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Nadab

(Encyclopedia)Nadab nāˈdăb [key]. 1 Aaron's eldest son, set apart for the priesthood. The exact nature of the transgression (“offering strange fire”) for which he and his brother Abihu died is not clear. 2 K...

Mustafa IV

(Encyclopedia)Mustafa IV, 1778–1808, Ottoman sultan (1807–8), son of Abd al-Hamid I. He was raised to the throne by the reactionary Janissaries who had deposed Mustafa's cousin, Selim III, because they opposed ...

Guntram

(Encyclopedia)Guntram gŭnˈtrəm [key], c.525–592, Frankish king of Burgundy and Orléans (561–92), son of Clotaire I. He intervened in the wars of his relatives in order to maintain the balance of power in th...

Golden Dawn, Hermetic Order of the

(Encyclopedia)Golden Dawn, Hermetic Order of the, occult-oriented fraternal organization established by the Freemasons in England (1888), led by S. L. MacGregor Mathers (1854–1917). The order's rituals were deriv...

Gerard, James Watson

(Encyclopedia)Gerard, James Watson jərärdˈ [key], 1867–1951, U.S. ambassador to Germany (1913–17), b. Geneseo, N.Y. As ambassador, he handled many delicate negotiations, including those concerning the German...

Galois, Évariste

(Encyclopedia)Galois, Évariste āvärēstˈ gälwäˈ [key], 1811–32, French mathematician. At the age of 17 he had evolved original concepts on the theory of algebra. He made important contributions to the theo...

Justin II

(Encyclopedia)Justin II, d. 578, Byzantine emperor (565–78), nephew and successor to Justinian I. He allied himself with the Turks and resumed the wars with Persia. During his reign Slavs and Avars attacked the e...

Alfonso II, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso II (Alfonso the Fat), 1185–1223, king of Portugal (1211–23), son and successor of Sancho I. His reign was spent in struggles with the church and his brothers and sisters, to whom his fathe...

Duncan, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Duncan, Robert, 1919–88, American poet, b. Oakland, Calif. He was a leading poet of the San Francisco renaissance during the late 1940s. His lyric style contains private allusions, gaps in syntax, a...

Currie, Sir Arthur William

(Encyclopedia)Currie, Sir Arthur William, 1875–1933, Canadian commander in World War I. He made a distinguished record for himself in World War I as a brigade and division commander, particularly at Ypres (1915) ...