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match

(Encyclopedia)match, small stick whose chemically coated tip bursts into flame when struck on a rough surface. Before the introduction of the match, fire was made by friction methods using the stick and the groove,...

Balenciaga, Cristóbal

(Encyclopedia)Balenciaga, Cristóbal krĭstōˈbäl bälĕnthyäˈgä [key], 1895–1972, Spanish-born French fashion designer. He established houses of couture in Spain (1919–31) and Paris (1937–68) and quickl...

Skou, Jens Christian

(Encyclopedia)Skou, Jens Christian, 1918–2018, Danish chemist, M.D. Univ. of Copenhagen, 1944, Ph.D. Univ. of Aarhus, 1954. Skou was on the faculty at the Univ. of Aarhus, Denmark, from 1947 until he retired in 1...

Capote, Truman

(Encyclopedia)Capote, Truman käpōˈtē [key], 1924–84, American author, b. New Orleans as Truman Streckfus Persons. During his lifetime, the witty, diminutive writer was a well-known public personage, hobnobbin...

Wells-Barnett, Ida Bell

(Encyclopedia)Wells-Barnett, Ida Bell, 1862–1931, African-American civil-rights advocate and feminist, b. Holly Springs, Miss. Born a slave, she attended a freedman's school and was orphaned at 16. She moved (188...

Degas, Edgar

(Encyclopedia)Degas, Edgar (Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas) ēlĕrˈ zhĕrmăNˈ ĕdgärˈ dəgäˈ [key], 1834–1917, French painter and sculptor, b. Paris; son of a banker. Although prepared for the law, he abandon...

Beckett, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Beckett, Samuel bĕkˈĭt [key], 1906–89, Anglo-French playwright and novelist, b. Dublin. Beckett studied and taught in Paris before settling there permanently in 1937. He wrote primarily in French...

Malraux, André

(Encyclopedia)Malraux, André äNdrāˈ mälrōˈ [key], 1901–76, French man of letters and political figure. An intellectual with a broad knowledge of archaeology, art history, and anthropology, Malraux led a re...

reading, mental process

(Encyclopedia)reading, process of mentally interpreting written symbols. Facility in reading is an essential factor in educational progress, and instruction in this basic skill is a primary purpose of elementary ed...

Wingate, Orde Charles

(Encyclopedia)Wingate, Orde Charles ôrd [key], 1903–44, British general. He served with the Sudan defense force (1928–33) and on special duty in Palestine (1936–39). It was in Palestine that he first used gu...