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life preserver

(Encyclopedia)life preserver, a personal flotation device (PFD) intended to keep the wearer afloat, particularly in case of shipwreck. A Type I PFD will keep even unconscious people afloat in a face–up position; ...

still life

(Encyclopedia)still life, a pictorial representation of inanimate objects. The term derives from the 17th-century Dutch still-leven, meaning a motionless natural object or objects. In East Asia still-life subj...

Innocent XI

(Encyclopedia)Innocent XI, 1611–89, pope (1676–89), an Italian named Benedetto Odescalchi, b. Como; successor of Clement X. He was elected because of his great saintliness and desire for reform. His election ha...

Gregory XI

(Encyclopedia)Gregory XI, 1330–78, pope (1370–78), a Frenchman named Pierre Roger de Beaufort. He was the successor of Urban V, who had made an unsuccessful attempt to remove the papacy from Avignon to Rome (13...

Pius XI

(Encyclopedia)Pius XI, 1857–1939, pope (1922–39), an Italian named Achille Ratti, b. Desio, near Milan; successor of Benedict XV. Pius's pontificate was marked by great diplomatic activity and by many importa...

Benedict XI

(Encyclopedia)Benedict XI, d. 1304, pope (1303–4), an Italian (b. Treviso) named Niccolo Boccasini; successor of Boniface VIII. Prior to his election he had been master general of the Dominican order. As pope he ...

Xi'an

(Encyclopedia)Xi'an shēˈänˈ, sēˈ– [key], city (1994 est. pop. 2,114,900), capital of Shaanxi prov., China, in the Wei River valley. Situated on the Longhai RR, China's principal east-west line, it is an imp...

Xi Jinping

(Encyclopedia)Xi Jinping shē jēnpēng [key], 1953–, Chinese political leader, b. Beijing. He is the son ...

Ptolemy XI

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemy XI (Ptolemy Alexander), d. 80 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (80 b.c.), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy X. His stepmother, Cleopatra Berenice, was joint ruler with her father, Ptolemy I...

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