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Valenciennes

(Encyclopedia)Valenciennes väläNsyĕnˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 39,276), Nord dept., N France, on the Escaut (Scheldt) River. An old-line industry center in a former coal-mining region, its manufactures include ra...

Heine, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Heine, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh hīˈnə [key], 1797–1856, German poet, b. Düsseldorf, of a Jewish family. One of the greatest of German lyric poets, he had a varied career. After failing in business h...

Conscience, Hendrik

(Encyclopedia)Conscience, Hendrik hĕnˈdrĭk kôNsēäNsˈ [key], 1812–83, Flemish novelist, a founder of modern Flemish literature. His many historical novels were romantic but powerful, in the tradition of Sco...

Grundy, Felix

(Encyclopedia)Grundy, Felix, 1777–1840, American political leader, b. Berkeley co., Va. After a successful career in Kentucky, he moved to Nashville, Tenn., where he became a noted criminal lawyer. A member (1811...

Mesdag, Hendrik Willem

(Encyclopedia)Mesdag, Hendrik Willem hĕnˈdrĭk vĭlˈəm mĕsˈdäkh [key], 1831–1915, Dutch marine painter. He gave up banking at 35 to study painting. He later lived at The Hague and was known as a painter an...

Klein, Calvin Richard

(Encyclopedia)Klein, Calvin Richard klīn [key], 1942–, American fashion designer, b. New York City. In 1968 he established Calvin Klein Limited, which produced clothes and accessories bearing his hallmark of sim...

Vanua Levu

(Encyclopedia)Vanua Levu väno͞oˈä lāˈvo͞o [key] or Sandalwood Island, volcanic island, 2,137 sq mi (5,535 sq km), S Pacific, second largest of the Fiji Islands. Nasoro Levu, or Mt. Thurston (3,139 ft/960 m),...

Biringuccio, Vannocio

(Encyclopedia)Biringuccio, Vannocio vän-nôˈchō bērēn-go͞otˈchō [key], 1480–c.1539, Italian metallurgist. He is best known for his practical manual of metallurgy, De la pirotechnia (1540, tr. 1942). As a ...

Barker, James Nelson

(Encyclopedia)Barker, James Nelson, 1784–1858, American playwright, b. Philadelphia. In 1838, Van Buren appointed him comptroller of the Treasury, and with slight interruptions he worked in the Treasury Dept. unt...

Dick, Philip K.

(Encyclopedia)Dick, Philip K. (Philip Kindred Dick), 1928–82, American science-fiction writer, b. Chicago. Dick often wrote of the psychological states of individuals caught in altered realities where the everyda...