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Sebastiano del Piombo

(Encyclopedia)Sebastiano del Piombo sābästyäˈnō dĕl pyômˈbō [key], c.1485–1547, Italian painter of the Venetian school, whose real name was Sebastiano Luciani. Although he was trained by Giovanni Bellini...

Baja California Sur

(Encyclopedia)Baja California Sur so͝or [key], state, 27,571 sq mi (71,428 sq km), NW Mexico, on the S Baja California peninsula. ...

Reichsregiment

(Encyclopedia)Reichsregiment rīkhsˈrāˌgēmĕntˈ [key] [Ger.,=government of the empire], imperial council created by the Diet of Augsburg in 1500. It was intended to form the executive branch of the government ...

Nian Rebellion

(Encyclopedia)Nian Rebellion or Nien Rebellion both: nēˈĕn [key], uprising that occurred against the Ch'ing dynasty of China. Bands [Chinese,=nien] of antigovernment rebels in the south part of the North China P...

Nicholas, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas, Saint, patron of children and sailors, of Greece, Sicily, and Russia, and of many other places and persons. Little is known of him, but he is traditionally identified as a 4th-century bishop...

parathyroid glands

(Encyclopedia)parathyroid glands pârˌəthīˈroid [key], four small endocrine bodies, located behind the thyroid gland, that govern calcium and phosphorus metabolism. These four masses of tissue (each about the s...

pacemaker, artificial

(Encyclopedia)pacemaker, artificial, device used to stimulate a rhythmic heartbeat by means of electrical impulses. Implanted in the body when the heart's own electrical conduction system (natural pacemaker) does n...

nitrocellulose

(Encyclopedia)nitrocellulose, nitric acid ester of cellulose (a glucose polymer). It is usually formed by the action of a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acids on purified cotton or wood pulp. The extent of nitratio...

Opie, Iona

(Encyclopedia)Opie, Iona, 1923–2017, b. Iona Margaret Balfour Archibald, and Peter Mason Opie, 1918–1982, British folklorists of the rhymes, games, and songs of children's culture and literature. They met durin...

Vargas, Getúlio Dornelles

(Encyclopedia)Vargas, Getúlio Dornelles zhəto͞oˈlyō dôrnĕˈlĭs värˈgəs [key], 1883–1954, Brazilian statesman, twice president (1930–45, 1951–54). The popular governor of Rio Grande do Sul (1928–3...