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carding

(Encyclopedia)carding, process by which fibers are opened, cleaned, and straightened in preparation for spinning. The fingers were first used, then a tool of wood or bone shaped like a hand, then two flat pieces of...

Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Jacques Henri

(Encyclopedia)Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, Jacques Henri zhäk äNrēˈ bĕrnärdăNˈ də săN–pyĕrˈ [key], 1737–1814, French naturalist and author. He was a friend of Rousseau, by whom he was strongly influen...

Nicholas I, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas I, 1796–1855, czar of Russia (1825–55), third son of Paul I. His brother and predecessor, Alexander I, died childless (1825). Constantine, Paul's second son, was next in succession but ha...

Mikan, George Lawrence

(Encyclopedia)Mikan, George Lawrence mĭkˈən [key], 1924–2005, American basketball player, b. Joliet, Ill. After leading De Paul Univ. to the 1945 National Invitational Tournament title and being named All-Amer...

Le Sueur, Eustache

(Encyclopedia)Le Sueur, Eustache ləsüörˈ [key], 1616–55, French painter. He was a disciple of Vouet and a founding member of the Académie royale (1648). In his short life he painted many decorative works fo...

Mansfield, Sir Peter

(Encyclopedia)Mansfield, Sir Peter, 1933–2017, British physicist, Ph.D. Queen Mary College, London, 1962. He was a professor at the Univ. of Nottingham from 1964 to 1994. In 2003 Mansfield shared the Nobel Prize ...

Martin, Homer Dodge

(Encyclopedia)Martin, Homer Dodge, 1836–97, American landscape painter, b. Albany, N.Y. His earlier works are in the style of the Hudson River school, but after his stay in France (1881–86) his work showed the ...

Kaválla

(Encyclopedia)Kaválla or Cavala both: käväˈlä [key], city (1991 pop. 58,025), capital of Kaválla prefecture, NE Greece, in Macedonia; a port on the Gulf of Kaválla, an inlet of the Aegean Sea. Surrounded by ...

Guillén, Jorge

(Encyclopedia)Guillén, Jorge hôrˈhā gēlyānˈ [key], 1893–1984, Spanish poet. Guillén left Spain after the civil war (1939) and taught Spanish in the United States. His verse is difficult, terse, and lyrica...

Guéret

(Encyclopedia)Guéret gārāˈ [key], town, capital of Creuse dept., central France. It is a market center ...