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Skidmore, Owings and Merrill

(Encyclopedia)Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, American architectural firm founded in 1936 in New York City by Louis Skidmore (1897–1962), Nathaniel A. Owings (1903–84), and John O. Merrill (1896–1975). The firm...

Brendel, Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Brendel, Alfred brĕndĕlˈ [key], 1931–, Austrian pianist, b. Moravia (now in the Czech Republic). He debuted publicly in 1948 and, after winning a prize at the Busoni competition in Bolzano, Italy...

Perpignan

(Encyclopedia)Perpignan pĕrpēnyäNˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 108,049), capital of Pyrénées-Orientales dept., S France, near the Spanish border and the Mediterranean. It is a farm trade center, handling wine, fru...

Watts Towers

(Encyclopedia)Watts Towers, group of folk-art towers in the Watts section of Los Angeles. The complex was built (1921–54) single-handedly by the self-taught Italian immigrant Simon Rodia (also spelled Rodilla, 18...

Tate Gallery

(Encyclopedia)Tate Gallery, London, originally the National Gallery of British Art. The original building (in Millbank on the former site of Millbank Prison), with a collection of 65 modern British paintings, was g...

Dubai

(Encyclopedia)Dubai do͞obīˈ [key], sheikhdom (2021 pop. 2,921,376), c.1,500 sq mi (3,890 sq km), part of...

Havana

(Encyclopedia)Havana lä äväˈnä [key], city and, as Ciudad de La Habana, province (1997 est. pop. 2,200,000), capital of Cuba, W Cuba; largest city and chief port of the West Indies and one of the oldest cities...

Bern

(Encyclopedia)Bern or Berne bĕrn [key], canton, 2,658 sq mi (6,883 sq km), W central Switzerland. The seco...

shipwreck

(Encyclopedia)shipwreck, complete or partial destruction of a vessel as a result of collision, fire, grounding, storm, explosion, or other mishap. In the ancient world sea travel was hazardous, but in modern times ...

Caere

(Encyclopedia)Caere sēˈrē [key], ancient city of Etruria, c.30 mi (50 km) N of Rome, Italy, at the site of the modern Cerveteri. Although a few miles from the sea, it had ports at Alsium (near modern Palo) and P...