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Swakopmund

(Encyclopedia)Swakopmund sfäˈkôpmənt [key], municipality (1991 pop. 17,681), W Namibia, on the Atlantic at mouth of Swakop River. A rail terminus and seaside resort surrounded by the Namib desert, the town was ...

Taklimakan

(Encyclopedia)Taklimakan or Takla Makan täˌkləməkänˈ [key], vast sandy desert, c.125,000 sq mi (323,750 sq km), central Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, NW China, between the Kunlun Mts. on the south and the...

Celestine I, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Celestine I, Saint sĕlˈəstĭn [key], d. 432, pope (422–32), an Italian; successor of St. Boniface I. The opposition of St. Cyril of Alexandria to Nestorianism inspired both sides to appeal to the...

Bierstadt, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Bierstadt, Albert bērˈstät [key], 1830–1902, American painter of Western scenery, b. Germany. After traveling and sketching throughout the mountains of Europe, he returned to the United States. H...

Blackett, Patrick Maynard Stuart

(Encyclopedia)Blackett, Patrick Maynard Stuart blăkˈĭt [key], 1897–1974, English physicist. He was professor of physics at the Univ. of Manchester (1937–53) and in 1953 became professor at the Univ. of Londo...

Palestinian Authority

(Encyclopedia)Palestinian Authority (PA) or Palestinian National Authority, interim self-government body responsible for areas of the West Bank and Gaza Strip under Palestinian control. The terrritory is officially...

Nepos, Julius

(Encyclopedia)Nepos, Julius, d. 480, Roman emperor of the West (474–80). The military governor of Dalmatia, he was appointed emperor of the West by Leo I, emperor of the East. A year later he was deposed by Orest...

Grey, Zane

(Encyclopedia)Grey, Zane, 1872–1939, American writer of Western stories, b. Zanesville, Ohio, as Pearl Zane Gray, grad. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1896. His melodramatic tales of the West and Southwest are vivid in t...

Stetson, John Batterson

(Encyclopedia)Stetson, John Batterson, 1830–1906, American hat manufacturer, b. Orange, N.J. Stetson, who had learned hatmaking, traveled to the West in the 1860s to improve his health. He returned to Philadelphi...

Benbridge, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Benbridge, Henry, 1744–1812, American portrait painter and miniaturist, b. Philadelphia, studied in Italy and with Benjamin West in London. His portraits are characterized by technical skill and hav...