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Luxembourg, city, Luxembourg

(Encyclopedia)Luxembourg or Luxemburg, city (1991 pop. 75,377), capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, S Luxembourg, at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers. It is a commercial, banking, industrial...

Williams, Venus Ebone Starr

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Venus Ebone Starr, 1980–, b. Lynwood, Calif., and Serena Jameka Williams, 1981–, b. Saginaw, Mich., African-American tennis players. Coached by their father, Richard, both sisters turned...

Laver, Rod

(Encyclopedia)Laver, Rod (Rodney George Laver) lāˈvər [key], 1938–, Australian tennis player. He left school at age 15 to pursue tennis and in 1962 became the first male grand-slam winner in tennis since Don B...

Cappello, Bianca

(Encyclopedia)Cappello, Bianca byängˈkä cäpĕlˈlō [key], 1548–87, grand duchess of Tuscany (1579–87). Of a noble Venetian family, she eloped (1563) with a Florentine, Pietro Bonaventuri, who was later kil...

Medici, Ferdinand I de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Ferdinand I de', 1549–1609, grand duke of Tuscany (1587–1609); brother and successor of Francesco de' Medici. He was made a cardinal in his youth, and he built the famous Villa Medici at R...

Magliabechi, Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Magliabechi, Antonio äntôˈnyō mälyäbĕˈkē [key], 1633–1714, Italian librarian, b. Florence. Magliabechi was a trained goldsmith who devoted his life to learning, and mastered Greek, Latin, a...

Forbin, Claude, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Forbin, Claude, comte de klōd kôNt də fôrbăNˈ [key], 1656–1733, French naval commander. He fought in the Antilles (1680) and in Abraham Duquesne's Algerian campaign (1682–83) and from 1685 t...

Frederick Augustus I, 1750–1827, king and elector of Saxony

(Encyclopedia)Frederick Augustus I, 1750–1827, king (1806–27) and elector (1763–1806) of Saxony, grand duke of Warsaw (1807–14). He sided with the allies in the French Revolutionary Wars and joined Prussia ...

Shenandoah valley

(Encyclopedia)Shenandoah valley, part of the Great Valley of the Appalachians, c.150 mi (240 km) long, N Va., located between the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny mts. The valley is divided into two parts by Massanutte...

Colter, John

(Encyclopedia)Colter, John kōlˈtər [key], c.1775–1813, American trapper and guide, b. Virginia. In 1803 he enlisted in the Lewis and Clark expedition and in 1806, on the return trip, was granted a discharge to...