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Possible definitions for abac

abacus
Calculating instrument that uses beads that slide along a series of wires or rods set in a frame to represent the decimal places. Probably of Babylonian origin, it is the ancestor of the modern digital calculator. Used by merchants in the Middle Ages throughout Europe and the Arabic world, it was gradually replaced by arithmetic based on Hindu-Arabic numerals. Though rarely used in Europe past the 18th cent., it is still used in the Middle East, China, and Japan.


ABC
Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. To avoid a communications monopoly, NBC was forced to sell the Blue network in 1941. Its buyer, Edward J. Noble, maker of Life-Savers candies, gave the company its present name. After merging with United Paramount Theaters in 1953, ABC expanded into the emerging television industry and soon became one of the three top networks. It specialized in sports broadcasting and developed the instant replay in 1961. It was bought by Capital Cities Communications in 1985 and by the Walt Disney Co. in 1995.


Aachen
City (pop., 1995 est.: 247,000), W Germany, southwest of Cologne. It was inhabited by Romans in the 1st cent. AD. A center of Carolingian culture, and the second city of Charlemagne's empire, it was the site of his great palace. The cathedral built by Charlemagne c.800 saw the coronation of most German kings of the 10th-16th cent.; his chapel, with his tomb, remains as part of the larger Gothic cathedral today. Aachen was part of France 1801-15. It is famous for its many spas.


Abbado
Italian conductor. Born in Milan, he studied piano at its conservatory before beginning to conduct in Vienna. He was long associated with La Scala (1968-86), as principal conductor and ultimately as artistic director, as well as with the Vienna Philharmonic. In 1989 he succeeded H. von Karajan as permanent conductor and artistic director of the Berlin Philharmonic. He is known for his commitment to adventurous programming, incl. much modern music.


Abbate
Italian painter. He was trained in Modena and developed his mature style under the influence of his contemporaries Correggio and Parmigianino in Bologna (1544-52). There he painted portraits and decorated palaces with frescoes of landscapes and figure compositions in the Mannerist style. In 1552 he was invited by Henry II of France to work under Primaticcio at the Palace of Fontainebleau, where he executed immense murals (most now lost). He remained in France the rest of his life. His mythological landscapes were a principal source of the French classical landscape tradition, and he was a precursor of Claude Lorrain and N. Poussin.


Abbe
U.S. meteorologist. Born in New York City, he was trained as an astronomer and appointed director of the Cincinnati Observatory in 1868. His interest turned to ...

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