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redstart

(Encyclopedia)redstart, common name for an Old World thrush of the genus Phoenicurus, family Turdidae. A small, slender-legged songbird, it is found in woodlands, parks, and heaths. The European redstart, P. phoeni...

Francis Xavier, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Francis Xavier, Saint, 1506–52, Basque Jesuit missionary, called the Apostle to the Indies, b. Spanish Navarre, of noble parents. He studied in Paris (1525–34), where he became an associate of St....

Jackson, Michael Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Michael Joseph, 1958–2009, American performer, b. Gary, Ind. Jackson was an extremely successful pop singer, superb dancer, and talented composer who often conveyed an androgynous image and...

Maybeck, Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Maybeck, Bernard, 1862–1957, American architect, b. New York City. After studying at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris, he became one of the leading architects in California. From the 1890s to the 19...

Maine de Biran

(Encyclopedia)Maine de Biran mĕn də bēräNˈ [key], 1766–1824, French philosopher, member of the Council of Five Hundred (1797), and councilor of state (1816). His real name was Marie François Pierre Gonthier...

Mallowan, Max Edgar Lucien

(Encyclopedia)Mallowan, Sir Max Edgar Lucien, 1904–78, British archaeologist, educated at Oxford. He participated in the British Museum–Univ. of Pennsylvania excavations at Ur (1925–30) and Nineveh (1931–32...

Russell, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Russell, Bill (William Felton Russell), 1934–, American basketball player, b. Monroe, La. Named an All-American while on the Univ. of San Francisco team, he played on the gold-medal-winning U.S. tea...

Chenab

(Encyclopedia)Chenab chēnäbˈ [key], one of the “five rivers” of the Punjab, 675 mi (1,086 km) long, rising in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh and flowing NW through the Kashmir Himalayas, then SW throug...

Chénier, Marie Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Chénier, Marie Joseph shānyāˈ [key], 1764–1811, French poet and dramatist, b. Constantinople; brother of André Chénier. A member of the Convention, the Council of Five Hundred, and the Tribun...

Cygnus

(Encyclopedia)Cygnus sĭgˈnəs [key] [Lat.,=the swan], northern constellation located SE of Draco and NW of Pegasus. It was depicted as a bird by most ancient cultures. It is sometimes called the Northern Cross be...