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Colette

(Encyclopedia)Colette (Sidonie Gabrielle Colette) sēdōnēˈ gäbrēĕlˈ kōlĕtˈ [key], 1873–1954, French novelist. Colette achieved popularity with numerous novels, characterized by sensitive observations—...

Freud, Lucian Michael

(Encyclopedia)Freud, Lucian Michael 1922–2011, British painter, b. Berlin. A grandson of Sigmund Freud, he settled in England in 1933 and became a British subject in 1939. He is widely regarded as one of the fine...

Sinatra, Frank

(Encyclopedia)Sinatra, Frank (Francis Albert Sinatra), 1915–98, American singer and actor, b. Hoboken, N.J. During the late 1930s and early 40s he sang with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey bands, causing teenage...

Bibliothèque nationale

(Encyclopedia)Bibliothèque nationale bēblēōtĕkˈ näsyônälˈ [key], national library of France, in Paris, a government archive, and one of the foremost libraries of the world. It originated with the collecti...

Newton, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Newton. 1 City (1990 pop. 16,700), seat of Harvey co., S central Kans., in an agricultural area; inc. 1872. It is a railroad division point with railroad shops and has a large mobile home industry in ...

Auvergne

(Encyclopedia)Auvergne ōvĕrˈnyə [key], former province and former administrative region, S central France. The area is now occupied chiefly by the departments of Puy-de-Dôme, Allier, Haute-Loire, and Cantal. T...

O'Brien, William Smith

(Encyclopedia)O'Brien, William Smith, 1803–64, Irish revolutionary. He entered Parliament from Ireland in 1828 and worked for Catholic Emancipation, Irish poor relief, and state support of the Irish Catholic cler...

Lee, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Henry, 1756–1818, American Revolutionary soldier, known as Light-Horse Harry Lee, b. Prince William co., Va. He was a cousin of Arthur Lee, Francis L. Lee, Richard H. Lee, and William Lee and w...

Pavia

(Encyclopedia)Pavia pävēˈä [key], city (1991 pop. 79,962), capital of Pavia prov., Lombardy, N Italy, on the Ticino River near its confluence with the Po. Pavia has long been an agricultural center and is now a...

Beaufort scale

(Encyclopedia)Beaufort scale, a scale of wind velocity devised (c.1805) by Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort of the British navy. An adaptation of Beaufort's scale is used by the U.S. National Weather Service; it employ...