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solstice

(Encyclopedia)solstice sŏlˈstĭs [key] [Lat.,=sun stands still], in astronomy, either of the two points on the ecliptic that lie midway between the equinoxes (separated from them by an angular distance of 90°). ...

Plummer, Christopher

(Encyclopedia) Plummer, Christopher (Arthur Christopher Orme), 1929-2021, Canadian-American actor, b. Toronto, Canada. Raised by his mother, Plummer first aspire...

carriage

(Encyclopedia)carriage, wheeled vehicle, in modern usage restricted to passenger vehicles that are drawn or pushed, especially by animals. Carriages date from the Bronze Age; early forms included the two-wheeled ca...

Aeschylus

(Encyclopedia)Aeschylus ĕsˈkĭləs, ēsˈ– [key], 525–456 b.c., Athenian tragic dramatist, b. Eleusis. The first of the three great Greek writers of tragedy, Aeschylus was the predecessor of Sophocles and Eur...

Newcastle upon Tyne

(Encyclopedia)Newcastle upon Tyne, city and metropolitan borough (1991 pop. 199,064), NE England, on the Tyne River. The city is an important shipping and trade center. The famous coal-shipping industry began in th...

Nicaea, First Council of

(Encyclopedia)Nicaea, First Council of, 325, 1st ecumenical council, convened by Roman Emperor Constantine the Great to solve the problems raised by Arianism. It has been said that 318 persons attended, but a more ...

Lorenzetti

(Encyclopedia)Lorenzetti lōrān-tsĕtˈtē [key], two brothers who were major Sienese painters. Pietro Lorenzetti, c.1280–c.1348, was first influenced by Duccio di Buoninsegna and Giovanni Pisano. His earliest k...

Madonna

(Encyclopedia)Madonna (Madonna Louise Ciccone) mədŏnˈə, chĭkōˈnē [key], 1958–, American p...

Rosicrucians

(Encyclopedia)Rosicrucians rōzĭkro͞oˈshənz [key], members of an esoteric society or group of societies, who claim that their order has been in existence since the days of ancient Egypt and has over the course ...

Ramayana

(Encyclopedia)Ramayana rämäˈyənə [key] [story of Rama], classical Sanskrit epic of India, probably composed in the 3d cent. b.c. Based on numerous legends, it is traditionally the work of Valmiki, one of the m...