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searchlight

(Encyclopedia)searchlight, device, usually swiveled, using a lens and reflecting surface to direct a powerful beam of light of nearly parallel rays. In 1892 such apparatus was used along the English Channel in coas...

Carpathians

(Encyclopedia)Carpathians kärpāˈthēənz [key] or Carpathian Mountains, Czech, Pol., and Ukr. Karpaty, Rom. Carpaţii, major mountain system of central and E Europe, extending c.930 mi (1,500 km) along the north...

Eckhart, Meister

(Encyclopedia)Eckhart, Meister mīsˈtər ĕkˈhärt [key] (Johannes Eckhardt), c.1260–c.1328, German mystical theologian, b. Hochheim, near Gotha. He studied and taught in the chief Dominican schools, notably at...

Muñoz Marín, Luis

(Encyclopedia)Muñoz Marín, Luis lo͞oēsˈ mo͞onyōsˈ märēnˈ [key], 1898–1980, Puerto Rican political leader, governor of Puerto Rico (1949–65). He abandoned a career as poet and journalist in New York C...

Lott, Trent

(Encyclopedia)Lott, Trent (Chester Trent Lott), 1941–, American politician, b. Grenada, Miss. Lott attended college and law school at the Univ. of Mississippi, then briefly (1967) worked with a private law firm. ...

goatsucker

(Encyclopedia)goatsucker, common name for nocturnal or crepuscular birds of the order Caprimulgiformes, which includes the frogmouth, the oilbird, potoos, and nightjars. Goatsuckers are medium in size and are found...

Mary, the mother of Jesus

(Encyclopedia)Mary, in the Bible, mother of Jesus. Christian tradition reckons her the principal saint, naming her variously the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God (Gr., theotokos). Her name is the He...

Hamlisch, Marvin

(Encyclopedia)Hamlisch, Marvin, 1944–2012, American composer, conductor, and pianist, b. New York City, grad. Queens College (B.S., 1967). A versatile and prolific composer of melodies ranging from the soulfully ...

Ladislaus III, king of Poland

(Encyclopedia)Ladislaus III, 1424–44, king of Poland (1434–44) and, as Uladislaus I, king of Hungary (1440–44), son of Ladislaus II. He led two crusades against the Ottomans; the first (1443) was highly succe...

Rainbow Division

(Encyclopedia)Rainbow Division, nickname of the 42d Division of the U.S. army. The first U.S. combat division to arrive in France in World War I, it participated in the second battle of the Marne, fought in the cou...