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small arms

(Encyclopedia)small arms, firearms designed primarily to be carried and fired by one person and, generally, held in the hands, as distinguished from heavy arms, or artillery. Automatic small arms were develope...

Dumas, Alexandre (Dumas fils), 1824–95, French dramatist and novelist

(Encyclopedia)Dumas, Alexandre, known as Dumas fils fēs [key], 1824–95, French dramatist and novelist, illegitimate son of Alexandre Dumas (1802–70, Dumas Père). He was the chief creator of the 19th-century c...

diesel engine

(Encyclopedia)diesel engine, type of internal-combustion engine invented by the German engineer Rudolf Diesel and patented by him in 1892. Although his engine was designed to use coal dust as fuel, the diesel engin...

Francis Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Francis Joseph or Franz Joseph, 1830–1916, emperor of Austria (1848–1916), king of Hungary (1867–1916), nephew of Ferdinand, who abdicated in his favor. His long reign began in the stormy days o...

Pankhurst, Emmeline Goulden

(Encyclopedia)Pankhurst, Emmeline Goulden ĕmˈəlīnˌ, –lēnˌ, go͞olˈdən, păngkˈhûrst [key], 1858–1928, British woman suffragist. Disappointed in the disinterest in women's suffrage shown by the Libera...

buttress

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Types of buttresses buttress, mass of masonry built against a wall to strengthen it. It is especially necessary when a vault or an arch places a heavy load or thrust on one part of a wall. In t...

coronation

(Encyclopedia)coronation, ceremony of crowning and anointing a sovereign on his or her accession to the throne. Although a public ceremony inaugurating a new king or chief had long existed, a new religious service ...

Quebec, city, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Quebec, Fr. Québec, city (1991 pop. 167,517), provincial capital, S Que., Canada, at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and St. Charles rivers. The population is largely French speaking, and the town...

Hugo, Victor Marie, Vicomte

(Encyclopedia)Hugo, Victor Marie, Vicomte hyo͞oˈgō, Fr. vēktôrˈ märēˈ vēkôNtˈ ügōˈ [key], 1802–85, French poet, dramatist, and novelist, b. Besançon. His father was a general under Napoleon. As a ...

motet

(Encyclopedia)motet mōtĕtˈ [key], name for the outstanding type of musical composition of the 13th cent. and for a different type that originated in the Renaissance. The 13th-century motet, a creation (c.1200) o...