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Wilfrid, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Wilfrid, Saint, 634–709?, English churchman, b. Northumbria, of noble parentage. He was educated at Lindisfarne and Canterbury. With Benedict Biscop he traveled to Lyons and Rome in 654; Wilfrid rem...

Yates, Richard, American fiction writer

(Encyclopedia)Yates, Richard, 1926–92, American fiction writer, b. Yonkers, N.Y. A subtle and painstaking literary craftsman who has often been considered a “writers' writer,” Yates frequently chronicles the ...

calendar

(Encyclopedia)calendar [Lat., from Kalends], system of reckoning time for the practical purpose of recording past events and calculating dates for future plans. The calendar is based on noting ordinary and easily o...

Lemass, Seán Francis

(Encyclopedia)Lemass, Seán Francis, 1899–1971, Irish political leader, b. John Francis Lemass. He fought in the 1916 Easter Rising, the Irish war of independence, and the Irish civil war. A founding member of Fi...

Chişinău

(Encyclopedia)Chişinău kĭshˈənĕfˌ [key], city (1996 est. pop. 735,229), capital of Moldova, on the Byk River, a tributary of the Dniester. Major industries include food and tobacco processing, the assembly o...

Cuthbert, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Cuthbert, Saint kŭthˈbərt [key], c.a.d. 635–a.d. 687, Celtic monk, bishop at Lindisfarne (685–86). He spent some time in the monastery at Ripon. When St. Wilfrid introduced the Roman computatio...

Fabergé, Peter Carl

(Encyclopedia)Fabergé, Peter Carl fäbĕrzhāˈ [key], 1846–1920, Russian goldsmith and jeweler, b. St. Petersburg. Sometimes described as a latter-day Cellini, he was descended from Huguenots and inherited (187...

Epiphany

(Encyclopedia)Epiphany ĭpĭfˈənē [key] [Gr.,=showing], a prime Christian feast, celebrated Jan. 6, called also Twelfth Day or Little Christmas. Its eve is Twelfth Night. It commemorates three events—the bapti...

Polycarp, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Polycarp, Saint pŏlˈĭkärp [key], c.a.d. 70–a.d. 156?, Greek bishop of Smyrna, Father of the Church. He was a disciple of St. John, who appointed him bishop. Thus he linked the apostles and such ...

Billings, William

(Encyclopedia)Billings, William, 1746–1800, American hymn composer, b. Boston. A tanner by trade, he was one of the earliest American-born composers. He wrote popular hymns and sacred choruses of great vitality u...

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