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Klemperer, Otto

(Encyclopedia)Klemperer, Otto ôˈtō klĕmˈpərər [key], 1885–1973, German conductor, b. Breslau. Klemperer studied in Frankfurt and Berlin. Working first in Prague, he later conducted the Berlin State Opera (...

Barham, Richard Harris

(Encyclopedia)Barham, Richard Harris ĭngˈgəlzbē [key], 1788–1845, English humorist, grad. Oxford. Ordained a minister in 1813, he became a minor canon of the Chapel Royal in 1824. In 1837 he began in Bentley'...

Sargon, king of Akkad

(Encyclopedia)Sargon särˈgŏn [key], king of Akkad in Mesopotamia (reigned c.2340–c.2305 b.c.). By conquest he established a great empire that included the whole of Mesopotamia and extended over Syria and Elam,...

self-heal

(Encyclopedia)self-heal or heal-all, weedy perennial (Prunella vulgaris) with the typical angular stems and bluish flowers of the family Labiatae (mint family). Although it probably originated in the Old World, sel...

Fanning, Edmund, 1739–1818, Loyalist in the American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Fanning, Edmund, 1739–1818, American Loyalist in the American Revolution, b. Suffolk co., Long Island, N.Y. He moved to North Carolina, practiced law, held minor political posts, and supported the r...

Purbeck

(Encyclopedia)Purbeck, district (1991 pop. 42,600), Dorset, England. Purbeck is filled with the clays of the Hampshire Basin, and is therefore largely infertile. Some minor farming occurs on the chalk plateaus and ...

Herter, Christian Archibald

(Encyclopedia)Herter, Christian Archibald, 1895–1966, U.S. Secretary of State (1959–61), b. Paris. After holding minor positions in the Dept. of State (1916–19) and the Dept. of Commerce (1921–24), he becam...

Hierapolis

(Encyclopedia)Hierapolis hīərăpˈəlĭs [key], ancient city of Phrygia, W Asia Minor, 7 mi (11.3 km) N of Laodicea and on a plateau 500 ft (152 m) above the Lycus valley (in present-day Turkey). Devoted to the w...

hypochondria

(Encyclopedia)hypochondria hīˌpəkŏnˈdrēə [key], in psychology, a disorder characterized by an exaggeration of imagined or negligible physical ailment. The hypochondriac fears that such minor symptoms indicat...

Spahn, Warren Edward

(Encyclopedia)Spahn, Warren Edward, 1921–2003, American baseball player, b. Buffalo, N.Y. A spectacular pitcher in high-school baseball, Spahn turned professional in 1939 and played in the minor leagues. In 1942 ...