Born: 1843Birthplace: Colchester, Ontario, Canada Improvement in lubricators for steam engines—McCoy, a mechanical engineer from Detroit, Mich., developed an automatic lubricator that provided a…
playwrightBorn: 7/3/1937Birthplace: Gottwaldov, Czechoslovakia Tony Award-winning playwright known for his dazzling wordplay and clever constructions. His plays include Rosencrantz and…
(Donna Gaines)singerBorn: 12/31/1948Birthplace: Boston Grammy Award-winning singer who was disco's diva and, surviving the period, emerged as a 1980s pop star. Her recordings include Bad Girls (…
(Encyclopedia) Leo IX, Saint, 1002–54, pope (1049–54), a German named Bruno of Toul, b. Alsace; successor of Damasus II. A relative of Holy Roman Emperor Henry III, he was educated at Toul and was…
(Encyclopedia) Meyerbeer, GiacomoMeyerbeer, Giacomojäˈkōmō mīˈyərbĕr [key], 1791–1864, German operatic composer. He traveled in Italy and experimented in various styles of composition, but his real…
(Encyclopedia) María LuisaMaría Luisamärēˈä [key]María Luisal&oomacr;ēˈsä [key], 1751–1819, queen of Spain, daughter of Duke Philip of Parma, consort of King Charles IV. Dissolute and…
(Encyclopedia) Martinelli, Ricardo (Ricardo Alberto Martinelli Berrocal) 1952–, Panamanian business executive and political leader. The son of Italian immigrants, he became the head of a successful…
(Encyclopedia) Kamprad, Ingvar Feodor, 1926–, Swedish business executive. In 1943 he founded IKEA, which began selling low-priced furniture in 1947. In the 1950s the company began designing its own…
(Encyclopedia) hallucination, false perception characterized by a distortion of real sensory stimuli. Common types of hallucination are auditory, i.e., hearing voices or noises and visual, i.e.,…