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Lucy, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Lucy, Saint, d. 304?, Sicilian virgin martyr. According to legend, at an early age she vowed herself to God. She rejected a pagan suitor, who then denounced her during the persecutions under Diocletia...

Astraea

(Encyclopedia)Astraea ăstrēˈə [key], in Greek religion and mythology, goddess of justice; daughter of Zeus and Themis. Because of the wickedness of man, she withdrew from the earth at the end of the Golden Age ...

Doyle, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Doyle, Richard, 1824–83, English caricaturist, water colorist, and illustrator. He was the son and pupil of John Doyle, a popular caricaturist. His Journal (British Mus.), a book of sketches done at...

child labor

(Encyclopedia)child labor, use of the young as workers in factories, farms, mines, and other facilities, especially in work that is physically hazardous or morally, socially, or mentally harmful, involves a form of...

Stampa, Gaspara

(Encyclopedia)Stampa, Gaspara gäˈspärä stämˈpä [key], c.1523–1554, Italian poet. Plunged at an early age into the dissipated life of Venetian society, she became renowned for her brilliance and beauty. Her...

Bad Kreuznach

(Encyclopedia)Bad Kreuznach bät kroitsˈnäkh [key], city, Rhineland-Palatinate, W Germany, on the Nahe River. Its ...

Carlsen, Magnus

(Encyclopedia)Carlsen, Magnus (Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen), 1990–, Norwegian chess player. He became a grandmaster in 2004 at age 13, becoming the youngest player to achieve this honor, and in 2006 he won his first...

Peary, Robert Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Peary, Robert Edwin pērˈē [key], 1856–1920, American arctic explorer, b. Cresson, Pa. In 1881 he entered the U.S. navy as a civil engineer and for several years served in Nicaragua, where he was ...

ozone layer

(Encyclopedia)ozone layer or ozonosphere, region of the stratosphere containing relatively high concentrations of ozone, located at altitudes of 12–30 mi (19–48 km) above the earth's surface. Ozone in the ozone...

Northwest Passage

(Encyclopedia)Northwest Passage, water routes through the Arctic Archipelago, N Canada, and along the northern coast of Alaska between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Even though the explorers of the 16th cent. de...