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Peerce, Jan

(Encyclopedia)Peerce, Jan, 1904–85, American tenor, b. New York City as Jacob Pincus Perelmuth. Discovered by Arturo Toscanini, who chose him to be a soloist in a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Peerce...

Bouguereau, Adolphe William

(Encyclopedia)Bouguereau, Adolphe William ädôlfˈ, bo͞ogrōˈ [key], 1825–1905, French academic painter. He won the Prix de Rome in 1850 and became extremely popular during the 1860s and 70s. He is famous for ...

Avery Island

(Encyclopedia)Avery Island, salt dome, 163 ft (50 m) high and 2 mi (3.2 km) in diameter, S La., in an area of sea marshes and swamps. A corporation controlled by the Avery and McIlhenny families owns the island. Ho...

Oberlin, Jean Frédéric

(Encyclopedia)Oberlin, Jean Frédéric zhäN frādārēkˈ ôbĕrlăNˈ [key], 1740–1826, Alsatian Lutheran clergyman. He was appointed in 1767 to a pastorate in Ban-de-la-Roche, Bas-Rhin dept., France. Oberlin i...

Lesueur, Jean François

(Encyclopedia)Lesueur or Le Sueur, Jean François zhäN fräNswäˈ [key], 1760–1837, French composer. During the French Revolution his operas, such as La Caverne (1793) and Paul et Virginie (1794), were highly p...

Lenclos, Ninon de

(Encyclopedia)Lenclos, Ninon de nēnôNˈ də läNklōˈ [key], 1620–1705, French beauty and wit. Her real name was Anne de Lenclos. She numbered among her many lovers and friends such eminent men as the Great Co...

Macon, Bayou

(Encyclopedia)Macon, Bayou māˈkən, māˈkŏn [key], c.145 mi (230 km) long, rising in SE Ark. and flowing S into NE La. to the Tensas River. It was used as a rendezvous by the bandits Frank and Jesse James. ...

Ruston

(Encyclopedia)Ruston rusˈtən [key], city (1990 pop. 20,027), seat of Lincoln parish, N La.; settled 1884 as a railroad town and inc. the same year. It is the trading center of a farm, logging, and natural-gas reg...

Regla

(Encyclopedia)Regla rāˈglä [key], municipality (1994 est. pop. 44,000), Ciudad de La Habana prov., W Cuba, a commercial and industrial suburb of Havana. It grew up around the hermitage of Nuestra Señora de Regl...

Banda Oriental

(Encyclopedia)Banda Oriental bänˈdä ōryāntälˈ [key] [Span.,=eastern shore, i.e., of the Río de la Plata], region, S Uruguay. An alluvial plain, it is Uruguay's principal cattle-raising and wheat-growing reg...