(Encyclopedia) AreopagusAreopagusărēŏpˈəgəs [key] [Gr.,=hill of Ares], rocky hill, 370 ft (113 m) high, NW of the Acropolis of Athens, famous as the sacred meeting place of the prime council of…
(Encyclopedia) Wiseman, Nicholas Patrick Stephen, 1802–65, English prelate, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, b. Seville, Spain, of Irish-English parentage. In 1836 he founded (with Daniel O'…
(Encyclopedia) Strayhorn, Billy (William Thomas Strayhorn), 1915–67, African-American jazz composer, arranger, lyricist, and pianist, b. Dayton, Ohio. Classically trained, he was drawn to jazz, and…
(Encyclopedia) Day, Stockwell, 1950–, Canadian political leader, b. Barrie, Ontario. He grew up in Montreal, attended (1970–71) the Univ. of Victoria, and held such jobs as auctioneer, deckhand,…
(Encyclopedia) prairies, generally level, originally grass-covered and treeless plains of North America, stretching from W Ohio through Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa to the Great Plains region. The…
(Encyclopedia) porcelain [Ital. porcellana], white, hard, permanent, nonporous pottery having translucence which is resonant when struck. Porcelain was first made by the Chinese to withstand the…
(Encyclopedia) Mazepa, IvanMazepa, Ivanēvänˈ məzyāˈpə [key], c.1640–1709, Cossack hetman [leader] in the Russian Ukraine. He was made hetman (1687) on the insistence of Prince Gallitzin, adviser to…
(Encyclopedia) QuichéQuichékēchāˈ [key], indigenous peoples of Mayan linguistic stock, in the western highlands of Guatemala; most important group of the ancient southern Maya. The largest of the…