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Viotti, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Viotti, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä vyôtˈtē [key], 1755–1824, Italian violinist, considered the greatest of his day. He made public appearances until 1783, and the next year he ...

Karakul sheep

(Encyclopedia)Karakul sheep kărˈəkəl [key], breed native to central Asia. The newborn lambs usually have tightly curled black fur and are skinned before they are three days old to provide the commercial lambski...

Poston, Charles Debrill

(Encyclopedia)Poston, Charles Debrill pōsˈtən [key], 1825–1902, American explorer and author, b. Hardin co., Ky. After practicing law in Tennessee, he moved to California in 1850 and from there led a party to ...

ass

(Encyclopedia)ass, hoofed, herbivorous mammal of the genus Equus, closely related to the horse. It is distinguished from the horse by its small size, large head, long ears, and small hooves. There are three living ...

Malay Archipelago

(Encyclopedia)Malay Archipelago, great island group of SE Asia, formerly called the East Indies. Lying between the Asian mainland and Australia, and separating the Pacific Ocean from the Indian Ocean, it includes B...

Singapore Strait

(Encyclopedia)Singapore Strait, channel, 30 mi (48 km) long and 10 mi (16.1 km) wide, between Singapore island and the Riau Archipelago, Indonesia. It links the Strait of Malacca with the South China Sea and is a m...

East Indies

(Encyclopedia)East Indies, name formerly used for the Malay Archipelago, but also more restrictively for Indonesia and more widely to include SE Asia. It once referred chiefly to India. ...

Fanning, Edmund, 1739–1818, Loyalist in the American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Fanning, Edmund, 1739–1818, American Loyalist in the American Revolution, b. Suffolk co., Long Island, N.Y. He moved to North Carolina, practiced law, held minor political posts, and supported the r...

hypochondria

(Encyclopedia)hypochondria hīˌpəkŏnˈdrēə [key], in psychology, a disorder characterized by an exaggeration of imagined or negligible physical ailment. The hypochondriac fears that such minor symptoms indicat...

Herter, Christian Archibald

(Encyclopedia)Herter, Christian Archibald, 1895–1966, U.S. Secretary of State (1959–61), b. Paris. After holding minor positions in the Dept. of State (1916–19) and the Dept. of Commerce (1921–24), he becam...