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Benedetti, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Benedetti, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä bānādĕtˈtē [key], 1530–90, Italian mathematician and physicist. An important forerunner of Galileo, Benedetti had diverse interests, inc...

black gum

(Encyclopedia)black gum, ornamental deciduous tree (Nyssa sylvatica family Nyssaceae) native to E North America. The leaves turn bright scarlet in the fall. The very tough wood was used for wheel hubs and other pur...

Aeneas, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Aeneas ĭnēˈəs [key], in Greek mythology, a Trojan, son of Anchises and Aphrodite. After the fall of Troy he escaped, bearing his aged father on his back. He stayed at Carthage with Queen Dido, the...

Borden, Lizzie Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Borden, Lizzie Andrew, 1860–1927, American woman accused of killing her father and her step-mother, b. Fall River, Mass. The elder Bordens were hacked to death with an ax on Aug. 4, 1892. Although L...

Bowdler, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Bowdler, Thomas boudˈlər, bōdˈ– [key], 1754–1825, English editor. He is best known for his Family Shakespeare (10 vol., 1818), an expurgated edition for family reading that, although attacked ...

Saxony

(Encyclopedia)Saxony săkˈsənē [key], Ger. Sachsen, Fr. Saxe, state (1994 pop. 4,901,000), 7,078 sq mi (18,337 sq km), E central Germany. Dresden is the capital. In its current form, Saxony is a federal state of...

Livius Andronicus

(Encyclopedia)Livius Andronicus lĭˈvēəs ăndrənīˈkəs [key], fl. 3d cent. b.c., Roman poet, a Greek, b. Tarentum (Taranto). He was captured and made a slave at the fall of Tarentum and was freed by his maste...

lots

(Encyclopedia)lots. The casting of lots was an ancient method of making a choice, settling a dispute, or determining a course of action. In biblical times lots were cast to determine the will of God (it is believed...

Manzikert

(Encyclopedia)Manzikert mănˈzĭkərt [key], Turk. Malazgirt, village, E Turkey, SE of Erzurum. It was an important town of ancient Armenia. A council held there in a.d. 726 reasserted the independence of the Arme...

Master Honoré

(Encyclopedia)Master Honoré ōnôrāˈ [key], French manuscript illuminator, active c.1288–1318. Honoré worked in Paris for the court of Philip the Fair (1285–1314). A breviary (Bibliothèque nationale) made ...