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Orlov, Grigori Grigoryevich, Count

(Encyclopedia)Orlov, Grigori Grigoryevich, Count grĭgôrˈyəvĭch, ərlôfˈ [key], 1734–83, Russian nobleman. One of the first lovers of Catherine II, he and his brother led the conspiracy that deposed Peter ...

Hijuelos, Oscar Jerome

(Encyclopedia)Hijuelos, Oscar Jerome ēhwāˈlōs [key], 1951–2013, Cuban-American novelist, b. New York City, grad. City College (B.A., 1975; M.F.A., 1976). The son of Cuban immigrants, he typically wrote about ...

Reynolds, Debbie

(Encyclopedia) Reynolds, Debbie, 1932-2016, American actress, singer, and dancer, b. El Paso, Tx., as Mary Frances Reynolds. Reynolds’ family relocated from El Paso...

Nikšić

(Encyclopedia)Nikšić nēkˈshĭch [key], city (2011 pop. 72,443), central Montenegro. It is the commercial center of an agricultural region. It is also an important industrial city with a steel mill, sawmill, iro...

Raymond IV, count of Toulouse

(Encyclopedia)Raymond IV, c.1038–1105, count of Toulouse (1093–1105), leader in the First Crusade (see Crusades). He was also count of Saint Gilles and marquis of Provence. The first great prince to take the Cr...

Trabzon

(Encyclopedia)Trabzon trĕbˈĭzŏndˌ [key], city (1990 pop. 144,805), capital of Trabzon prov., NE Turkey, a port on the Black Sea. A commercial and transportation center with renovated port facilities, it export...

Sicilian Vespers

(Encyclopedia)Sicilian Vespers, in Italian history, name given the rebellion staged by the Sicilians against the Angevin French domination of Sicily; the rebellion broke out at Palermo at the start of Vespers on Ea...

Comnenus

(Encyclopedia)Comnenus kŏmnēˈnəs [key], family name of several Byzantine emperors—Isaac I, Alexius I, John II, Manuel I, Alexius II, and Andronicus I—who reigned in the 11th and 12th cent., and of the histo...

eunuch

(Encyclopedia)eunuch yo͞oˈnĭk [key] [Gr.,=keeper of the couch], castrated human male, particularly a chamberlain of a harem in Asia. The custom of employing eunuchs as servants in wealthy or royal households is ...

Stephen Dušan

(Encyclopedia)Stephen Dušan or Dushan both: stĕˈfän do͞oˈshän [key], c.1308–1355, king (1331–46) and czar (1346–55) of Serbia, son of Stephen Uros III. He is also known as Stephen Uros IV. He was procl...