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perestroika

(Encyclopedia)perestroika pərˈĕstroyˈkə [key], Soviet economic and social policy of the late 1980s. Perestroika [restructuring] was the term attached to the attempts (1985–91) by Mikhail Gorbachev to transfo...

Babcock, Stephen Moulton

(Encyclopedia)Babcock, Stephen Moulton mōlˈtən băbˈkŏk [key], 1843–1931, American agricultural chemist, b. Bridgewater, N.Y., grad. Tufts College (B.A., 1866), Univ. of Göttingen, Germany (Ph.D., 1879). He...

Salieri, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Salieri, Antonio äntôˈnyō sälyāˈrē [key], 1750–1825, Italian composer and conductor. He received his first training in Italy, going afterward (1766) to Vienna, where he remained as conductor...

Ryman, Robert Tracy

(Encyclopedia)Ryman, Robert Tracy, 1930–2019, American painter, b. Nashville, Tenn. While working (1953–60) as a guard at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City he was immersed in modern and contemporary wor...

Travers, P. L.

(Encyclopedia)Travers, P. L. (Pamela Lyndon Travers), 1899–1996, British author best known for her Mary Poppins children's books, b. Australia as Helen Lyndon Goff. She worked as an actress and journalist and mov...

Toluca

(Encyclopedia)Toluca tōlo͞oˈkä [key], city (1990 pop. 327,865), capital of Mexico state, central Mexico. Located on the central plateau, Toluca (alt. c.8,760 ft/2,670 m) has a year-round cool climate. It was es...

Pullman strike

(Encyclopedia)Pullman strike, in U.S. history, an important labor dispute. On May 11, 1894, workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago struck to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives. ...

Bourbon, Charles, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Bourbon, Charles, duc de bo͞orbôNˈ [key], 1490–1527, constable of France and governor of Milan. He distinguished himself at the battle of Marignano (1515) in the Italian Wars between King Franci...

Stanwyck, Barbara

(Encyclopedia)Stanwyck, Barbara, 1907–90, American stage, film, and television actress, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Ruby Stevens. She started as a chorus girl, was in the Ziegfeld Follies (1923–24) and performed on B...

Sylvester II

(Encyclopedia)Sylvester II, c.945–1003, pope (999–1003), a Frenchman (b. Auvergne) named Gerbert; successor of Gregory V. In his youth he studied at Muslim schools in Spain and became learned in mathematics and...