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Scharwenka, Franz Xaver

(Encyclopedia)Scharwenka, Franz Xaver fränts ksävârˈ shärvĕngˈkä [key], 1850–1924, Polish-German pianist and composer. He founded his own conservatories in Berlin (1881) and New York City (1891). Beginnin...

polka

(Encyclopedia)polka, ballroom dance for couples in 2/4 time. Originated by Bohemian peasants about 1830 from steps of the schottische and other dances, the polka by 1835 reached the drawing rooms of Prague, from wh...

Bairnsfather, Bruce

(Encyclopedia)Bairnsfather, Bruce bârnzˈfäᵺər [key], 1888–1959, English illustrator and author, b. India. He served with the British forces in World War I and created the cartoon character “Old Bill” to...

Barbie, Klaus

(Encyclopedia)Barbie, Klaus, 1913–91, Nazi war criminal known as the “Butcher of Lyons.” As Gestapo chief in Lyons, France (1942–44), he was responsible for the deaths of French Resistance members and thous...

Thunberg, Greta

(Encyclopedia)Thunberg, Greta, 2003–, Swedish climate activist. She came to public notice in 2018 when she encouraged students to skip school on Fridays to protest societal inaction on climate change. Through soc...

Trelleborg

(Encyclopedia)Trelleborg trĕləbôrˈyə [key], city (1990 pop. 22,850), Malmöhus co., extreme S Sweden, a port on the Baltic Sea. Manufactures include machinery, rubber, cement, and refined sugar. It is an impor...

Thayer, Sylvanus

(Encyclopedia)Thayer, Sylvanus, 1785–1872, American soldier and educator, b. Braintree, Mass., grad. Dartmouth, 1807, and West Point, 1808. During the War of 1812 he served as an engineer, and afterward he was se...

pyrrhotite

(Encyclopedia)pyrrhotite pĭrˈətīt [key] or magnetic pyrites, bronze-yellow to bronze-red mineral, a sulfide of iron sometimes containing nickel. It tarnishes easily and is somewhat magnetic. It crystallizes in ...

Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, 3d duke of

(Encyclopedia)Richmond and Lennox, Charles Lennox, 3d duke of, 1735–1806, British statesman. He was secretary of state for the south of Europe (1766) and became a staunch defender of the cause of the American col...

nuncio, apostolic

(Encyclopedia)nuncio, apostolic nŭnˈshēō [key], resident legate of the Holy See at the capital of a temporal government. Nuncios are in most of the countries with which the Holy See has diplomatic relations. In...