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Levittown

(Encyclopedia)Levittown lĕvˈət-tounˌ [key]. 1 Uninc. residential city (1990 pop. 53,286), Nassau co., SE N.Y., on Long Island; founded 1947. Originally about 7 sq mi (18 sq km) of potato fields, it was develope...

Halley's comet

(Encyclopedia)Halley's comet or Comet Halley hălˈē, hāˈlē [key], periodic comet named for Edmond Halley, who observed it in 1682 and identified it as the one observed in 1531 and 1607. Halley did not live to ...

Bavarian Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Bavarian Succession, War of the, between Austria and Prussia, 1778–79. With the extinction of the Bavarian line of the house of Wittelsbach on the death of Elector Maximilian Joseph in 1777, the duc...

gum tree

(Encyclopedia)gum tree, name for the eucalyptus (see myrtle) in Australia and for several other trees, e.g., the sweet gum, of the family Hamamelidaceae (witch hazel family), and the black gum or tupelo in North Am...

benedictine

(Encyclopedia)benedictine bĕnədĭkˈtēn [key], sweet liqueur originated in 1510 by Benedictine monks at Fécamp, France, and now manufactured by a secular concern on the grounds of the old abbey. Every bottle be...

violet

(Encyclopedia)violet, common name for some members of the Violaceae, a family of chiefly perennial herbs (and sometimes shrubs, small trees, or climbers) found on all continents. Violets, including the genus Viola ...

Marsala

(Encyclopedia)Marsala märsäˈlä [key], city (1991 pop. 80,177), W Sicily, Italy, a port on the Mediterranean Sea, located on Cape Boeo. It is noted for its sweet wine. The ancient Lilybaeum, it was later renamed...

Gwyn, Nell

(Encyclopedia)Gwyn or Gwynn, Nell (Eleanor Gwyn), 1650–87, English actress. Once an orange-seller at the Theatre Royal, she became a member of Killigrew's company, making her debut there in 1665. Her charm and vi...

spurge

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Snow-on-the-mountain, Euphorbia marginata spurge spûrj [key], common name for members of the Euphorbiaceae, a family of herbs, shrubs, and trees of greatly varied structure and almost cosmopo...

Jackson, Maynard Holbrook, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Maynard Holbrook, Jr., 1938–2003, American politician, b. Dallas, Tex., grad. Morehouse College (B.A., 1956), North Carolina Central Univ. (J.D., 1964). Jackson, a Democratic lawyer with a ...