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rainmaking

(Encyclopedia)rainmaking, production of rain by artificial means now generally disregarded, though it is probable that rainmaking hastens or increases rainfall from clouds suitable for natural rainfall. Interest in...

Creeley, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Creeley, Robert, 1926–2005, American poet, b. Arlington, Mass. He lived in Asia, Europe, and Latin America and taught at various universities in the United States. With Charles Olson, he was a leadi...

Beowulf

(Encyclopedia)Beowulf bāˈəwo͝olf [key], oldest English epic, probably composed in the early 8th cent. by an Anglian bard in the vicinity of Northumbria. It survives in only one manuscript, written c.a.d. 1000 b...

Fehrbellin, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Fehrbellin, battle of fĕˌbĕlēnˈ [key], 1675. Allied with France in the third Dutch War, King Charles XI of Sweden invaded Brandenburg but was defeated near the town of Fehrbellin, 35 mi (56 km) N...

Du Bois-Reymond, Emil

(Encyclopedia)Du Bois-Reymond, Emil āˈmēl dü bwä-rāmôNˈ [key], 1818–96, German physiologist of French descent. A pupil and successor (after 1858) of Johannes Müller at the Univ. of Berlin, he is known es...

Elman, Mischa

(Encyclopedia)Elman, Mischa mĭshˈə ĕlˈmən [key], 1891–1967, Russian-American violinist, b. Kiev. He studied in St. Petersburg with Leopold Auer, and first gained prominence in Berlin at the age of 13. After...

Squarcione, Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Squarcione, Francesco fränchāˈskō skwärchōˈnā [key], 1397–1468, Italian painter; teacher of Mantegna. According to tradition he was a tailor and embroiderer who turned to painting c.1429 and...

marathon race

(Encyclopedia)marathon race, long-distance foot race deriving its name from Marathon, Greece. According to legend, in 490 b.c., Pheidippides, a runner from Marathon, carried news of victory over the Persians to Ath...

Poggendorff, Johann Christian

(Encyclopedia)Poggendorff, Johann Christian yōˈhän krĭsˈtyän pôgˈəndôrfˌ [key], 1796–1877, German physicist and chemist. He founded (1824) and edited the important Annalen der Physik und Chemie and edi...

Mahoning

(Encyclopedia)Mahoning məhōnˈĭng [key], river, c.90 mi (140 km) long, rising in NE Ohio, E of Canton. It flows northwest to Alliance, then northeast past Warren, where it turns southeast to flow past Youngstown...