(Encyclopedia) Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck, 1836–1911, English playwright and poet. He won fame as the librettist of numerous popular operettas, written in collaboration with the composer Sir…
(Encyclopedia) Alexander, 1888–1934, king of Yugoslavia (1921–34), son and successor of Peter I. Of the Karadjordjević family, he was educated in Russia and became crown prince of Serbia upon the…
1952 Dec. 4–7, London, England: high-pressure system settled over London, trapping pollution near the ground. Some 4,000 people died in “Great Smog,” mostly from respiratory and cardiac distress…
(Encyclopedia) GuptaGuptag&oobreve;pˈtə [key], Indian dynasty, a.d. c.320–c.550, whose empire at its height encompassed much of N India. Ancient Indian culture reached a high point during this…
(Encyclopedia) Scarlatti, AlessandroScarlatti, Alessandroälĕs-sänˈdrō skärlätˈtē [key], 1660–1725, Italian composer. He may have studied with Carissimi in Rome, where his first opera was produced in…
(Encyclopedia) Philip of SwabiaPhilip of Swabiaswāˈbēə [key], 1176?–1208, German king (1198–1208), son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. After the death (1197) of his brother, German King and Holy…
(Encyclopedia) Ottocar II or Přemysl Ottocar II, c.1230–1278, king of Bohemia (1253–78), son and successor of Wenceslaus I. Ottocar shrewdly exploited the disorders of the great interregnum in the…
WHY WERE EXAMS IMPORTANT IN CHINA? HOW DID BEIJING BECOME CHINA’S CAPITAL? WHO LIVED IN THE FORBIDDEN CITY? PORCELAINFIND OUT MOREFor more than 2,000 years, from 221 BC until AD 1912, China was…