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operetta

(Encyclopedia)operetta ŏpərĕtˈə [key], type of light opera with a frivolous, sentimental story, often employing parody and satire and containing both spoken dialogue and much light, pleasant music. In the earl...

Vorarlberg

(Encyclopedia)Vorarlberg fōrˌärlˈbĕrkh [key], province (1991 pop. 331,472), 1,004 sq mi (2,600 sq km), extreme W Austria, bordering on Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Germany. Bregenz, on the eastern shore of ...

William and Mary in Virginia, College of

(Encyclopedia)William and Mary in Virginia, College of, mainly at Williamsburg; state supported; coeducational; chartered 1693, opened 1694 by Episcopalians under James Blair. It became a university in 1779. The se...

Bouterse, Désiré Delano

(Encyclopedia)Bouterse, Désiré Delano, 1945–, Surinamese military and political leader, president of Suriname (2010–20). He received military training in the Netherlands and was stationed at a German military...

baud

(Encyclopedia)baud bôd, bōd [key], measure of the rate at which signals are transmitted over a telecommunications link. It is equivalent to the number of elements or pulses transmitted in one second, e.g., in com...

McClellan, George Brinton

(Encyclopedia)McClellan, George Brinton, 1826–85, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Philadelphia. After graduating (1846) from West Point, he served with distinction in the Mexican War and later worked ...

Mithradates VI

(Encyclopedia)Mithradates VI (Mithradates Eupator) mĭthrəkdāˈtēz [key], c.131 b.c.–63 b.c., king of Pontus, sometimes called Mithradates the Great. He extended his empire until, in addition to Pontus, he hel...

Kérkira

(Encyclopedia)Kérkira kôrˈfo͞o [key], Lat. Corcyra, island (1991 pop. 104,781), 229 sq mi (593 sq km), NW Greece, in the Ionian Sea, the second largest of the Ionian Islands, separated by a narrow channel from ...

Covenanters

(Encyclopedia)Covenanters kəvənănˈtərz [key], in Scottish history, groups of Presbyterians bound by oath to sustain each other in the defense of their religion. The first formal Covenant was signed in 1557, si...

Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess

(Encyclopedia)Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess côrnwälˈĭs [key], 1738–1805, English general and statesman. He was commissioned an ensign in the British army in 1756 and saw service in Europe in th...