Indian emperorBorn: c. 321 B.C. Chandragupta was the founder of the Maurya dynasty, which ruled ancient India for about 140 years. His troops conquered one northern Indian kingdom after another and…
prevailed in Supreme Court caseDied: May 2, 2008Best Known as: A Black woman whose marriage to a white man led to a landmark Supreme Court ruling Deathplace: Central Point, Virginia In 1958, Mildred…
(Encyclopedia) Amherst, Jeffery Amherst, BaronAmherst, Jeffery Amherst, Baronămˈərst [key], 1717–97, British army officer. He served in the War of the Austrian Succession and in the early part of the…
(Encyclopedia) Irish literary renaissance, late 19th- and early 20th-century movement that aimed at reviving ancient Irish folklore, legends, and traditions in new literary works. The movement, also…
(Encyclopedia) Gandhi, IndiraGandhi, Indiraĭndēˈrə gänˈdē [key], 1917–84, Indian political leader; daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru. She served as an aide to her father, who was prime minister (1947–64…
(Encyclopedia) Jacob, FrançoisJacob, FrançoisfräNswäˈ zhäkôbˈ [key], 1920–2013, French biologist and geneticist, educated at the Sorbonne. His medical studies were interrupted by World War II. He…
(Encyclopedia) Kafka, FranzKafka, Franzfränts käfˈkä [key], 1883–1924, German-language novelist, b. Prague. Along with Joyce, Kafka is perhaps the most influential of 20th-century writers. From a…
(Encyclopedia) LaFontaine, Sir Louis HippolyteLaFontaine, Sir Louis Hippolyteləwēˈ ēpôlētˈ läfôNtĕnˈ [key], 1807–64, Canadian political leader, b. Lower Canada (now Quebec). A lawyer, he entered (…
(Encyclopedia) Zoellick, Robert BruceZoellick, Robert Brucezĕlˈlĭk [key], 1953–, U.S. government official and finance executive, b. Evergreen Park, Ill., grad. Swarthmore College (B.A., 1975),…