Rumelia

(Encyclopedia)Rumelia or Roumelia both: ro͞omēˈlēə [key], region of S Bulgaria, between the Balkan and Rhodope mts. Historically, Rumelia denoted the Balkan possessions (particularly Thrace and Macedonia, and ...

Barenboim, Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Barenboim, Daniel bârˈənboimˌ [key], 1942–, Israeli pianist and conductor, b. Buenos Aires, Argentina. He made his debut in Buenos Aires at seven. His family settled in Israel in 1952, and he st...

Pufendorf, Samuel, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Pufendorf, Samuel, Baron von zäˈmo͞oĕl bärônˈ fən po͞oˈfəndôrf [key], 1632–94, German jurist and historian. He is especially noted as an early theorist of international law. Educated in ...

Nichols, Mike

(Encyclopedia)Nichols, Mike, 1931–2014, American actor and director, b. Berlin, Germany, as Mikhail Igor Peschkowsky. His family immigrated to the United States in ...

Ophüls, Max

(Encyclopedia)Ophüls, Max ôˈfüls [key], 1902–57, German-born French film director, b. Saarbrücken as Maximilian Oppenheimer. He started his career in the 1920s as an stage actor and director and began direct...

Burckhardt, Jacob Christoph

(Encyclopedia)Burckhardt, Jacob or Jakob Christoph yäˈkôp krĭsˈtôf bo͝orkˈhärt [key], 1818–97, Swiss historian, one of the founders of the cultural interpretation of history. He studied under Ranke at th...

Brandenburg, state, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Brandenburg bränˈdənbo͝ork [key], state (1994 est. pop. 2,540,000), c.10,400 sq mi (26,940 sq km), E Germany. Potsdam is the capital; other leading cities include Cottbus, Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, a...

Lanzmann, Claude

(Encyclopedia)Lanzmann, Claude, 1925–2018, French filmmaker and journalist, b. Paris. While his Jewish family was in hiding in rural France during World War II, Lanzmann joined the Resistance and fought the Nazis...