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López, Vicente Fidel

(Encyclopedia)López, Vicente Fidel lōˈpās [key], 1815–1903, Argentine historian, journalist, and politician; son of Vicente López y Planes. A member of the group that opposed the dictatorship of Juan Manuel...

Lydia, ancient country, Asia

(Encyclopedia)Lydia, ancient country, W Asia Minor, N of Caria and S of Mysia (now NW Turkey). The tyrant Gyges was the founder of the Mermnadae dynasty, which lasted from c.700 b.c. to 550 b.c. The little kingdom ...

meadow saffron

(Encyclopedia)meadow saffron or autumn crocus, perennial garden ornamental (Colchicum autumnale) of the family Liliaceae (lily family). Native to Europe and N Africa, it has escaped from gardens to meadows and fiel...

Molise

(Encyclopedia)Molise mōlēˈzā [key], region (1991 pop. 330,900), 1,714 sq mi (4,439 sq km), S central Italy, bordering on the Adriatic Sea in the east. Campobasso is the capital of the region, which is divided i...

Morris, Lewis, 1671–1746, American colonial official

(Encyclopedia)Morris, Lewis, 1671–1746, American colonial official, first lord of the manor of Morrisania in New York. The son of Richard Morris (d. 1672; see Morris, family), he was born in that part of Westches...

Ten, Council of

(Encyclopedia)Ten, Council of, in the republic of Venice, a special tribunal created (1310) to avert plots and crimes against the state. It was a direct result of the unsuccessful Tiepolo conspiracy against the Ven...

Beeckman, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Beeckman, Isaac bākˈmən [key], 1588–1637, Dutch physicist. An early proponent of mathematical reasoning and experimental verification in natural philosophy, he contributed to the modern conceptio...

Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2d marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2d marquess of rŏkˈĭng-əm [key], 1730–82, British statesman. In the early years of the reign of George III he became a leading opponent of the “king's fri...

Schulberg, Budd

(Encyclopedia)Schulberg, Budd (Budd Wilson Schulberg), 1914–2009, American writer, b. New York City, grad. Dartmouth (1936). Because his father was an executive at Paramount Studios, Schulberg could observe the c...

Compton-Burnett, Dame Ivy

(Encyclopedia)Compton-Burnett, Dame Ivy kŏmˈtən-bûrˈnət [key], 1892–1969, English novelist. Educated at the Univ. of London, she lived quietly in London for most of her life. She was named a Dame Commander ...