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Eco, Umberto

(Encyclopedia)Eco, Umberto əmbĕrˈtō ĕcō [key], 1932–2016, Italian novelist, essayist, and semiotics scholar. His first novel, the best-selling Il nome della rosa (1980; tr. The Name of the Rose, 1983, film ...

Shirley, Sir Anthony

(Encyclopedia)Shirley or Sherley, Sir Anthony, 1565–1636?, English adventurer. He fought in the Netherlands (1586) under the earl of Leicester and in France (1591) under the earl of Essex, who became his patron. ...

poor law

(Encyclopedia)poor law, in English history, legislation relating to public assistance for the poor. Early measures to relieve pauperism were usually designed to suppress vagrancy and begging. In 1601, England passe...

Bakocz, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Bakocz or Bakacs, Thomas tŏˈmäsh [key], c.1442–1521, Hungarian politician, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is often called the Hungarian Wolsey. Of unbounded ambition, he rose from serv...

Salton Sea

(Encyclopedia)Salton Sea sôlˈtən [key], saline lake, 370 sq mi (958 sq km), northern part of the Imperial Valley, SE Calif.; 232 ft (71 m) below sea level. The area was anciently the northern part of the Gulf of...

Sana

(Encyclopedia)Sana, San'a, or Sanaa sŏnäˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 954,448), capital and largest city of Yemen. The city lies inland on a high plain (alt. 7,250 ft/2,210 m) and is connected to the Red Sea port of...

Tromp, Maarten Harpertszoon

(Encyclopedia)Tromp, Maarten Harpertszoon trômp [key], 1597–1653, Dutch admiral. A sailor from childhood, he joined the navy and rose to the rank of lieutenant admiral in 1637. In 1639, by remarkable tactics, h...

transept

(Encyclopedia)transept trănˈsĕptˌ [key], term applied to the transverse portion of a building cutting its main axis at right angles or to each arm of such a portion. Transepts are found chiefly in churches, whe...

Thieu, Nguyen Van

(Encyclopedia)Thieu, Nguyen Van nəwēˈĕn vän tēˈo͞o, tyo͞o [key], 1924–2001, president of the former Republic of South Vietnam (1967–75). After World War II, he joined the Viet Minh, but then left it to...

thistle

(Encyclopedia)thistle, popular name for many spiny and usually weedy plants, but especially applied to members of the family Asteraceae (aster family) that have spiny leaves and often showy heads of purple, rose, w...