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Confederation of the Rhine

(Encyclopedia)Confederation of the Rhine, league of German states formed by Emperor Napoleon I in 1806 after his defeat of the Austrians at Austerlitz. Among its members were the newly created kingdoms of Bavaria a...

circuit rider

(Encyclopedia)circuit rider, itinerant preacher of the Methodist denomination who served a “circuit” consisting usually of 20 to 40 “appointments.” The circuit system, devised by John Wesley for his English...

Faust, Drew Gilpin

(Encyclopedia)Faust, Drew Gilpin (Catharine Drew Gilpin Faust), 1947–, American historian and educator, b. New York City, grad. Bryn Mawr (B.A. 1968), Univ. of Pennsylvania (M.A. 1971, Ph.D. 1975). A professor of...

Portobelo

(Encyclopedia)Portobelo, Porto Bello pwārˈtō bāˈyō [key], town, central Panama, on the Caribbean Sea. The site, an excellent harbor, was visited by Columbus. The town was founded in 1597. A thriving colonial...

Saint-Étienne

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Étienne săNtātyĕnˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 201,569), capital of Loire dept., SE France, in the Massif Central. The metropolitan region occupies much of what was once a major coal-mining and ...

Ray, John

(Encyclopedia)Ray or Wray, John, 1627–1705, English naturalist. He was extremely influential in laying the foundations of systematic biology. With his pupil Francis Willughby, he planned a complete classification...

Austerlitz

(Encyclopedia)Austerlitz ôˈstərlĭts, Ger. ouˈ– [key], Czech Slavkov u Brna, town, S Czech Republic, in Moravia. An agricultural center, the town has sugar refineries and cotton mills. It became a seat of the...

stigmata

(Encyclopedia)stigmata stĭgˈmətə, stĭgmătˈə [key] [plural of stigma, from Gr.,=brand], wounds or marks on a person resembling the five wounds received by Jesus at the crucifixion. Some 300 cases of stigmati...

Central Valley project

(Encyclopedia)Central Valley project, central Calif., long-term general scheme for the utilization of the water of the Sacramento River basin in the north for the benefit of the farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley ...

Berry, Caroline Ferdinande Louise, duchesse de

(Encyclopedia)Berry, Caroline Ferdinande Louise, duchesse de kärôlēnˈ fĕrdēnäNd lwēz, düshĕsˈ də bĕrēˈ [key], 1798–1870, wife of the French prince, Charles Ferdinand, duc de Berry; daughter of Fran...