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United Methodist Church

(Encyclopedia)United Methodist Church, religious body formed by the union in 1968 of the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church (see Methodism), with churches in the United States, Africa, and ...

Paderewski, Ignace Jan

(Encyclopedia)Paderewski, Ignace Jan pădˌərĕfˈskē, Pol. ēnyäsˈ yän pädĕrĕfˈskē [key], 1860–1941, Polish pianist, composer, and statesman; studied at the Warsaw Conservatory and later with Theodor L...

Voigt, Deborah Joy

(Encyclopedia)Voigt, Deborah Joy voit [key], 1960–, American dramatic soprano, b. Des Plaines, Ill., grad. California Staate Univ., Fullerton (1978). She is particularly known for her performances in the operas o...

Casals, Pablo (Pau)

(Encyclopedia)Casals, Pablo (Pau) päˈblō käsälsˈ, pou [key], 1876–1973, Spanish virtuoso cellist and conductor. Casals is considered the greatest 20th-century master of the cello and a distinguished compose...

telemarketing

(Encyclopedia)telemarketing, the practice of selling goods or services to customers by means of the telephone or of surveying consumer preferences in telephone conversations. Telemarketing firms use trained staff a...

bonefish

(Encyclopedia)bonefish, common name for a fish belonging to several species in the two genera of the family Albulidae. Albula vulpes, the bonefish, is widespread in warm, shallow marine waters; it is the only bonef...

Versace, Gianni

(Encyclopedia)Versace, Gianni (Giovanni Maria Versace), 1946–97, Italian fashion designer, b. Reggio Calabria. A dressmaker's son, Versace worked for several Italian designers before opening (1978) his own Milan ...

Peasants' War

(Encyclopedia)Peasants' War, 1524–26, rising of the German peasants and the poorer classes of the towns, particularly in Franconia, Swabia, and Thuringia. It was the climax of a series of local revolts that dated...

Arabs

(Encyclopedia)Arabs, name originally applied to the Semitic peoples of the Arabian Peninsula. It now refers to those persons whose primary language is Arabic. They constitute most of the population of Algeria, Bahr...

Moriscos

(Encyclopedia)Moriscos môrĭsˈkōz [key] [Span.,=Moorish], Moors converted to Christianity after the Christian reconquest (11th–15th cent.) of Spain. The Moors who had become subjects of Christian kings as the ...