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Vallotton, Félix

(Encyclopedia)Vallotton, Félix fālēksˈ välətôNˈ [key], 1865–1925, Swiss woodcut artist and painter. Associated with the Nabis, he worked in Paris. In the 1890s Vallotton rejuvenated the woodcut as a creat...

dyslexia

(Encyclopedia)dyslexia dĭslĕkˈsēə [key], in psychology, a developmental disability in reading or spelling, generally becoming evident in early schooling. To a dyslexic, letters and words may appear reversed, e...

Elizabeth, empress of Austria and queen of Hungary

(Encyclopedia)Elizabeth, 1837–98, empress of Austria and queen of Hungary. A Bavarian princess, she was married (1854) to her cousin, Emperor Francis Joseph. Despite her exceptional beauty, intelligence, and kind...

Mata Hari

(Encyclopedia)Mata Hari mäˈtə häˈrē [key], 1876–1917, Dutch dancer and spy during World War I. Her real name was Margaretha Geertruida Zelle. She married (1895–1906) the Dutch captain Rudolph MacLeod, liv...

Cushman, Pauline

(Encyclopedia)Cushman, Pauline, 1835–93, Union spy in the Civil War, b. New Orleans. She became an actress at 18 in New York City. In 1863 she was banished to Confederate lines as a supposed Southern sympathizer,...

experience

(Encyclopedia)experience, living through events and the impression on a person or animal of events. In epistemology, a distinction is made between things known inductively, from experience, and those known deductiv...

Pi y Margall, Francisco

(Encyclopedia)Pi y Margall, Francisco fränthēsˈkō pē ē märgälˈ [key], 1824–1901, Spanish statesman and writer. A liberal journalist, he fled to France after the unsuccessful uprising of 1866 against Gen....

Zimmermann note

(Encyclopedia)Zimmermann note, secret telegram sent on Jan. 16, 1917, by German foreign secretary Arthur Zimmermann to Count Johann von Bernstorff, the German ambassador to the United States. In it Zimmermann said ...

Wheatley, Phillis

(Encyclopedia)Wheatley, Phillis, 1753?–1784, American poet, considered the first important black writer in the United States. Brought from Africa in 1761, she became a house slave for the Boston merchant John Whe...

Binet, Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Binet, Alfred älfrĕdˈ bēnāˈ [key], 1857–1911, French psychologist. From 1894 he was director of the psychology laboratory at the Sorbonne. He is known for his research and innovation in testin...