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Varchi, Benedetto

(Encyclopedia)Varchi, Benedetto bānādĕtˈtō värˈkē [key], 1502?–1565, Italian poet and historian. A protégé of Filippo Strozzi and Cosimo de' Medici, he was commissioned to write the history of Florence....

Japhleti

(Encyclopedia)Japhleti jăflēˈtī [key], in the Bible, clan, in a region between Ataroth-adar and lower Beth-horon, probably in the vicinity of the present-day Ramallah (West Bank). It was either of Canaanite ori...

Kane, John

(Encyclopedia)Kane, John, 1860–1934, American primitive painter, b. Scotland. He came to Pittsburgh at the age of 19 and worked for years as a day laborer, painting in his spare time. His paintings exhibit a deli...

Benjamin, Park

(Encyclopedia)Benjamin, Park, 1809–64, American journalist, b. British Guiana (now Guyana). As owner and editor of the New England Magazine, he merged it (1835) with the American Monthly Magazine of New York and ...

Capgrave, John

(Encyclopedia)Capgrave, John, 1393–1464, English author and Augustinian friar. One of the most learned men of his day, he was a distinguished theologian, philosopher, and historian. His writings, many of which ha...

Boyce, William

(Encyclopedia)Boyce, William, c.1710–1779, English composer. After studying in London, he became a composer (1736) and later an organist (1758) of the Chapel Royal and Master of the King's Music in 1755. Although...

Moose Factory

(Encyclopedia)Moose Factory, trading post, NE Ont., Canada, near the mouth of the Moose River on James Bay. A fort was built there by Charles Bayly, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, in the early 1670s. In the ...

Mossi

(Encyclopedia)Mossi mŏsˈē [key], African people, numbering about 2.5 million, mostly in Burkina Faso. From c.a.d. 1000 the Mossi were organized into several kingdoms, one of which has continued to the present da...

Landini, Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Landini, Francesco fränchāsˈkō ländēˈnē [key], c.1325–97, Italian composer. Although Landini was blinded from smallpox in childhood, he learned to play the lute, guitar, flute, and organ. Hi...

Ascension, in Christianity

(Encyclopedia)Ascension, name usually given to the departure of Jesus from earth as related in the Gospels according to Mark (16) and Luke (24) and in Acts 1.1–11. The annual commemoration of this is one of the p...