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Keyser, Thomas de

(Encyclopedia)Keyser, Thomas de də kīˈzər [key], c.1596–1667, Dutch portrait and figure painter of Amsterdam. He was the outstanding practitioner in his field prior to Rembrandt. De Keyser's work is distingui...

Strangford Lough

(Encyclopedia)Strangford Lough străngˈfərd lŏkh [key], inlet of the Irish Sea, 17 mi (27 km) long and 4 mi (6.4 km) wide, between Ards and Down dists., E Northern Ireland, entered through a 5-mi (8-km) strait, ...

Cassivellaunus

(Encyclopedia)Cassivellaunus kăˌsĭvĭlôˈnəs [key], fl. 54 b.c., British chieftain, a leader in the resistance against the invasion of Julius Caesar in 54 b.c. Caesar crossed the Thames River into Cassivellaun...

Rathenau, Walther

(Encyclopedia)Rathenau, Walther välˈtər räˈtənou [key], 1867–1922, German industrialist, social theorist, and statesman. Son of Emil Rathenau (1838–1915), founder of the German public utilities company Al...

Beaufort scale

(Encyclopedia)Beaufort scale, a scale of wind velocity devised (c.1805) by Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort of the British navy. An adaptation of Beaufort's scale is used by the U.S. National Weather Service; it employ...

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...

O'Keeffe, Georgia

(Encyclopedia)O'Keeffe, Georgia ōkēfˈ [key], 1887–1986, American painter, b. Sun Prairie, Wis. After working briefly as a commercial artist in Chicago, O'Keeffe abandoned painting until she began the study of ...

nursery school

(Encyclopedia)nursery school, educational institution for children from two to four years of age. It is distinguishable from a day nursery in that it serves children of both working and nonworking parents, rarely r...

Arnold, Frances Hamilton

(Encyclopedia)Arnold, Frances Hamilton, 1956–, American chemical engineer, b. Edgewood, Pa., Ph.D. Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1985. Arnold has been a professor at the California Institute of Technology since ...

Lydgate, John

(Encyclopedia)Lydgate, John lĭdˈgāt [key], c.1370–c.1450, English poet, a monk of Bury St. Edmunds. A professed disciple of Chaucer, he was one of the most influential, voluminous, and versatile writers of the...