(Encyclopedia) racer, name for several related swift, slender snakes, especially those of the genus Coluber. All of the racers are nonpoisonous, nonconstricting, day-active snakes. The black racer, C…
(Encyclopedia) foreign exchange, methods and instruments used to adjust the payment of debts between two nations that employ different currency systems. A nation's balance of payments has an…
(Encyclopedia) Fowles, John, 1926–2005, English writer, b. Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, grad. Oxford, 1950. A complex, cerebral writer and a superb storyteller, Fowles was interested in manipulating the…
(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…
(Encyclopedia) apocalypseapocalypseəpŏkˈəlĭps [key] [Gr.,=uncovering], genre represented in early Jewish and in Christian literature in which the secrets of the heavenly world or of the world to come…
(Encyclopedia) Calderón de la Barca, PedroCalderón de la Barca, Pedropāˈᵺrō käldārōnˈ dā lä bärˈkä [key], 1600–1681, Spanish dramatist, last important figure of the Spanish Golden Age, b. Madrid.…
(Encyclopedia) X Prize Foundation, private, nonprofit prize institute est. 1995 by commercial space entrepreneur Peter Diamandis. Based in Santa Monica, Calif., and funded by foundations and private…
(Encyclopedia) Ziegfeld, FlorenzZiegfeld, Florenzflôrˈənz zēgˈfĕld [key], 1869–1932, American theatrical producer, b. Chicago. The talent manager son of a German immigrant, in 1907 he first produced…
(Encyclopedia) Cass, Lewis, 1782–1866, American statesman, b. Exeter, N.H. He established (1802) himself as a lawyer in Zanesville, Ohio, became a member (1806) of the state legislature, and was U.S…
