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Barclay, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Barclay, Alexander bärˈklē, –klā [key], 1475?–1552, Scottish clergyman and poet. Although the first to write pastoral eclogues in English, he is best known for The Ship of Fools (1509), a tran...

rebec

(Encyclopedia)rebec rēˈbĕk [key], one of the earliest forms of the violin. It was pear-shaped, had from three to five strings, and possessed a strident tone. Its use, which began in the 13th cent., was to play m...

Reid, Thomas Mayne

(Encyclopedia)Reid, Thomas Mayne (Mayne Reid), 1818–83, British novelist, b. Ireland. He emigrated to the United States in 1840 and after various adventures in the West served as a lieutenant in the Mexican War. ...

Sinding, Christian

(Encyclopedia)Sinding, Christian krĭsˈtyän sĭnˈdĭng [key], 1856–1941, Norwegian nationalist composer, best remembered for his lyrical, romantic piano works, including the popular Rustle of Spring. He also w...

Roberts, Sir Charles George Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Roberts, Sir Charles George Douglas, 1860–1943, Canadian author, b. New Brunswick. He was the first Canadian to be knighted for his work as a writer. He wrote over 67 works, of which the best-known ...

dice, in games and gambling

(Encyclopedia)dice [plural of die], small cubes used in games. They are usually made of ivory, bone, wood, plastic, or similar materials. The six sides are numbered by dots from 1 to 6, so placed that the sum of th...

Hrabal, Bohumil

(Encyclopedia)Hrabal, Bohumil, 1914–97, one of the most important and popular Czech writers of the 20th cent., b. Brünn, Austria-Hungary (now Brno, Czech Republic). After working at a number of jobs, he became a...

iceboating

(Encyclopedia)iceboating, sport of sailing a specially prepared boat equipped with runners over ice. The first iceboats were probably sailed by the Dutch during the 18th cent., although the Finns and Sami (Lapps) m...

melodrama

(Encyclopedia)melodrama [Gr.,=song-drama], originally a spoken text with musical background, as in Greek drama. The form was popular in the 18th cent., when its composers included Georg Benda, J. J. Rousseau, and W...

Aznar López, José María

(Encyclopedia)Aznar López, José María hōzāˈ märēˈə äsˈnär lōˈpās [key], 1953–, Spanish politician, prime minister of Spain (1996–2004), b. Madrid. Originally a lawyer and tax inspector, he joine...