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Laver, Rod

(Encyclopedia)Laver, Rod (Rodney George Laver) lāˈvər [key], 1938–, Australian tennis player. He left school at age 15 to pursue tennis and in 1962 became the first male grand-slam winner in tennis since Don B...

Saint-Amant, Marc-Antoine de Gérard, Sieur de

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Amant, Marc-Antoine de Gérard, Sieur de märk-äNtwänˈ də zhārärˈ, syör də săNtämäNˈ [key], 1594–1661, French lyric poet. After establishing himself through public readings in Par...

Rolla

(Encyclopedia)Rolla rŏlˈə [key], city (1990 pop. 14,090), seat of Phelps co., S central Mo.; inc. 1861. It is a regional center for a livestock and farming area of the Ozarks. Apparel, roof and floor trusses, ch...

Roscius, Quintus

(Encyclopedia)Roscius, Quintus kwĭnˈtəs rŏshˈəs [key], c.126 b.c.–62 b.c., Roman actor. Born a slave at Solonium, he became the greatest comic actor of his time. From the dictator Sulla, Roscius received th...

Barnabas, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Barnabas, Saint bärˈnəbəs [key], Christian apostle. He was a Cypriot and a relative of St. Mark; his forename was Joseph. Several passages in the New Testament relate that Barnabas was a teacher a...

Baal-zebub

(Encyclopedia)Baal-zebub bāˈəl-zēˈbəb [key] [Heb.,=lord of flies], a deliberate Hebrew distortion of the name of the god of Ekron in 2 Kings. In the Gospels of Mark and Luke, Beelzebul, the Greek form of the ...

Galeed

(Encyclopedia)Galeed mĭzˈpə [key], in the Bible, cairn, raised by Jacob and Laban to mark their covenant. The so-called Mizpah benediction given here was a mutual warning, not a blessing. ...

Peter Gonzalez, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Peter Gonzalez, Saint gŏnzāˈlĭs [key], 1190–1246, Spanish Dominican priest. He worked first among the Moors, then among the mariners of NW Spain. As a patron of sailors he acquired the name St. ...

Willaert, Adrian

(Encyclopedia)Willaert, Adrian ädˈrēän vĭlˈärt [key], c.1490–1562, Flemish composer. After brief engagements at Ferrara and Milan, he was choirmaster at St. Mark's, Venice, from 1527 until his death. Willa...

Weelkes, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Weelkes, Thomas, c.1575–1623, English composer. His four books of madrigals (1597–1600) mark Weelkes as one of the great English madrigalists. His music is remarkable for melodic characterization ...