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Grasse

(Encyclopedia)Grasse, town, Alpes-Maritime dept., SE France. Probably founded in Roman times, Grasse was a commercial center during the Middle Ages. Destroyed many ti...

Golden Gate

(Encyclopedia)Golden Gate, strait, 4 mi (6.4 km) long and 1 to 2 mi (1.6–3.2 km) wide, linking San Francisco Bay with the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered in 1579 by the English explorer Sir Francis Drake. Known ...

Marot, Clément

(Encyclopedia)Marot, Clément klāmiNˈ mirōˈ [key], 1496?–1544, French court poet. His graceful rondeaux, ballades and epigrams won him the patronage of Francis I and Margaret of Navarre. Marot was imprisoned ...

U-2 incident

(Encyclopedia)U-2 incident, in U.S. and Soviet history, the events following the Soviet downing of an American U-2 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft over Soviet territory on May 1, 1960. The incident led to the...

Tenison, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tenison, Thomas tĕnˈĭsən [key], 1636–1715, English churchman, archbishop of Canterbury (1695–1715). In 1680 he became rector of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London; there he came into prominence ...

Song of Solomon

(Encyclopedia)Song of Solomon, Song of Songs, or Canticles, book of the Bible, 22d in the order of the Authorized Version. Although traditionally ascribed to King Solomon, many scholars date it as late as the 3d c...

Salviati, Francesco de' Rossi

(Encyclopedia)Salviati, Francesco de' Rossi fränchāsˈkō dā rôsˈsē sälvēäˈtē [key], 1510–63, Italian painter. Salviati studied with Andrea Del Sarto and was greatly influenced by Parmigianino and Mich...

Niemeyer Soares, Oscar

(Encyclopedia)Niemeyer Soares, Oscar o͝oskärˈ nēˈmīər so͝oäˈrəs [key], 1907–2012, Brazil's foremost 20th-century architect, b. Rio de Janeiro. Influenced by Le Corbusier, Niemeyer developed an architec...

Fátima

(Encyclopedia)Fátima fäˈtēmə [key], hamlet, W central Portugal, in Beira Litoral. At the nearby Cova da Iria is the national shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima. This became a great Roman Catholic cent...

Hampton Roads Peace Conference

(Encyclopedia)Hampton Roads Peace Conference, meeting held on Feb. 3, 1865, on board the Union transport River Queen in Hampton Roads, Va., with the object of ending the Civil War. President Lincoln and Secretary o...