Born: 9/24/1902Birthplace: Palermo, Sicily, Italy Head of the Gambino crime family in New York City from 1957 until his death, Carlo Gambino was one of the most powerful mob bosses of his era. In…
(Encyclopedia) IshtarIshtarĭshˈtär [key], ancient fertility deity, the most widely worshiped goddess in Babylonian and Assyrian religion. She was worshiped under various names and forms. Most…
(Encyclopedia) GyanendraGyanendragyänĕnˈdrə [key], 1947–, last king of Nepal (2001–8). Second son of King Mahendra (r. 1955–72) and brother of King Birendra (r. 1972–2001), Gyanendra was a…
(Encyclopedia) Grail, Holy, a feature of medieval legend and literature. It appears variously as a chalice, a cup, or a dish and sometimes as a stone or a caldron into which a bleeding lance drips.…
(Encyclopedia) Fuad I (Ahmed Fuad Pasha)Fuad If&oomacr;ädˈ [key], 1868–1936, first king of modern Egypt, son of the khedive Ismail Pasha. Educated in Europe, Fuad returned to Egypt in 1880. He…
(Encyclopedia) García Moreno, GabrielGarcía Moreno, Gabrielgäbrēĕlˈ gärsēˈä mōrāˈnō [key], 1821–75, president of Ecuador (1861–65, 1869–75), b. Guayaquil. A conservative with deep religious…
(Encyclopedia) Muhammad V or Mehmet V, 1844–1918, Ottoman sultan (1909–18). He succeeded to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) when the liberal Young Turk revolution of 1909 deposed his…
(Encyclopedia) Oli, K. P. Sharma (Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli), 1952–, Nepalese political leader. Opposed to the antidemocratic Nepalese monarchy, he joined the Nepal Communist party (1970), was…
(Encyclopedia) Marprelate controversyMarprelate controversymärˈprĕlˌĭt [key], a 16th-century English religious argument. Martin Marprelate was the pseudonym under which appeared several Puritan…
(Encyclopedia) LiutprandLiutprandlē&oomacr;tˈprănd [key], d. 744, king of the Lombards (712–44). Under his rule the Lombard kingdom of Italy reached its zenith. The first Christian Lombard ruler…
