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Abu al-Abbas as-Saffah

(Encyclopedia)Abu al-Abbas as-Saffah äˈbo͞o äl-äbäsˈ äs-säfäˈ [key], d. 754, 1st Abbasid caliph (749–54). Raised to the caliphate by the armed might of Abu Muslim, he took the reign name as-Saffah [she...

Mona Passage

(Encyclopedia)Mona Passage mōˈnä, –nə [key], strait, c.80 mi (130 km) wide, between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. Connecting the N Atlantic Ocean with the Caribbean Sea, it is a favored shipping lan...

Lismore, island, Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Lismore lĭzˈmôr, lĭzmôrˈ [key], island, 91⁄2 mi (15.3 km) long and 11⁄2 mi (2.4 km) wide, Argyll and Bute, W Scotland, in Loch Linnhe. There are ruins of several old castles, one of which wa...

Artaxerxes III

(Encyclopedia)Artaxerxes III, d. 338 b.c., king of ancient Persia (358–338 b.c.), son and successor of Artaxerxes II. He was originally named Ochus and is sometimes called Artaxerxes Ochus. He gained the throne b...

Ladislaus IV, king of Poland

(Encyclopedia)Ladislaus IV, 1595–1648, king of Poland (1632–48), son and successor of Sigismund III. His reign was marked by struggles with his subjects and wars with the Swedes, the Russians, and the Ottomans....

Kidman, Sir Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Kidman, Sir Sidney,1857–1935, Australian stockman, b. near Adelaide. He worked as a stockman and a drover in the outback of New South Wales before he began a business carting supplies to miners duri...

Robert of Courtenay

(Encyclopedia)Robert of Courtenay kôrtˈnē, ko͝ortənāˈ [key], d. 1228, Latin emperor of Constantinople (1218–28). His father, Peter of Courtenay, was elected by the Latin nobles to succeed Henry of Flanders...

Bibescu

(Encyclopedia)Bibescu –kô [key], Romanian noble family. A prominent member was George Bibescu, 1804–73, prince of Walachia (1842–48). The first to be elected to his post, he effected important financial refo...

Stuart, Ludovick, 2d duke of Lennox and duke of Richmond

(Encyclopedia)Stuart or Stewart, Ludovick, 2d duke of Lennox and duke of Richmond, 1574–1624, Scottish nobleman; son of Esmé Stuart, 1st duke of Lennox, and cousin of James VI of Scotland (James I of England). H...

Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma, Prince

(Encyclopedia)Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma, Prince, 1886–1934, son of Robert, last duke of Parma. While serving as an officer in the Belgian army, he was the intermediary for his brother-in-law, Emperor Charles I of A...