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Esau

(Encyclopedia)Esau ēˈsô [key] [Heb.,=hairy], in the Bible, son of Isaac, who sold his birthright to his younger twin, Jacob, for lentil stew and who was tricked by Jacob out of his father's blessing. Also known ...

Judah ha-Levi

(Encyclopedia)Judah ha-Levi or Judah Halevy häˌlēˈvī [key], c.1075–1141, Jewish rabbi, poet, and philosopher, b. Tudela, Spain. His poems—secular, religious, and nationalist—are filled with a serene and ...

Lamb, John

(Encyclopedia)Lamb, John, 1735–1800, American Revolutionary leader, b. New York City. Prior to the Revolution he was a leader of the Sons of Liberty in New York and helped form the New York committee of correspon...

Sons of Liberty

(Encyclopedia)Sons of Liberty, secret organizations formed in the American colonies in protest against the Stamp Act (1765). They took their name from a phrase used by Isaac Barré in a speech against the Stamp Act...

Rashi

(Encyclopedia)Rashi räˈshē [key], 1040–1105, Jewish exegete, grammarian, and legal authority, b. Troyes, France. The name he is known by is an acronym of Rabbi Solomon bar Isaac. He studied in Worms and Mainz,...

sky

(Encyclopedia)sky, apparent dome over the earth, background of the clouds, sun, moon, and stars. The blue color of the clear daytime sky results from the selective scattering of light rays by the minute particles o...

Chevalier, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Chevalier, Maurice shəvălˈyā, Fr. mōrēsˈ shəvälyāˈ [key], 1888–1972, French singer and film actor. He made his debut in 1900 singing and dancing at the Casino de Tourelles, Paris. As the ...

Farinelli, Carlo Broschi

(Encyclopedia)Farinelli, Carlo Broschi kärˈlō brôˈskē färēnĕlˈlē [key], 1705–82, Italian male soprano, greatest of the castrati (see castrato), pupil of Niccolò Porpora, in whose operas he sang (1734�...

Herbert, Victor

(Encyclopedia)Herbert, Victor, 1859–1924, Irish-American cellist, composer, and conductor, studied at the Stuttgart Conservatory. In 1886 the Metropolitan Opera Company engaged his wife, Therese Herbert-Föster, ...

Gilberto, João

(Encyclopedia)Gilberto, João (João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira), 1931–2019, Brazilian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. With Carlos Jobim and others, he created the cool, sophisticated Brazilian popular...