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Poussin, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Poussin, Nicolas nēkôläˈ [key], 1594–1665, French painter, b. Les Andelys. Poussin was considered the greatest of living painters by his contemporaries. Although he spent most of his life in Ita...

Guelphs and Ghibellines

(Encyclopedia)Guelphs and Ghibellines gwĕlfs, gĭbˈəlēnz, –lĭnz [key], opposing political factions in Germany and in Italy during the later Middle Ages. The names were used to designate the papal (Guelph) pa...

Spector, Phil

(Encyclopedia) Spector, Phil (Harvey Philip), 1939-2021, American record producer, b. Bronx, NY. The child of Russian Jewish immigrants, Spector’s father passed awa...

La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur de rōbĕrˈ kävəlyāˈ syör də lä sälˈ [key], 1643–87, French explorer in North America, one of the most celebrated explorers and builders of New France. He ...

Bellini

(Encyclopedia)Bellini jōvänˈnē [key], c.1430–1516, who was first active in Padua where he worked with his father and brother. Also influenced by Mantegna, who became his brother-in-law in 1454, Giovanni paint...

D'Annunzio, Gabriele

(Encyclopedia)D'Annunzio, Gabriele gäbrēĕˈlā dän-no͞onˈtsyō [key] 1863–1938, Italian poet, novelist, dramatist, and soldier, b. Pescara. He went to Rome in 1881 and there began his literary career. Consi...

Boniface VIII

(Encyclopedia)Boniface VIII, 1235–1303, pope (1294–1303), an Italian (b. Anagni) named Benedetto Caetani; successor of St. Celestine V. As a cardinal he was independent of the factions in the papal court, and h...

numeral

(Encyclopedia)numeral, symbol denoting anumber. The symbol is a member of a family of marks, such as letters, figures, or words, which alone or in a group represent the members of a numeration system. The earliest ...

science

(Encyclopedia)science [Lat. scientia=knowledge]. For many the term science refers to the organized body of knowledge concerning the physical world, both animate and inanimate, but a proper definition would also hav...

Macau

(Encyclopedia)Macau or Macao məkouˈ [key], Port. Macau, Mandarin Aomen, special administrative region of China, formerly administered by Portugal (2015 est. pop. 601,000), 10.8 sq mi (28.2 sq km), adjoining Guang...