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Bancroft, Anne

(Encyclopedia)Bancroft, Anne, 1931–2005, American actress, b. New York City as Anna Maria Italiano. Her New York stage debut in Two for the Seesaw (1958) was a major triumph. She was acclaimed for her performance...

Comonfort, Ignacio

(Encyclopedia)Comonfort, Ignacio ēgnäˈsyō kōmōnfôrtˈ [key], 1812–63, Mexican general and president (1855–58). He was one of the leaders in the Revolution of Ayutla, which in 1855 overthrew Santa Anna an...

Huffington, Arianna Stassinopoulos

(Encyclopedia) Huffington, Arianna Stassinopoulos, 1950- , Greek-American journalist and web entrepreneur, b. Athens, Greece, as Ariadne-Anna Stasinopoúlou,...

Sills, Beverly

(Encyclopedia)Sills, Beverly, 1929–2007, American coloratura soprano, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Belle Silverman. Her childhood career as a radio singer (when she was first nicknamed “Bubbles”) led to voice studie...

Romanov

(Encyclopedia)Romanov rōˈmənŏf, Rus. rəmäˈnəf [key], ruling dynasty of Russia from 1613 to 1917. The name Romanov was adopted in the 16th cent. by a family of boyars (great nobles) that traced its beginning...

Comnenus

(Encyclopedia)Comnenus kŏmnēˈnəs [key], family name of several Byzantine emperors—Isaac I, Alexius I, John II, Manuel I, Alexius II, and Andronicus I—who reigned in the 11th and 12th cent., and of the histo...

Pasadena

(Encyclopedia)Pasadena păsˌədēˈnə [key]. 1 City (1990 pop. 131,591), Los Angeles co., S Calif., at the base of the San Gabriel Mts.; inc. 1866. The city is a research and technological center with manufacture...

Foster, Jodie

(Encyclopedia)Foster, Jodie (Alicia Christian Foster), 1962–, American actress and film director, b. Los Angeles, Yale Univ. (B.A., 1985). A child model, she began ...

Peter III, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Peter III, 1728–62, czar of Russia (1762), son of Charles Frederick, dispossessed duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great. He succeeded to the throne on the death...

Vladimir I

(Encyclopedia)Vladimir I vŭlˌədyēˈmyĭr [key], or Saint Vladimir, d. 1015, first Christian grand duke of Kiev (c.980–1015); son of Sviatoslav. In 970, Vladimir was sent by his father to govern Novgorod. Afte...