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farad

(Encyclopedia)farad fărˈəd [key] [for Michael Faraday], unit of electrical capacitance, equivalent to 1 coulomb of stored charge per volt of applied potential difference. ...

Kent, George Edward Alexander Edmund, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Kent, George Edward Alexander Edmund, duke of, 1902–42, fourth son of George V of Great Britain. He traveled extensively as “salesman of the empire.” A member of the Royal Air Force after 1940, ...

Ducas

(Encyclopedia)Ducas dyo͞oˈkəs [key], Greek family and dynasty of Constantinople. Some of its members were Byzantine emperors—Constantine X, Michael VII, Alexius V, and John III. ...

Gratz, Rebecca

(Encyclopedia)Gratz, Rebecca grăts [key], 1781–1869, American philanthropist, b. Philadelphia; daughter of Michael Gratz. Well known for her philanthropies in Philadelphia, she is remembered chiefly as the proba...

Macclesfield

(Encyclopedia)Macclesfield măkˈəlzfēld [key], town (1991 pop. 46,832), Cheshire East, W England. Silk manufacture, of which Macclesfield is the principal center in England, was introduced in the town in 1756. O...

Ferdinand, king of Romania

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand, 1865–1927, king of Romania (1914–27), nephew of Carol I. The second son of the Prussian prince, Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, he was designated successor to the heirless Carol I ...

Amacher, Maryanne

(Encyclopedia)Amacher, Maryanne, 1938–2009, American avant-garde composer, b. Kane, Pa. She studied composition with Georg Rochberg at the Univ. of Pennsylvania (B.F.A., 1964), and privately with Karlheinz Stockh...

hermeneutics

(Encyclopedia)hermeneutics, the theory and practice of interpretation. During the Reformation hermeneutics came into being as a special discipline concerned with biblical criticism. The Protestant theologian Friedr...

Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel

(Encyclopedia)Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel bäkh [key], 1714–88, German composer; second son of J. S. Bach, his only teacher. While harpsichordist at the court of Frederick the Great, where his chief duty for 28 y...

Haakon VII

(Encyclopedia)Haakon VII, 1872–1957, king of Norway (1905–57). Formerly Prince Charles, second son of King Frederick VIII of Denmark, he was elected by the Storting to the throne on the separation of Norway fro...

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