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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…

dog racing

(Encyclopedia) dog racing, trials of speed between dogs. Now contested on oval tracks, the sport developed from the ancient practice of coursing, in which specially trained dogs chase game animals in…

ship of the line

(Encyclopedia) ship of the line, large, square-rigged warship, carrying from 70 to 140 guns on two or more completely armed gun decks. In the great naval wars of the 17th, 18th, and early 19th cent…

Stonington

(Encyclopedia) StoningtonStoningtonstōnˈĭngtən [key], town (1990 pop. 16,919), New London co., extreme SE Conn., on a peninsula jutting into Long Island Sound; settled 1649 from Plymouth, inc. 1662.…

Powell, William

(Encyclopedia) Powell, William, 1892–1984, American movie actor, b. Pittsburgh. Powell made his stage debut in 1912. He played the dapper villain in such early films as Sherlock Holmes (1921), Romola…

Titus , in the Bible

(Encyclopedia) Titus, in the Bible, early Christian, a missionary and friend of St. Paul. According to later tradition he was a bishop in Crete.

lily of the valley

(Encyclopedia) lily of the valley, common name for either of the two species of Convallaria, spring-blooming perennials of the family Liliaceae (lily family). C. majalis, the species usually in…

Oratory, Congregation of the

(Encyclopedia) Oratory, Congregation of the [Lat. abbr., Cong. Orat.], in the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1575, an association of secular priests organized into independent communities…

Marne, battle of the

(Encyclopedia) Marne, battle of the, two important battles of World War I that are named for the Marne River. In the first battle (Sept. 6–9, 1914) the German advance on Paris was halted at the Marne…

Four Forest Cantons, the

(Encyclopedia) Four Forest Cantons, the, Ger. Die Vier Waldstätten, in central Switzerland, the cantons of Unterwalden, Schwyz, Uri, and Lucerne, the first Swiss communities to win their freedom…