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Menuhin, Yehudi

(Encyclopedia)Menuhin, Yehudi yəho͞oˈdē mĕnˈyo͞oĭn [key], 1916–99, British violinist and conductor, b. New York City. Menuhin, an extraordinary prodigy, began playing the violin at four. He made his debut...

Briand, Aristide

(Encyclopedia)Briand, Aristide ärēstēdˈ brēäNˈ [key], 1862–1932, French statesman. A lawyer and a Socialist, he entered (1902) the chamber of deputies and helped to draft and pass the law (1905) for separa...

Six, Les

(Encyclopedia)Six, Les lā sēs [key], a short-lived group of six young early 20th-century French musicians. They were united by their adverse reactions to the extravagant impressionism of French composers such as ...

Polignac, Jules Armand, prince de

(Encyclopedia)Polignac, Jules Armand, prince de zhül ärmäNˈ prăNs də pôlēnyäkˈ [key], 1780–1847, French statesman. Belonging to one of the oldest families of France, he emigrated with them during the Fr...

catastrophism

(Encyclopedia)catastrophism kətăsˈtrəfĭzəm [key], in geology, the doctrine that at intervals in the earth's history all living things have been destroyed by cataclysms (e.g., floods or earthquakes) and replac...

Macdonald, Sir John Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Macdonald, Sir John Alexander, 1815–91, Canadian statesman, first prime minister of the Dominion of Canada, b. Glasgow. His parents settled in 1820 in Kingston, Ont. Macdonald first practiced law. W...

syndicalism

(Encyclopedia)syndicalism sĭnˈdĭkəlĭzəm [key], political and economic doctrine that advocates control of the means and processes of production by organized bodies of workers. Like anarchists, syndicalists bel...

Mountain, the

(Encyclopedia)Mountain, the, in French history, the label applied to deputies sitting on the raised left benches in the National Convention during the French Revolution. Members of the faction, known as Montagnards...

Rogers, Richard George, Baron Rogers of Riverside

(Encyclopedia)Rogers, Richard George, Baron Rogers of Riverside, 1933–2021, British architect, b. Florence, Italy, Architectural Association, London (A.A. Dipl....

Munich Pact

(Encyclopedia)Munich Pact, 1938. In the summer of 1938, Chancellor Hitler of Germany began openly to support the demands of Germans living in the Sudetenland (see Sudetes) of Czechoslovakia for an improved status. ...