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Hippocrates

(Encyclopedia)Hippocrates hĭpŏkˈrətēz [key], c.460–c.370 b.c., Greek physician, recognized as the father of medicine. He is believed to have been born on the island of Cos, to have studied under his father, ...

Helen

(Encyclopedia)Helen, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women; daughter of Leda and Zeus, and sister of Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra. While still a young girl Helen was abducted to Attica by Theseus an...

LaGuardia, Fiorello Henry

(Encyclopedia)LaGuardia, Fiorello Henry fēərĕlˈō, ləgwärˈdēə [key], 1882–1947, U.S. public official, congressman, and mayor of New York City (1934–45), b. New York City. He spent his early years in Ar...

Pisano, Nicola

(Encyclopedia)Pisano, Nicola pēzäˈnō [key], b. c.1220, d. between 1278 and 1287, major Italian sculptor, believed to have come from Apulia. He founded a new school of sculpture in Italy. His first great work w...

Xi'an

(Encyclopedia)Xi'an shēˈänˈ, sēˈ– [key], city (1994 est. pop. 2,114,900), capital of Shaanxi prov., China, in the Wei River valley. Situated on the Longhai RR, China's principal east-west line, it is an imp...

birth defects

(Encyclopedia)birth defects, abnormalities in physical or mental structure or function that are present at birth. They range from minor to seriously deforming or life-threatening. A major defect of some type occurs...

Lower Burrell

(Encyclopedia)Lower Burrell bərĕlˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 12,251), Westmoreland co., SW Pa., 20 mi (32 km) NE of Pittsburgh; inc. 1959. The city's steel-based economy declined in the 1970s and 80s, but some stee...

Symplegades

(Encyclopedia)Symplegades sĭmplĕgˈədēz [key], in Greek mythology, two floating cliffs that swung together and crushed anything going between them until Jason's ship, the Argo, passed safely through them. They ...

Rhode Island Red chicken

(Encyclopedia)Rhode Island Red chicken, American breed of poultry, no longer raised commercially, but still maintained for use in breeding programs. See Red Rock chicken. ...

Dutch art

(Encyclopedia)Dutch art, the art of the region that is now the Netherlands. As a distinct national style, this art dates from about the turn of the 17th cent., when the country emerged as a political entity and dev...