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Aytoun, William Edmonstoune

(Encyclopedia)Aytoun, William Edmonstoune āˈto͞on [key], 1813–65, Scottish poet. He was (1845–64) professor of belles-lettres at Edinburgh Univ. The Bon Gaultier Ballads (written with Sir Theodore Martin, 18...

Tennessee, University of

(Encyclopedia)Tennessee, University of, main campus at Knoxville; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1794, opened 1795 as Blount College; became East Tennessee College 1807; closed 1807–20; ...

Flourens, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Flourens, Pierre (Marie Jean Pierre Flourens) pyĕr flo͞oräNsˈ [key], 1794–1867, French physiologist. He demonstrated the respiratory center in the medulla and the function of the cerebellum in m...

Faguet, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Faguet, Émile āmēlˈ fägāˈ [key], 1847–1916, French literary critic and historian. His prolific studies stimulated interest in French intellectual history of the 17th, 18th, and 19th cent. His...

Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Rochambeau, Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de zhäN bätēstˈ, kôNt də rôshaNbōˈ [key], 1725–1807, marshal of France. He took part in the wars of King Louis XV and had been promoted t...

undine

(Encyclopedia)undine əndēnˈ, ŭnˈdēn [key], in folklore, female water sprite who could acquire a soul by marrying a human being. If, however, her lover proved unfaithful, she had to return to the sea. The lege...

Bollandists

(Encyclopedia)Bollandists bŏlˈəndĭsts [key], group of Jesuits in Belgium, named for their early leader, Jean Bolland, a Flemish Jesuit of the 17th cent. They were charged by the Holy See with compiling an autho...

exploration

(Encyclopedia)exploration, travel to a part of the earth that is relatively unknown to the traveler's culture, historically often motivated by a desire for colonization, conquest, or trade. See also space explorati...

Jonas, Justus

(Encyclopedia)Jonas, Justus yo͝osˈto͝os yōˈnäs [key], 1493–1555, German Protestant reformer. In 1521, Jonas, then a professor at the Univ. of Erfurt, accompanied Martin Luther to the Diet of Worms. During t...

America, in geography

(Encyclopedia)America [for Amerigo Vespucci], the lands of the Western Hemisphere—North America, Central (or Middle) America, and South America. The world map published in 1507 by Martin Waldseemüller is the fir...