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West, Morris

(Encyclopedia)West, Morris (Morris Langlo West), 1916–99, Australian novelist, b. Melbourne. West's novels often reveal an interest in both Roman Catholicism and international politics, as reflected in his best-s...

West Glamorgan

(Encyclopedia)West Glamorgan gləmôrˈgən [key], former county, S Wales. Created in the 1974 reorganization of Welsh local government from portions of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, in the 1996 reorganization West ...

Louis XIV, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis XIV, 1638–1715, king of France (1643–1715), son and successor of King Louis XIII. Although he had a series of mistresses, Louis XIV finally came under the influence of Mme de Maintenon, wh...

West, Nathanael

(Encyclopedia)West, Nathanael, 1903–40, American novelist, whose real name was Nathan Weinstein, b. New York City, grad. Brown Univ., 1924. An innovative, highly original author, West revealed the sterility and g...

Wenceslaus I, king of Bohemia

(Encyclopedia)Wenceslaus I, d. 1253, king of Bohemia (1230–53), son and successor of Ottocar I. He invited large numbers of Germans to settle in the villages and towns of Bohemia and Moravia. In some villages pea...

Louis, Joe

(Encyclopedia)Louis, Joe (Joseph Louis Barrow) lo͞oˈĭs [key], 1914–81, American boxer, b. Lafayette, Ala. His father, a sharecropper, died when Louis was four years old, and in 1926 his stepfather took the fam...

West Chester

(Encyclopedia)West Chester, borough (1990 pop. 18,041), seat of Chester co., SE Pa., W of Philadelphia; inc. 1799. Primarily residential, West Chester was long the trade and processing center for an agricultural re...

West Bromwich

(Encyclopedia)West Bromwich brŭmˈĭj, –ĭch, brŏmˈwĭch [key], town, Sandwell borough, W central England. On the site of a 12th-century Benedictine priory, West Bromwich has foundries and engineering and chem...

Louis III, king of Naples

(Encyclopedia)Louis III, 1403–34, king of Naples (1417–34; rival claimant to Joanna II), duke of Anjou, count of Provence, son and successor of Louis II. He invaded Naples in 1420. Queen Joanna called in the ai...

John I, king of France

(Encyclopedia)John I or John the Posthumous, 1316, king of France, posthumous son of King Louis X. He lived only five days and was succeeded by his uncle, Philip V. According to legend, a dying child was substitute...