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Messina, Strait of

(Encyclopedia)Messina, Strait of, channel, c.20 mi (32 km) long and from 2 to 10 mi (3.2–16 km) wide, separating the Italian peninsula from Sicily and connecting the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. Reggio di Calabria...

Banstead

(Encyclopedia)Banstead bănˈstĕd, –stəd [key], town, Surrey, SE England, on the North Downs. Banstead is mainly ...

Saint-Ouen

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Ouen săNto͞oäˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 42,611), Seine–Saint-Denis dept., N central France, on the Seine River. It is an industrial suburb N of Paris and a terminal point for river shipping....

Farnesina

(Encyclopedia)Farnesina färnāzēˈnä [key], villa in Rome, Italy, built (1508–11) by Peruzzi for the banker Agostino Chigi at the foot of the Janiculum on the right bank of the Tiber. One of the finest example...

Trapani

(Encyclopedia)Trapani träˈpänē [key], city (1991 pop. 69,497), capital of Trapani prov., W Sicily, Italy, a seaport on a promontory in the Mediterranean Sea. The city's exports include marsala wine, salt, and t...

Castellammare di Stabia

(Encyclopedia)Castellammare di Stabia kästĕlˌläm-mäˈrā dē stäˈbyä [key], city, in Campan...

Borghese

(Encyclopedia)Borghese bōrgāˈzā [key], Roman noble family, originally of Siena. It produced one pope, Paul V, several cardinals, and many prominent citizens. The Borghese were noted patrons of arts and letters....

Milk, Harvey

(Encyclopedia)Milk, Harvey, 1931–78, U.S. politician and gay-rights activist. When elected (1977) to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, he was the first acknowledged homosexual to win high local office in th...

Oakland

(Encyclopedia)Oakland, city (1990 pop. 372,242), seat of Alameda co., W Calif., on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay; inc. 1852. Together with San Francisco and San Jose, the city comprises the fourth largest m...

Richmond–San Rafael Bridge

(Encyclopedia)Richmond–San Rafael Bridge, W Calif., c.4 mi (6 km) long, part of the network of bridges serving the San Francisco Bay area; completed in 1957. It provides an essential link between the east side of...