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Brewer's: Fiasco

A failure, a mull. In Italy they cry Olà, olà, fiasco! to an unpopular singer. This word, common in France and Germany, is employed as the opposite of furore. The history of the word is as…

Fredericksburg, battle of

(Encyclopedia) Fredericksburg, battle of, in the Civil War, fought Dec. 13, 1862, at Fredericksburg, Va. In Nov., 1862, the Union general Ambrose Burnside moved his three “grand divisions” under W. B…

John XXII, pope

(Encyclopedia) John XXII, 1244–1334, pope (1316–34), a Frenchman (b. Cahors) named Jacques Duèse; successor of Clement V. Formerly, he was often called John XXI. He reigned at Avignon. John was…

Kertész, Imre

(Encyclopedia) Kertész, ImreKertész, Imreĭmˈrĕ [key]Kertész, Imre kĕrtĕshˈ [key], 1929–2016, Hungarian novelist, b. Budapest. Of Jewish descent, as a teenager Kertész spent two years in the Auschwitz…

Brooks, Garth

(Encyclopedia) Brooks, Garth , 1962- , American country singer/songwriter, b. Luba, OK, Oklahoma State Univ. (B.A., 1984). Brooks's mother was a…

Burnside, Ambrose Everett

(Encyclopedia) Burnside, Ambrose Everett, 1824–81, Union general in the U.S. Civil War, b. Liberty, Ind. He saw brief service in the Mexican War and remained in the army until 1853, when he entered…

Brewer's: Fiars

Striking the fiars. Taking the average price of corn. Fiars is a Gothic word, still current in Ireland. (Scotch law.) Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer,…

Brewer's: Fiat

I give my fiat to that proposal. I consent to it. A flat in law is an order of the court directing that something stated be done. (Latin, fiat, let it be done.) Source: Dictionary of…

cold fusion

(Encyclopedia) cold fusion or low-temperature fusion, nuclear fusion of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, at or relatively near room temperature. Fusion, the reaction involved in the release of the…

Robert Maxwell

Name at Birth: Jan Ludvick HochRobert Maxwell was a British publishing baron of the 1980s and for a short time one of the world's most prominent media moguls. Born to poor Jewish parents in the…