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Maracaibo, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Maracaibo, Lake, largest lake of South America, c.5,100 sq mi (13,210 sq km), NW Venezuela, extending c.110 mi (180 km) inland. A strait, 34 mi (55 km) long, connects it with the Gulf of Venezuela. Di...

Bosch, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Bosch, Juan (Juan Bosch Gavino) hwän bōsh [key], 1909–2001, president of the Dominican Republic (Feb.–Sept., 1963). A teacher and writer, he spent 24 years in exile during the dictatorship of Ra...

Krakatoa

(Encyclopedia)Krakatoa kräkätouˈ [key], volcanic island, c.5 sq mi (13 sq km), W Indonesia, in Sunda Strait between Java and Sumatra; rising to 2,667 ft (813 m). A momentous volcanic explosion on Aug. 23, 1883, ...

Balaguer, Joaquín

(Encyclopedia)Balaguer, Joaquín (Joaquín Balaguer Ricardo) hwäkēnˈ bälägārˈ rēkärˈᵺō [key], 1907–2002, president of the Dominican Republic (1960–62, 1966–78, 1986–96). A lawyer by trade, he h...

San Sebastián

(Encyclopedia)San Sebastián sän sābästyänˈ [key], Basque Donostia, city (1990 pop. 183,944), capital of Gipuzkoa (Guipúzcoa) prov., N Spain, on the Bay of Biscay at the mouth of the Urumea River, in the Basq...

Federer, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Federer, Roger, 1981–, Swiss tennis player, b. Basel. He was an outstanding junior player, ranking number one in 1998, the year he turned pro. Federer won his first Association of Tennis Professiona...

Royal Opera

(Encyclopedia)Royal Opera, one of the principal British opera companies, based at the Royal Opera House (which it shares with the Royal Ballet) in Covent Garden, London. Formed in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Co...

Khan, Ali Akbar

(Encyclopedia)Khan, Ali Akbar älēˈ ăkˈbär khän [key], 1922–2009, Indian musician, b. Shivpur, East Bengal (now Bangladesh). A master of the sarod, a lutelike 25-stringed N Indian instrument, Khan was born ...

Santo Domingo, city, Dominican Republic

(Encyclopedia)Santo Domingo sänˈtō dōmēngˈgō [key], city (1993 pop. 1,609,966), S Dominican Republic, on the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Ozama River. It is the country's capital, largest city, leading...

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

(Encyclopedia)Chicago Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1891 when businessman Charles Norman Fay invited the German-born conductor Theodore Thomas to establish and lead a new city orchestra; he conducted it until his ...