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Schmidt, Helmut

(Encyclopedia)Schmidt, Helmut hĕlˈmo͝ot shmĭt [key], 1918–2015, German political leader, chancellor of West Germany (1974–82). After serving in World War II, he entered politics and joined the Social Democr...

Sedna

(Encyclopedia)Sedna, in astronomy, the most distant known large object in the solar system. With a highly eccentric elliptical orbit that ranges from an estimated 76 AU to 937 AU, Sedna also has an extremely long o...

Préval, René Garcia

(Encyclopedia)Préval, René Garcia rənāˈ gärsēäˈ prāvälˈ [key] 1943–2017, Haitian political leader, president (1996–2001; 2006–11) of Haiti. Préval's family went into exile (1963) during the Duval...

safety lamp

(Encyclopedia)safety lamp, oil lamp designed for safe use in mines and other places where flammable gases such as firedamp (see damp) may be present. Its invention (c.1816) is usually attributed to Sir Humphry Davy...

rosewood

(Encyclopedia)rosewood, popular name for the ornamental wood of several species of tropical trees, especially for the heartwood of certain leguminous trees of the genus Dalbergia of the family Leguminosae (pulse fa...

Ostade, Adriaen van

(Encyclopedia)Ostade, Adriaen van äˈdrēän vän ôˈstädə [key], 1610–85, Dutch genre painter, b. Haarlem. Trained in the studio of Frans Hals, he was strongly influenced by his fellow student Adriaen Brouwe...

Dumouriez, Charles François

(Encyclopedia)Dumouriez, Charles François shärl fräNswäˈ dümo͞o-rēāˈ [key], 1739–1823, French general in the French Revolutionary Wars. After fighting in the Seven Years War, he was employed by King Lou...

Crab Nebula

(Encyclopedia)Crab Nebula, diffuse gaseous nebula in the constellation Taurus; cataloged as NGC 1952 and M1, the first object recorded in Charles Messier's catalog of nonstellar objects (see Messier catalog). It is...

Cranach, Lucas

(Encyclopedia)Cranach or Kranach, Lucas both: lo͞oˈkäs kräˈnäkh [key], the Elder, 1472–1553, German painter and engraver. The son of a painter, he settled in Wittenberg c.1504 and was court painter successi...

Aldrin, Buzz

(Encyclopedia)Aldrin, Buzz ôlˈdrĭn [key] (Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr.), 1930–, American astronaut, b. Montclair, N.J. After graduating from West Point (1951), Aldrin joined the U.S. air force and flew 66 combat m...