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beaver

(Encyclopedia)beaver, either of two large aquatic rodents, Castor fiber and Castor canadensis, known for their engineering feats. They were once widespread in N and central Eurasia except E Siberia, and in North Am...

Pontormo, Jacopo da

(Encyclopedia)Pontormo, Jacopo da yäˈkōpō dä pōntôrˈmō [key], 1494–1556, Florentine painter, one of the creators of mannerism. His real name was Jacopo Carrucci. He studied with Andrea del Sarto, Leonard...

Synge, John Millington

(Encyclopedia)Synge, John Millington sĭng [key], 1871–1909, Irish poet and dramatist, b. near Dublin, of Protestant parents. He was an important figure in the Irish literary renaissance. As a young man he studie...

Byron, George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron

(Encyclopedia)Byron, George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron bīˈrən [key], 1788–1824, English poet and satirist. Ranked with Shelley and Keats as one of the great Romantic poets, Byron became famous throughout E...

American Ballet Theatre

(Encyclopedia)American Ballet Theatre (ABT), one of the foremost international dance companies of the 20th and 21st cents. It was founded in 1937 as the Mordkin Ballet and reorganized as the Ballet Theatre in 1940 ...

Mandaeans

(Encyclopedia)Mandaeans or Mandeans mănˈdēənz [key], a small religious sect who maintain an ancient belief resembling that of Gnosticism and that of the Parsis. They are also known as Christians of St. John, Na...

Dumas, Alexandre (Dumas père), 1802–70, French novelist and dramatist

(Encyclopedia)Dumas, Alexandre pĕr [key], 1802–70, French novelist and dramatist. His father, Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, was a general in the Revolution. Dumas delighted many generations of readers with his highly ...

Field, Marshall

(Encyclopedia)Field, Marshall, 1834–1906, American merchant, b. Conway, Mass. In 1856, after five years' apprenticeship in a general store in Pittsfield, Mass., he went to Chicago and became a clerk for Cooley, W...

pollination

(Encyclopedia)pollination, transfer of pollen from the male reproductive organ (stamen or staminate cone) to the female reproductive organ (pistil or pistillate cone) of the same or of another flower or cone. Polli...

Bank of England

(Encyclopedia)Bank of England, central bank and note-issuing institution of Great Britain. Popularly known as the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, its main office stands on the street of that name in London. The ba...