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Oberth, Hermann Julius

(Encyclopedia)Oberth, Hermann Julius, 1894–1989, Austro-German astronautical pioneer, b. Hermannstadt, Austria-Hungary (now Sibiu, Romania). Beginning his studies in astronautics before World War I, he first prop...

Lenau, Nikolaus

(Encyclopedia)Lenau, Nikolaus nēmpsh ādˈlər fən shtrāˈlənou [key], 1802–50, Austrian romantic poet, b. Hungary. He is considered Austria's chief lyric poet. Pessimism and melancholy dominate his work, whi...

Tristram and Isolde

(Encyclopedia)Tristram and Isolde trĭsˈtrəm, ĭsōlˈdə, ĭzōlˈ– [key], medieval romance. The earliest extant version (incomplete) was written (c.1185) by Thomas of Britain in Anglo-Norman French verse. Abo...

Michel, Hartmut

(Encyclopedia)Michel, Hartmut mĭkhˈəl [key], 1948–, German biochemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Würzburg, 1977. Michel was the first person to reduce a photosynthetic action center, which is a four-protein complex, to ...

Frescobaldi, Girolamo

(Encyclopedia)Frescobaldi, Girolamo jērôˈlämō frāskōbälˈdē [key], 1583–1643, Italian organist and composer. He became organist at St. Peter's in Rome in 1608, where huge crowds came during most of his l...

Marshall Islands

(Encyclopedia)Marshall Islands, officially Republic of the Marshall Islands, independent nation (2015 est. pop. 53,000), in the central Pacific. The Marshalls extend over a 700-mi (1,130-km) area and comprise two m...

Otto, Austrian archduke

(Encyclopedia)Otto: see Hapsburg, Otto von.

Siebold, Philipp Franz van

(Encyclopedia)Siebold, Philipp Franz van fēˈlĭp fränts fen zēˈbôlt [key], 1796–1866, German naturalist and physician; son of A. E. von Siebold. He was noted for his studies of the natural history, ethnogra...