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Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Brest-Litovsk, Treaty of brĕst-lĭtôfskˈ [key], separate peace treaty in World War I, signed by Soviet Russia and the Central Powers, Mar. 3, 1918, at Brest-Litovsk (now Brest, Belarus). After the ...

Rayonnant style

(Encyclopedia)Rayonnant style rāˈənănt [key], the middle period (c.1240–1350) of French Gothic architecture, so termed from the characteristic radiating tracery of the rose window. In this period many of the ...

Gulf Stream

(Encyclopedia)Gulf Stream, warm ocean current of the N Atlantic Ocean, off E North America. It was first described (1513) by Spanish explorer Ponce de León. The Gulf Stream originates in the Gulf of Mexico and, as...

Maritain, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Maritain, Jacques zhäk märētăNˈ [key], 1882–1973, French Neo-Thomist philosopher. He was educated at the Sorbonne and the Univ. of Heidelberg and was much influenced by the philosophy of Henri ...

Tallahassee

(Encyclopedia)Tallahassee tăləhăsˈē [key], city (1990 pop. 124,773), state capital and seat of Leon co., NW Fla.; inc. 1825. Tallahassee is a wholesale trade and distribution center for the surrounding lumber,...

Schwartz, Melvin

(Encyclopedia)Schwartz, Melvin, 1932–2006 American physicist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Columbia, 1958. He was on the faculty at Columbia (1958–66, 1991–2000, emeritus 2000–2006) and Stanford (1966–83). Sch...

Salamanca, city, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Salamanca, city (1990 pop. 162,037), capital of Salamanca prov., W central Spain, in Castile and León, on the Tormes River, c.2,600 ft (790 m) above sea level. Food-processing and tourism are its mos...

Césaire, Aimé

(Encyclopedia)Césaire, Aimé (Aimé Fernand Césaire) ĕmāˈ fĕrnäNˈ sāzârˈ [key], 1913–2008, West Indian poet and essayist who wrote in French. After studying in Paris he became concerned with the plight...

Peter the Cruel

(Encyclopedia)Peter the Cruel, 1334–69, Spanish king of Castile and León (1350–69), son and successor of Alfonso XI. His desertion of his wife, Blanche of Bourbon, for María Padilla and his favors to the Padi...

theremin

(Encyclopedia)theremin thĕrˈəmən [key], one of the earliest electronic musical instruments, invented (1920) in the Soviet Union and named for its creator, Leon Theremin. A forerunner of the synthesizer, it cons...