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Icelandic language

(Encyclopedia)Icelandic language, member of the North Germanic, or Scandinavian, group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. Spoken chiefly in Iceland, where it is the official languag...

Milwaukee

(Encyclopedia)Milwaukee mĭlwŏkˈē [key], city (1990 pop. 628,088), seat of Milwaukee co., SE Wis., at the point where the Milwaukee, Menominee, and Kinnickinnic rivers enter Lake Michigan; inc. 1846. The largest...

Van Buren, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Van Buren, Martin, 1782–1862, 8th President of the United States (1837–41), b. Kinderhook, Columbia co., N.Y. He was again the presidential candidate of the Democratic party in 1840, but he was ...

Christie's

(Encyclopedia)Christie's, English firm of art auctioneers and appraisers, one of the largest clearinghouses in the world for art objects of all kinds. Founded in 1766 by James Christie, it has locations all over th...

Globe Theatre

(Encyclopedia)Globe Theatre, London playhouse, built in 1598, where most of Shakespeare's plays were first presented. It burned in 1613, was rebuilt in 1614, and was destroyed by the Puritans in 1644. A working rep...

Germain, Sophie

(Encyclopedia)Germain, Sophie sôfēˈ zhĕrmăNˈ [key], 1776–1831, French mathematician. Although self-taught, she mastered mathematics and corresponded with J. L. Lagrange and C. F. Gauss. She is known especia...

Jolley, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Jolley, Elizabeth (Monica Elizabeth Jolley), 1923–2007, Australian novelist, b. Birmingham, England. A nurse during World War II, she immigrated to Western Australia in 1959. Although she had writte...

numismatics

(Encyclopedia)numismatics no͞oˌmĭzmătˈĭks, –mĭs– [key], collection and study of coins, medals, and related objects as works of art and as sources of information. The coin and the medal preserve old forms...

Kelly, Gene

(Encyclopedia)Kelly, Gene, 1912–96, American dancer, choreographer, movie actor, and director, b. Pittsburgh as Eugene Curran Kelly. Kelly started dancing on Broadway in 1938 and first gained fame in the title ro...

Arte Povera

(Encyclopedia)Arte Povera [Ital.,=poor art], influential art movement that arose in Italy in the late 1960s. It was championed by the Italian art critic Germano Celant, who also named (1967) the movement. It was ch...