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Polycarp, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Polycarp, Saint pŏlˈĭkärp [key], c.a.d. 70–a.d. 156?, Greek bishop of Smyrna, Father of the Church. He was a disciple of St. John, who appointed him bishop. Thus he linked the apostles and such ...

Oswald, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Oswald, Saint, d. 641, king of Northumbria (633–41), son of Æthelfrith. In exile during the reign of Edwin, Oswald and his brother Oswy became Christians. After Edwin's death Oswald defeated (633) ...

Peter, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Peter, Saint, d. a.d. 64?, most prominent of the Twelve Apostles, listed first in the Gospels, and traditionally the first bishop of Rome. His original name was Simon, but Jesus gave him the nickname ...

Mont-Saint-Michel

(Encyclopedia)Mont-Saint-Michel môN-săN-mēshĕlˈ [key], rocky isle (1993 est. pop. 72) in the Gulf of Saint-Malo, an arm of the English Channel, Manche dept., NW France, 1 mi (1.6 km) off the coast, near Avranc...

Bernardine of Siena, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Bernardine of Siena, Saint bûrˈnərdĭn, sēĕnˈə [key], 1380–1444, Italian preacher. He was a Franciscan of the Observant congregation and one of the most effective and most widely known preach...

China, Great Wall of

(Encyclopedia)China, Great Wall of: see Great Wall of China. ...

Great Lakes, North America

(Encyclopedia)Great Lakes, group of five freshwater lakes, central North America, creating a natural border between the United States and Canada and forming the largest body of freshwater in the world, with a combi...

Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park

(Encyclopedia)Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, c.13,500 sq mi (35,000 sq km; roughly the size of Belgium), the largest multinational park in S Africa and one of the largest parks in the world, in NE South Africa, ...

Great Salt Plains Dam

(Encyclopedia)Great Salt Plains Dam, on Salt Fork, a tributary of the Arkansas River, NW Okla., near Enid. The dam was authorized in 1936 as a federal project and completed in 1941. In a salt-encrusted plains area,...

Great Wall of China

(Encyclopedia)Great Wall of China, series of fortifications, c.3,890 mi (6,260 km) long (not including trenches and natural defensive barriers), winding across N China from Gansu prov. to Liaoning prov. The wall, r...