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Rondônia

(Encyclopedia)Rondônia ro͝ondôˈnyə [key], state (1996 pop. 1,132,692), 93,839 sq mi (243,043 sq km), NW Brazil, on the border with Bolivia. Pôrto Velho is the capital. Rain forests still cover much of the sta...

Scharwenka, Franz Xaver

(Encyclopedia)Scharwenka, Franz Xaver fränts ksävârˈ shärvĕngˈkä [key], 1850–1924, Polish-German pianist and composer. He founded his own conservatories in Berlin (1881) and New York City (1891). Beginnin...

Banbury

(Encyclopedia)Banbury bănˈbərē [key], town, Oxfordshire, central England, on the Cherwell River. Light ...

right

(Encyclopedia)right, in politics, the more conservative groups in the political spectrum, in contrast to the radical left and the liberal center. The designation stems from the seating of the nobility on the right ...

demon

(Encyclopedia)demon, supernatural being, generally malevolent in character. In general, the more civilized pagan societies came to consider demons as powerful, supernatural beings who lacked the dignity of gods and...

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°). ...

Custer, George Armstrong

(Encyclopedia)Custer, George Armstrong, 1839–76, American army officer, b. New Rumley, Ohio, grad. West Point, 1861. In the reorganization of the U.S. army after the war Custer was assigned to the 7th Cavalry w...

Taoism

(Encyclopedia)Taoism däuˈĭzəm [key], refers both to a Chinese system of thought and to one of the four major religions of China (with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Chinese popular religion). Religious Taoism a...

Alemán, Mateo

(Encyclopedia)Alemán, Mateo mätāˈō älāmänˈ [key], 1547–1614?, Spanish novelist, b. Seville. Alemán studied medicine and practiced accounting. He led a turbulent life, was sent to jail twice for his debt...

Wainewright, Thomas Griffiths

(Encyclopedia)Wainewright, Thomas Griffiths wānˈrīt [key], 1794–1852, English art critic and criminal. He contributed essays on the arts to the London Magazine under the pseudonyms Egomet Bonmot and Janus Weat...