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Elizabeth of Valois

(Encyclopedia)Elizabeth of Valois vălˈwä, Fr. välwäˈ [key], 1545–68, queen of Spain, daughter of Henry II of France. Originally intended to wed Don Carlos, son of Philip II of Spain, she was married (1559) ...

Lucerne, Lake of

(Encyclopedia)Lucerne, Lake of, Ger. Vierwaldstätter See, irregular-shaped lake, 44 sq mi (114 sq km), central Switzerland. It has a maximum depth of c.700 ft (210 m). The lake is fed and drained by the Reuss Rive...

Euclid of Megara

(Encyclopedia)Euclid of Megara mĕgˈərə [key], c.450–c.375 b.c., Greek philosopher, a disciple of Socrates and traditional founder of the Megarian school. He combined the Eleatic doctrine of the unity of being...

Milic of Kremsier

(Encyclopedia)Milic of Kremsier mēˈlēch, krāmˈzēr [key], d. 1374, Bohemian reformer. He was a Roman Catholic priest. In 1363 he began a career of preaching in Moravia as well as in Prague. Believing that the ...

Eudoxus of Cnidus

(Encyclopedia)Eudoxus of Cnidus yo͞odŏkˈsəs, nīˈdəs [key], 408?–355? b.c., Greek astronomer, mathematician, and physician. From the accounts of various ancient writers, he appears to have studied with Plat...

Matthew of Paris

(Encyclopedia)Matthew of Paris or Matthew Paris, d. 1259, English historian, a monk of St. Albans. He became the historiographer of the convent after the death (c.1236) of Roger of Wendover. The first part of his C...

Adolf of Nassau

(Encyclopedia)Adolf of Nassau näˈsou [key], d. 1298, duke of Luxembourg, German king (1292–98). He owed his election to the ecclesiastical electors, who, fearing the growing power and ambition of the Hapsburgs,...

Shushkevich, Stanislav Stanislavovich

(Encyclopedia)Shushkevich, Stanislav Stanislavovich, Belarusian Stanislau Stanislavavich Shushkevich, 1934–, Belarusian political leader and scientist, first head of state of independent Belarus after the dissolu...

Patchett, Ann

(Encyclopedia)Patchett, Ann, 1963–, American author, b. Los Angeles, B.A. Sarah Lawrence College, 1984, M.F.A Univ. of Iowa, 1987. In her twenties she was a writer at Seventeen magazine, wrote freelance essays fo...

polarization of light

(Encyclopedia)polarization of light, orientation of the vibration pattern of light waves in a singular plane. Unpolarized light can be converted into a single polarized beam by means of the Nicol prism, a device ...