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Crab Nebula

(Encyclopedia)Crab Nebula, diffuse gaseous nebula in the constellation Taurus; cataloged as NGC 1952 and M1, the first object recorded in Charles Messier's catalog of nonstellar objects (see Messier catalog). It is...

Goldsmith, Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Goldsmith, Oliver, 1730?–1774, Anglo-Irish author. The son of an Irish clergyman, he was graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1749. He studied medicine at Edinburgh and Leiden, but his career ...

dengue fever

(Encyclopedia)dengue fever dĕngˈgē, –gā [key], acute infectious disease caused by four closely related viruses and transmitted by the bite of the female Aedes mosquito; it is also known as breakbone fever and...

Didot, François

(Encyclopedia)Didot, François fräNswäˈ dēdōˈ [key], 1689–1757, Parisian printer. The son of a printer, Denis Didot, he was the first of the family to win fame in his craft. His son, François Ambroise Dido...

Fitzgerald, Ella

(Encyclopedia)Fitzgerald, Ella, 1917–96, American jazz singer, b. Newport News, Va. Probably the most celebrated jazz vocalist of her generation, Fitzgerald was reared in Yonkers, N.Y., moving after her mother's ...

Graves, Robert Ranke

(Encyclopedia)Graves, Robert Ranke, 1895–1985, English poet, novelist, and critic; son of Alfred Percival Graves. He established his reputation with Good-bye to All That (1929), an outspoken book on his war exper...

europium

(Encyclopedia)europium yo͝orōˈpēəm [key] [from Europe], metallic chemical element; symbol Eu; at. no. 63; at. wt. 151.964; m.p. about 820℃; b.p. about 1,600℃; sp. gr. 5.25 at 25℃; valence +2 or +3. Europ...

Vancouver, George

(Encyclopedia)Vancouver, George, 1757–98, English navigator and explorer. He sailed on Capt. James Cook's second and third voyages. After 1780 he served under Admiral George Rodney in the West Indies, taking part...

Přemysl

(Encyclopedia)Přemysl pərzhĕmˈĭsəl [key], earliest dynasty of Bohemia. Its semilegendary founder was the peasant Přemysl, whom the Bohemian Princess (sometimes called Queen) Libussa chose as her husband at s...

pronghorn

(Encyclopedia)pronghorn or prongbuck, hoofed herbivorous mammal, Antilocapra americana, of the W United States and N Mexico. Although it is often called the American, or prong-horned, antelope, the pronghorn is the...