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United Nations

(Encyclopedia)CE5 CE5 United Nations (UN), international organization established immediately after World War II. It replaced the League of Nations. In 1945, when the UN was founded, there were 51 members; 193...

Lémery, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Lémery, Nicolas nēkôläˈ lāmərēˈ [key], 1645–1715, French chemist. He was a pharmacist and lecturer in Paris and was the author of a standard textbook in chemistry (1675) and of a treatise o...

Bologna, University of

(Encyclopedia)Bologna, University of, at Bologna, Italy; founded in the 11th cent. It originated as a school where law books brought from Ravenna were interpreted. It has faculties of law, political science, econom...

European Monetary System

(Encyclopedia)European Monetary System, arrangement by which most nations of the European Union (EU) linked their currencies to prevent large fluctuations relative to one another. It was organized in 1979 to stabil...

alchemy

(Encyclopedia)alchemy ălˈkəmē [key], ancient art of obscure origin that sought to transform base metals (e.g., lead) into silver and gold; forerunner of the science of chemistry. Some scholars hold that it was ...

Maastricht

(Encyclopedia)Maastricht mäsˈtrĭkhtˌ [key], city (1994 pop. 118,102), capital of Limburg prov., SE Netherlands, on the Maas (Meuse) River and on the Albert Canal system. It is an important rail and river transp...

stucco

(Encyclopedia)stucco stŭkˈō [key], in architecture, a term loosely applied to various kinds of plasterwork, both exterior and interior. It now commonly refers to a plaster or cement used for the external coating...

ephemeris

(Encyclopedia)ephemeris ĭfĕmˈərĭs [key] (pl., ephemerides), table listing the position of one or more celestial bodies for each day of the year. The French publication Connaissance de Temps is the oldest of th...

Paris Pacts

(Encyclopedia)Paris Pacts, four international agreements signed in Paris on Oct. 23, 1954, to establish a new international status for West Germany. Since the end of World War II, West Germany had been occupied by ...

Kissinger, Henry Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Kissinger, Henry Alfred kĭsˈənjər [key], 1923–2023, American political scientist and U.S. secretary ...