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(Encyclopedia)CE5 Italy ĭtˈəlē [key], Ital. Italia, officially Italian Republic, republic (2015 est. pop. 59,504,000), 116,303 sq mi (301,225 sq km), S Europe. It borders on France in the northwest, the Ligu...

Napoleon III

(Encyclopedia)Napoleon III (Louis Napoleon Bonaparte), 1808–73, emperor of the French (1852–70), son of Louis Bonaparte (see under Bonaparte, family), king of Holland. Napoleon III was a complex figure. H...

Vietnam War

(Encyclopedia)Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. The war began soon after th...

French Revolutionary Wars

(Encyclopedia)French Revolutionary Wars, wars occurring in the era of the French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic era, the decade of 1792–1802. The wars began as an effort to defend the Revolution a...

opera

(Encyclopedia)opera, drama set to music. In the early part of the 20th cent. the foremost operatic composer was Richard Strauss. Although influenced by Wagner, he composed operas with even richer and more stunnin...

scholasticism

(Encyclopedia)scholasticism skōlăsˈtĭsĭzəm [key], philosophy and theology of Western Christendom in the Middle Ages. Virtually all medieval philosophers of any significance were theologians, and their philoso...

photography, still

(Encyclopedia)photography, still, science and art of making permanent images on light-sensitive materials. See also photographic processing; motion picture photography; motion pictures. By the end of ...

Clinton, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Clinton, Bill (William Jefferson Clinton), 1946–, 42d President of the United States (1993–2001), b. Hope, Ark. His father died before he was born, and he was originally named William Jefferson Bl...

Jefferson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Jefferson, Thomas, 1743–1826, 3d President of the United States (1801–9), author of the Declaration of Independence, and apostle of agrarian democracy. After 1809, Jefferson lived in retirem...