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Riga, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Riga, Gulf of, eastern arm of the Baltic Sea, bordering on Estonia and on Latvia. At its mouth it is nearly closed off by the Estonian island of Saaremaa. The gulf, which is frozen from December to Ap...

Varkaus

(Encyclopedia)Varkaus värˈkous [key], town (1996 pop. 24,096), Eastern Finland prov., S central Finland, on Lake Saimaa. In an abundant forest region, it is a major timber, pulp, and paper-manufacturing center. L...

bight

(Encyclopedia)bight, broad bend or curve in a coastline, forming a large open bay. The New York bight, for example, is the curve in the coast described by the southern shore of Long Island and the eastern shore of ...

Breiðafjörður

(Encyclopedia)Breiðafjörður brāˈᵺäfyörˌᵺür [key], large inlet of the Denmark Strait, c.75 mi (120 km) long and 45 mi (70 km) wide, W Iceland, between the Vestfjarða and Snaefellsnes peninsulas. Hvamms...

Albright, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Albright, Jacob, 1759–1808, American religious leader, founder of the Evangelical Association (later the Evangelical Church), b. near Pottstown, Pa. A German Lutheran, he was converted c.1790 to Met...

White, William

(Encyclopedia)White, William, 1748–1836, American Episcopal bishop, b. Philadelphia, grad. College of Philadelphia (now Univ. of Pennsylvania), 1765. He was ordained in England in 1772, returning to become assist...

Ward, William George

(Encyclopedia)Ward, William George, 1812–82, English Roman Catholic apologist, educated at Oxford. He became (1834) a fellow at Balliol College, Oxford, and was ordained in the Church of England. At first a Broad...

Brethren

(Encyclopedia)Brethren, German Baptist religious group. They were popularly known as Dunkards, Dunkers, or Tunkers, from the German for “to dip,” referring to their method of baptizing. The Brethren evolved fro...

Puritanism

(Encyclopedia)Puritanism, in the 16th and 17th cent., a movement for reform in the Church of England that had a profound influence on the social, political, ethical, and theological ideas of England and America. ...

indulgence

(Encyclopedia)indulgence, in the Roman Catholic Church, the pardon of temporal punishment due for sin. It is to be distinguished from absolution and the forgiveness of guilt. The church grants indulgences out of th...