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White Mountains

(Encyclopedia)White Mountains, part of the Appalachian system, N N.H. and SW Maine, rising to 6,288 ft (1,917 m) at Mt. Washington in the Presidential Range and to 5,249 ft (1,600 m) at Mt. Lafayette in the Francon...

Verres, Caius

(Encyclopedia)Verres, Caius kāˈəs vĕrˈēz [key], c.120 b.c.–43 b.c., Roman administrator. He held various posts before serving as governor of Sicily (73–71 b.c.). His corruption and extortion were notable ...

López de Ayala, Pedro

(Encyclopedia)López de Ayala, Pedro pāˈᵺrō lōˈpāth ᵺā äyäˈlä [key], 1332–1407, Spanish statesman, poet, and chronicler. As a royal official in Castile, he served Peter the Cruel, Henry II, John I,...

Gagarin, Yuri Alekseyevich

(Encyclopedia)Gagarin, Yuri Alekseyevich yo͞oˈrē əlyĭksyāˈyəvĭch gägäˈrĭn [key], 1934–68, Russian astronaut (cosmonaut), b. near Gzhatsk, RSFSR. He was the first in history to be rocketed into orbita...

Collingwood, Robin George

(Encyclopedia)Collingwood, Robin George, 1889–1943, English philosopher and historian. From 1908 he was associated with Oxford as student, fellow, lecturer in history, and professor of philosophy. Collingwood bel...

chauvinism

(Encyclopedia)chauvinism shōˈvənĭzəm [key], word derived from the name of Nicolas Chauvin, a soldier of the First French Empire. Used first for a passionate admiration of Napoleon, it now expresses exaggerated...

Essex, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Essex. <1> Town (2020 pop. 6,733), Middlesex co., SE Conn., in the Connecticut River Valley. Three villages are incorporated into the town: the ...

Belgian horse

(Encyclopedia)Belgian horse, one of the largest breeds of draft horses of pure European descent. It has a long history, antedating the Christian era, but became especially popular during the Middle Ages. In the 15t...

Wöhler, Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Wöhler, Friedrich frēˈdrĭkh vöˈlər [key], 1800–1882, German chemist. He studied under the German chemist Leopold Gmelin and J. J. Berzelius, a Swedish chemist, and in 1836 was appointed profe...

Bergonzi, Carlo

(Encyclopedia)Bergonzi, Carlo, 1924–2014, Italian opera singer. He began his career as a baritone, debuting in 1948, but he made a second debut as a tenor in 1951 after realizing his voice was better suited to th...