(Encyclopedia) serenade [Ital. sera=evening], term used to designate several types of musical composition. Opera and song literature yield numerous examples of the serenade sung or played by a lover…
(Encyclopedia) Spontini, GaspareSpontini, Gasparegäsˈpärā spōntēˈnē [key], 1774–1851, Italian opera composer. Spontini studied music in Naples. He went to Paris in 1803, was soon backed by the…
(Encyclopedia) Silva, Antonio José daSilva, Antonio José daəntôˈny&oobreve; zh&oobreve;zĕˈ dä sēlˈvə [key], 1705–39, Portuguese playwright, b. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He belonged to a family…
(Encyclopedia) table tennis, game played, usually indoors, by two or four players; it is more or less a miniature form of lawn tennis. It is also called Ping-Pong, after the trade name that a…
You never know when disaster will strike. If it does, it’s important to be prepared. Your life—or the lives of others—may depend on knowing how get out of a…
(Encyclopedia) Fonda, Peter, 1939–2019, American actor. The son of Henry Fonda and brother of Jane Fonda, he made his screen debut in a forgettable 1963 feature. Several movies later he co-wrote and…
(Encyclopedia) Montalvo, JuanMontalvo, Juanhwän môntälˈvō [key], 1832–89, Ecuadorean essayist and political writer. A champion of liberalism and a master of political invective, he showered fiery…
(Encyclopedia) Martínez Ruiz, JoséMartínez Ruiz, Joséhōsāˈ märtēˈnĕth r&oomacr;ēthˈ [key], 1873?–1967, Spanish writer. He often used the pseudonym Azorín. A political radical in the 1890s, he…
(Encyclopedia) Lehn, Jean-MarieLehn, Jean-MariezhäNˈ-märēˈ lĕN [key], 1939–, French chemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Strasbourg, 1963. A professor at Louis Pasteur Univ. (1970–78) and the Collège de France (…
(Encyclopedia) Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien)Tolkien, J. R. R.tälˈkēn, tōlˈ– [key], 1892–1973, British novelist, b. South Africa. A fantasy writer and Oxford don, Tolkien wrote The…
