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Hercules cluster

(Encyclopedia)Hercules cluster, giant globular star cluster in the northern constellation Hercules; cataloged as M13 or NGC 6205. The cluster is just visible to the naked eye and is the best example of a globular c...

Grace, princess consort of Monaco

(Encyclopedia)Grace, 1929–82, princess consort of Monaco, b. Philadelphia as Grace Patricia Kelly. She acted on stage and television in New York, and made her film debut in 1951. Cool, blonde, and patrician, she ...

astrolabe

(Encyclopedia)astrolabe ăsˈtrəlāb [key], instrument probably used originally for measuring the altitudes of heavenly bodies and for determining their positions and movements. Although its origin is ancient and ...

Murder, Inc.

(Encyclopedia)Murder, Inc., name given to the band of professional killers who operated (1930–40) throughout the United States as the enforcement arm of the Syndicate, composed of the national heads of organized ...

Libra

(Encyclopedia)Libra lēˈbrə, līˈ– [key] [Lat.,=the scales], southern constellation lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Virgo and Scorpius; it is one of the constellatio...

Mitchell, Maria

(Encyclopedia)Mitchell, Maria, 1818–89, American astronomer and educator, b. Nantucket, Mass. Mitchell taught school in Nantucket, and later became a librarian. On Oct. 1, 1847, Mitchell discovered a comet (1847 ...

Aries

(Encyclopedia)Aries ârˈēz [key] [Lat.,=the ram], constellation lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Taurus and Pisces; it is one of the constellations of the zodiac. It con...

Krishnamurti, Jiddu

(Encyclopedia)Krishnamurti, Jiddu jĭdˈo͞o krĭshˌnəmo͝orˈtē [key], 1895–1986, Indian religious figure whose message centered on the need for maximum self-awareness. In 1909, Annie Besant met him and procl...

Bernanos, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Bernanos, Georges zhôrzh bĕrnänōsˈ [key], 1888–1948, French novelist and polemicist. Profoundly Catholic, Bernanos attacked modern materialism and advocated a moral and ethical order based on t...

Schwarzkopf, H. Norman

(Encyclopedia)Schwarzkopf, H. Norman (Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr.), 1934–2012, U.S. army general, b. Trenton, N.J. He graduated from West Point (1956) and served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War, the firs...