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Gang of Four

(Encyclopedia)Gang of Four, term of opprobrium given by the Chinese Communist authorities to four persons held responsible for the excesses of the Cultural Revolution (1966–69). They were also accused of trying t...

Gaon of Vilna

(Encyclopedia)Gaon of Vilna: see Elijah ben Solomon. ...

Gaunt, John of

(Encyclopedia)Gaunt, John of: see John of Gaunt. ...

Elizabeth of Valois

(Encyclopedia)Elizabeth of Valois vălˈwä, Fr. välwäˈ [key], 1545–68, queen of Spain, daughter of Henry II of France. Originally intended to wed Don Carlos, son of Philip II of Spain, she was married (1559) ...

Ely, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Ely, Isle of, region, Cambridgeshire, E central England. Ely is the chief town. The region has extensive fens, drained and devoted to the cultivation of sugar beets and vegetables. Pigs and poultry ar...

Emancipation, Edict of

(Encyclopedia)Emancipation, Edict of, 1861, the mechanism by which Czar Alexander II freed all Russian serfs (one third of the total population). All personal serfdom was abolished, and the peasants were to receive...

emergency, state of

(Encyclopedia)emergency, state of: see state of emergency. ...

Flavian of Antioch

(Encyclopedia)Flavian of Antioch ănˈtēŏk [key], d. 404, Catholic patriarch of Antioch. He succeeded St. Meletius. A rival claimant to the patriarchate, Evagrius, was illegally consecrated, but when Evagrius die...