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Fontana, Domenico

(Encyclopedia)Fontana, Domenico fōntäˈnä [key], 1543–1607, Italian architect. He went to Rome, where he built (c.1580) the Sistine Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore for Cardinal Peretti. When his ...

Boeing, William Edward

(Encyclopedia)Boeing, William Edward, 1881–1956, American aviation pioneer and executive, b. Detroit. After attending Yale's Sheffield Scientific School (1899–1902), he moved (1903) to Gray's Harbor, Wash., whe...

Francis Xavier, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Francis Xavier, Saint, 1506–52, Basque Jesuit missionary, called the Apostle to the Indies, b. Spanish Navarre, of noble parents. He studied in Paris (1525–34), where he became an associate of St....

White, Edmund

(Encyclopedia)White, Edmund (Edmund Valentine White 3d), 1940–, American writer, b. Cincinnati, B.A. Univ. of Michigan, 1962. White is one of the best known—and probably the finest stylist—of the openly gay w...

Maputo Bay

(Encyclopedia)Maputo Bay, formerly Delagoa Bay dĕlˌəgōˈə [key], inlet of the Indian Ocean, c.55 mi (90 km) long and 20 mi (30 km) wide, S Mozambique, SE Africa; Maputo, the capital and chief port of Mozambiqu...

Maury, Matthew Fontaine

(Encyclopedia)Maury, Matthew Fontaine fŏntānˈ môrˈē [key], 1806–73, American hydrographer and naval officer, b. near Fredericksburg, Va. Appointed a midshipman in 1825, he saw varied sea duty until a stagec...

Torgau

(Encyclopedia)Torgau tôrˈgou [key], city, Saxony, E central Germany, a port on the Elbe River. Manufactures include paper, iron products, glass, pottery, and agricultural machinery. Torgau is an important railway...

Charlestown, former city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Charlestown, former city, now part of Boston, Middlesex co., E Mass., on Boston Harbor, between the Mystic and the Charles rivers; settled 1629, included in Boston 1874. The oldest part of Boston, it ...

Chesapeake, ship

(Encyclopedia)Chesapeake, U.S. frigate, famous for her role in the Chesapeake affair (June 22, 1807) and for her battle with the H.M.S. Shannon (June 1, 1813). The Chesapeake left Norfolk, Va., for the Mediterranea...

Da Nang

(Encyclopedia)Da Nang to͞orănˈ, –ränˈ [key], city, central Vietnam, a port on the South China Sea. One of the ...