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ballad

(Encyclopedia)ballad, in literature and music, short, narrative poem or song usually relating a single, dramatic event. Two forms of the ballad are often distinguished—the folk ballad, dating from about the 12th ...

Messenia

(Encyclopedia)Messenia mĕsēˈnēə [key], ancient region of SW Greece, in the Peloponnesus and corresponding to the modern nome of Messinías. Excavation has revealed an important center of Mycenaean culture at P...

Lüneburg

(Encyclopedia)Lüneburg lüˈnəbo͝orgər hīˈdə [key], a vast heath, SW of Lüneburg, lies between the Elbe and Aller rivers. It is a sandy region; sheep are raised and petroleum is produced. Parts of the heath...

Kan, Naoto

(Encyclopedia)Kan, Naoto, 1946–, Japanese political leader, grad. Tokyo Institute of Technology (1970). A civic activist and long-time opponent of the Liberal Democratic party, he first was elected to the Diet in...

Greenwich Village

(Encyclopedia)Greenwich Village grĕnˈĭch [key], residential district of lower Manhattan, New York City, extending S from 14th St. to Houston St. and W from Washington Square to the Hudson River. North of the mai...

Fletcher, John

(Encyclopedia)Fletcher, John, 1579–1625, English dramatist, b. Rye, Sussex, educated at Cambridge. A member of a prominent literary family, he began writing for the stage about 1606, first with Francis Beaumont, ...

New Siberian Islands

(Encyclopedia)New Siberian Islands, Rus. Novosibirskiye Ostrova, archipelago, c.10,900 sq mi (28,200 sq km), N Siberian Russia, in the Arctic Ocean between the Laptev and East Siberian seas, part of the Sakha Repub...

Norfolk, county, England

(Encyclopedia)Norfolk nôrˈfək [key], county (1991 pop. 736,700), 2,054 sq mi (5,320 sq km), E England. The county seat is Norwich. Administratively, Norfolk is divided into the districts of Great Yarmouth, North...

Van

(Encyclopedia)Van vän [key], city (1990 pop. 153,525), capital of Van prov., E Turkey, near the eastern shore of Lake Van, at an altitude of 5,659 ft (1,725 m). It is the trade center for a fruit- and grain-growin...

tanning

(Encyclopedia)tanning, process by which skins and hides are converted into leather. Vegetable tanning, a method requiring more than a month even with modern machinery and tanning liquors, employs tannin; its use is...