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Albano, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Albano, Lake älbäˈnō [key], crater lake, 2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), central Italy, in the Alban Hills SE of Rome. It is c.6 mi (9.7 km) in circumference and c.560 ft (170 m) deep. An underground tunnel ...

Eudoxus of Cnidus

(Encyclopedia)Eudoxus of Cnidus yo͞odŏkˈsəs, nīˈdəs [key], 408?–355? b.c., Greek astronomer, mathematician, and physician. From the accounts of various ancient writers, he appears to have studied with Plat...

firing

(Encyclopedia)firing, process of treating clay or other plastic ceramic materials with heat to produce a hard, durable but brittle material such as pottery. Primitive potters baked their clay in an open fire, but f...

Septuagint

(Encyclopedia)Septuagint sĕpˈtyo͞oəjĭnt [key] [Lat.,=70], oldest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible made by Hellenistic Jews, possibly from Alexandria, c.250 b.c. Legend, according to the fictional l...

Sèvres ware

(Encyclopedia)Sèvres ware, porcelain made in France by the royal (now national) potteries established (1745) by Louis XV at Vincennes, moved (1756) to Sèvres after changing hands. Before 1770 it was a soft-paste ...

shadbush

(Encyclopedia)shadbush, Juneberry, or serviceberry, any species of the genus Amelanchier of the family Rosaceae (rose family), chiefly North American shrubs or trees conspicuous in the early spring for their white...

Percheron horse

(Encyclopedia)Percheron horse pûrˈchərŏnˌ [key], breed of draft horse developed in NW France, originally of Flemish origin, but also containing some Arabian blood (see Arabian horse). For a heavy horse, it has...

Pontiac, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Pontiac, industrial city (1990 pop. 71,166), seat of Oakland co., SE Mich., on the Clinton River; founded 1818 by promoters from Detroit, inc. as a city 1861. Industries developed early and expanded a...

Pisano, Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Pisano, Andrea ändrĕˈä pēzäˈnō [key], c.1290–c.1348, Italian sculptor, also called Andrea da Pontedera. His most important work, the first bronze doors of the baptistery in Florence, was beg...

Rostov

(Encyclopedia)Rostov rŏˈstŏv, Rus. rəstôfˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 35,700), E European Russia, on Lake Nero. It is a road and rail junction and has food-processing and flax-spinning plants. Linen is produced, ...