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Blenheim Park

(Encyclopedia)Blenheim Park, estate, Oxfordshire, central England, near Woodstock. The stately Blenheim Palace was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and stands on spacious grounds that included entensive formal gardens...

Blunt, James Gilpatrick

(Encyclopedia)Blunt, James Gilpatrick, 1826–81, American physician and Union general in the Civil War, b. Hancock co., Maine. He practiced medicine in Ohio and later in Kansas, where he became associated with Joh...

birthmark

(Encyclopedia)birthmark, pigmented maldevelopment of the skin that varies in size, either present at birth or developing later. Birthmarks may appear as moles (melanocytic nevi) that vary in color from light brown ...

John XXII, pope

(Encyclopedia)John XXII, 1244–1334, pope (1316–34), a Frenchman (b. Cahors) named Jacques Duèse; successor of Clement V. Formerly, he was often called John XXI. He reigned at Avignon. John was celebrated as a ...

May, Elaine

(Encyclopedia) May, Elaine, 1932-, American actress, film director, and writer, b. Philadelphia, Pa., as Elaine Iva Berlin. May’s parents were both actors; her fat...

Lefèvre d'Étaples, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Lefèvre d'Étaples, Jacques zhäk ləfăvˈrə dātäpˈlə [key], c.1450–1536, French theologian and humanist. A priest, he studied in Italy, where he was influenced by Neoplatonism. In 1507, he w...

Poltava

(Encyclopedia)Poltava pəltäˈvə [key], city (1989 pop. 315,000), capital of Poltava region, E Ukraine, on the Kiev-Kharkiv highway and on the Vorskla River, a tributary of the Dnieper. It is an industrial center...

Vatican Library

(Encyclopedia)Vatican Library or Vatican Apostolic Library, in Rome, founded in the 4th cent. but dormant until given new life in the 15th cent. by Pope Nicholas V. It is the oldest public library in Europe and one...

bat

(Encyclopedia)bat, winged mammal of the order Chiroptera, which includes 900–1,000 species classified in about 200 genera and 17 families. Bats range in size from a wingspread of over 5 ft (150 cm) to a wingsprea...

Hawkes, John

(Encyclopedia)Hawkes, John (John Clendennin Burne Hawkes, Jr.), 1925–98, American writer, b. Stamford, Conn., grad. Harvard, 1949. He taught English at Brown Univ. after 1958. Hawkes is considered one of the most...