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teleportation, in science fiction

(Encyclopedia)teleportation, in science fiction, the process of instantaneously transporting a person or an object between two points, usually by disappearing from one place and reappearing at a second place as a p...

Tordesillas, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Tordesillas, Treaty of tōrˌᵺāsēˈlyäs [key], 1494, agreement signed at Tordesillas, Spain, by which Spain and Portugal divided the non-Christian world into two zones of influence. In principle ...

Becher, Johannes Robert

(Encyclopedia)Becher, Johannes Robert yōhänˈəs rōˈbĕrt bĕkhˈər [key], 1891–1958, German poet and essayist. After an early association with the Expressionist movement, Becher turned to Communism. His ant...

Craig, Sir James Henry

(Encyclopedia)Craig, Sir James Henry, 1748–1812, British soldier, governor of Canada (1807–11), b. Gibraltar. He served in the British army from 1763, fighting in the American Revolution and later holding posts...

Flagg, Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Flagg, Ernest, 1857–1947, American architect, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris. The 45-story Singer Building in New York City, which he built in 1908, marked a revoluti...

Moreau, Jean-Michel

(Encyclopedia)Moreau, Jean-Michel môrōˈ [key], 1741–1814, French draftsman and engraver, called Moreau le jeune. He is noted for his charming illustrations of the work of Voltaire, Molière, and Rousseau and ...

Marmontel, Jean François

(Encyclopedia)Marmontel, Jean François zhäN fräNswäˈ märmôNtĕlˈ [key], 1723–99, French critic, dramatist, and story writer, contributor to Diderot's Encyclopédie. Educated by the Jesuits, he taught in J...

Massenet, Jules

(Encyclopedia)Massenet, Jules zhül mäsənāˈ [key], 1842–1912, French composer. He studied at the Paris Conservatory, where he taught from 1878 to 1896. In addition to many songs, several oratorios, and a numb...

Lady of the Lake

(Encyclopedia)Lady of the Lake, in Arthurian legend, a misty, supernatural figure endowed with magic powers, who gave the sword Excalibur to King Arthur. She inhabited a castle in an underwater kingdom. According t...

Stamma, Philip

(Encyclopedia)Stamma, Philip or Philipp, c.1705–55, Syrian-born chess pioneer. He lived in France and Italy before settling in England c.1737. There he attained a reputation as a fine chess player, popularized th...