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polka

(Encyclopedia)polka, ballroom dance for couples in 2/4 time. Originated by Bohemian peasants about 1830 from steps of the schottische and other dances, the polka by 1835 reached the drawing rooms of Prague, from wh...

ballade

(Encyclopedia)ballade bəlädˈ [key], in literature, verse form developed in France in the 14th and 15th cent. The ballade usually contains three stanzas of eight lines with three rhymes and a four-line envoy (a s...

Basile, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Basile, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä bäsēˈlā [key], 1575–1632, Italian writer. Basile held several important official positions, devoting his spare time to the study of folklore...

Manetho

(Encyclopedia)Manetho mănˈĭthō [key], fl. 300 b.c., Egyptian historian, a priest at Heliopolis, under Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II. His work, covering the history of Egypt from legendary times to 323 b.c., is writt...

globulin

(Encyclopedia)globulin, any of a large family of proteins of a spherical or globular shape that are widely distributed throughout the plant and animal kingdoms. Many of them have been prepared in pure crystalline f...

Stengel, Casey

(Encyclopedia)Stengel, Casey (Charles Dillon Stengel), 1891–1975, American baseball player and manager, b. Kansas City, Mo. Stengel began playing professional baseball in 1910. From 1912 to 1925 he played with th...

hand, foot, and mouth disease

(Encyclopedia)hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), infectious viral disease that most commonly occurs in children under five years of age. Symptoms include fever, poor appetite, and a sore throat, followed by pain...

Two Sicilies, kingdom of the

(Encyclopedia)Two Sicilies, kingdom of the. The name Two Sicilies was used in the Middle Ages to mean the kingdoms of Sicily and of Naples (see Sicily and Naples, kingdom of). Alfonso V of Aragón, who in 1442 reun...

Yung-lo

(Encyclopedia)Yung-lo yo͞ong-lô [key], 1359–1424, reign title of the 3d emperor (1403–24) of the Chinese Ming dynasty, whose personal name was Chu Ti. He rose to power in N China after being delegated by his ...

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