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Guthrie, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Guthrie, Samuel, 1782–1848, American physician, b. Brimfield, Mass. In Sackets Harbor, N.Y., where he settled after serving as surgeon in the War of 1812, he invented a percussion powder and a punch...

Brocken

(Encyclopedia)Brocken brôkˈən [key], granite peak, 3,747 ft (1,142 m) high, central Germany; highest peak of the Harz Mts. Popular legend makes it the meeting place of the Walpurgis Night or Witches' Sabbath. Th...

Bad Kreuznach

(Encyclopedia)Bad Kreuznach bät kroitsˈnäkh [key], city, Rhineland-Palatinate, W Germany, on the Nahe River. Its ...

Pied Piper of Hamelin

(Encyclopedia)Pied Piper of Hamelin, legendary figure of Hameln, Germany. He rid the town of its rats and mice by charming them away with his flute playing. When the citizens refused to pay him the price they had a...

Whitney, William Dwight

(Encyclopedia)Whitney, William Dwight, 1827–94, American Sanskrit scholar and lexicographer, b. Northampton, Mass. After studying in Germany, Whitney became professor of Sanskrit and of comparative philology at Y...

Witten

(Encyclopedia)Witten vĭtˈən [key], city (1994 pop. 105,807), North Rhine–Westphalia, W Germany, on the Ruhr River. It is an industrial city whose manufactures include chemicals, iron and steel, glass, and mach...

Niebuhr, Barthold Georg

(Encyclopedia)Niebuhr, Barthold Georg bärˈtôlt gāˈôrkh nēˈbo͝or [key], 1776–1831, German historian, b. Copenhagen; son of Karsten Niebuhr. He served in the Danish and, after 1806, in the Prussian civil s...

Rottweiler

(Encyclopedia)Rottweiler rŏtˈwīlər [key], breed of sturdy working dog developed from a Roman cattle dog introduced into S Germany more than 1,900 years ago. It stands from 213⁄4 to 27 in. (55.3–68.6 cm) hig...

Reformed churches

(Encyclopedia)Reformed churches, in a general sense, all Protestant churches that claim a beginning in the Reformation. In more restricted and more usual historical usage, Reformed churches are those Protestant chu...

Genoa, Conference of

(Encyclopedia)Genoa, Conference of, 1922, at Genoa, Italy. Representatives of 34 nations convened on Apr. 10 to attempt the reconstruction of European finance and commerce. It was the first conference after World W...