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Dubček, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Dubček, Alexander äˌlĕksänˈdĕr do͝obˈchĕk [key], 1921–92, Czechoslovakian political leader. A member of the Slovakian national minority, he was active in the Communist underground in World...

Duarte, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Duarte dwärˈtə [key], 1391–1438, king of Portugal (1433–38), eldest of the five sons of John I. He was a “philosopher-king,” notable for his legal reforms and as the author of O leal consel...

Irvine, town, Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Irvine ûrˈvĭn [key], town, North Ayrshire, SW Scotland, on the Irvine River estuary. Indus...

Castrén, Matthias Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Castrén, Matthias Alexander mätēˈäs älĕksänˈdər kästrānˈ [key], 1813–52, Finnish philologist, one of the first scholars to study the Finno-Ugric languages. Castrén was long a professor...

Alfonso V, king of Aragón and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso V (Alfonso the Magnanimous), 1396–1458, king of Aragón and Sicily (1416–58) and of Naples (1443–58), count of Barcelona. He was the son of Ferdinand I, whom he succeeded in Aragón and ...

Fife, council area, Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Fife, council area (1993 est. pop. 351,200), 510 sq mi (1,322 sq km), and former county, E Scotland, between the Firth of Forth and the Firth of Tay. The land rises to 1,500 ft (457 m) in the Lomond H...

Brook, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Brook, Alexander, 1898–1980, American painter, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Brook's paintings, which are consistently realistic, include portraits, still-life subjects, landscapes, and figures. His color is su...

Michael, king of Romania

(Encyclopedia)Michael, 1921–2017, king of Romania (1927–30, 1940–47). His father, Prince Carol (later Carol II), renounced his right of succession in 1925, and young Michael ascended the throne under a regenc...

Nairn, town, Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Nairn nârn [key], town (1991 pop. 7,721), Highland, N Scotland, at the mouth of the Nairn River on Moray Firth. It is a tourist resort and fishing harbor. Other industries include dairy and crop farm...

Æthelred, king of Wessex

(Encyclopedia)Æthelred ĕˈthəlrĕd, ăˈ– [key], d.871, king of Wessex (865–71), son of Æthelwulf and brother of Alfred. He succeeded his brother Æthelbert as king of Wessex and as overlord of Kent and pos...