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Frederick William II

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William II, 1744–97, king of Prussia (1786–97), nephew and successor of Frederick II (Frederick the Great). He had the power but lacked the ability of his distinguished predecessors. He ...

Robinson, Lennox

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Lennox, 1886–1958, Irish dramatist. From 1910 to 1923 he was manager of the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, and he served as director there from 1923 until his death. The comedy The White Headed ...

Seven Sleepers of Ephesus

(Encyclopedia)Seven Sleepers of Ephesus ĕfˈĭsəs [key], in a Christian version of a widespread story, martyrs immured in a cave near Ephesus during the persecutions by Decius (c.250). Long afterward, in the 5th ...

Æthelbert, king of Kent

(Encyclopedia)Æthelbert ĕˈthəlbərt, ă– [key], d. 616, king of Kent (560?–616). Although defeated by the West Saxons in 568, he became the strongest ruler in England S of the Humber River. His wife, Bertha...

Mason, Lowell

(Encyclopedia)Mason, Lowell, 1792–1872, American composer and music educator, b. Medfield, Mass. While working as a bank clerk in Savannah, Ga., he helped compile an anthology that was published as The Boston Han...

Pius V, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Pius V, Saint, 1504–72, pope (1566–72), an Italian named Michele Ghislieri, b. near Alessandria; successor of Pius IV. He was ordained in the Dominicans (1528) and became celebrated for his auster...

Muziano, Girolamo

(Encyclopedia)Muziano, Girolamo jērōˈlämō mo͞otsyäˈnō [key], c.1528–1592, Italian mannerist painter, also known as Girolamo Bressano. His large painting, The Resurrection of Lazarus (Pinacoteca, Vatican)...

LeMond, Greg

(Encyclopedia)LeMond, Greg (Gregory James LeMond) ləmŏndˈ [key], 1961–, American cyclist, b. Los Angeles. In 1986, LeMond became the first American to win the Tour de France, a three-week, 2,500-mi (4,000-km) ...

Thomas of Celano

(Encyclopedia)Thomas of Celano chāläˈnō [key], fl. 13th cent., Italian Franciscan friar. One of the first companions of St. Francis, he wrote the two principal lives of St. Francis, one for Gregory IX and the o...

Vestris, Gaetan

(Encyclopedia)Vestris, Gaetan gäātäNˈ vĕsˈtrēs [key], 1729–1808, Italian-French classical dancer, b. Florence. Vestris was one of the greatest dancers of the 18th cent. Born of an Italian theatrical family...