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Hakam II, al-

(Encyclopedia)Hakam II, al- äl-häkämˈ [key], 914–76, Umayyad caliph of Córdoba (961–76), son and successor of Abd ar-Rahman III. In the early part of his reign he successfully waged war against the Christi...

French horn

(Encyclopedia)CE5 French horn French horn, brass wind musical instrument. Fundamentally a metal tube of narrow conical bore, it is curved into circles because of its great length. The horn ends in a wide flare....

Stephen II

(Encyclopedia)Stephen II, d. 757, pope (752–57), successor of Pope St. Zacharias. When Rome was threatened by the Lombard king Aistulf, Stephen went to Gaul and appealed to Pepin the Short for help. He became the...

Forain, Jean Louis

(Encyclopedia)Forain, Jean Louis zhäN lwē fôrăNˈ [key], 1852–1931, French painter, etcher, and lithographer. One of the foremost etchers of his day, Forain is best known for his political cartoons and social...

Murad II

(Encyclopedia)Murad II, 1403–51, Ottoman sultan (1421–51), son and successor of Muhammad I to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). He was opposed at his accession by a pretender, Mustafa, who rapidly gain...

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...

Ptolemy II

(Encyclopedia)Ptolemy II (Ptolemy Philadelphus) fĭlədĕlˈfəs [key], c.308–246 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (285–246 b.c.), of the Macedonian dynasty, son of Ptolemy I and Berenice (c.340–281 b.c.). He cont...

Andrew II

(Encyclopedia)Andrew II, d. 1235, king of Hungary (1205–35), son of Bela III. He continued his predecessors' policy of transferring crown lands to the magnates, and the lesser nobles forced him to issue the Golde...

Olaf II

(Encyclopedia)Olaf II (Saint Olaf), c.995–1030, king of Norway (1015–28). He is also called Olaf the Stout or Olaf the Fat. He spent part of his early life in England and helped Æthelred fight the Danes. He wa...

Maupertuis, Pierre Louis Moreau de

(Encyclopedia)Maupertuis, Pierre Louis Moreau de pyĕr lwē môrōˈ də mōpĕrtüēˈ [key], 1698–1759, French mathematician and astronomer. For his skillful support of Newton's theory he was admitted to the Ro...