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Laver, Rod

(Encyclopedia)Laver, Rod (Rodney George Laver) lāˈvər [key], 1938–, Australian tennis player. He left school at age 15 to pursue tennis and in 1962 became the first male grand-slam winner in tennis since Don B...

Cappello, Bianca

(Encyclopedia)Cappello, Bianca byängˈkä cäpĕlˈlō [key], 1548–87, grand duchess of Tuscany (1579–87). Of a noble Venetian family, she eloped (1563) with a Florentine, Pietro Bonaventuri, who was later kil...

Emmanuel Philibert

(Encyclopedia)Emmanuel Philibert āmänˈwĕl fēlēbĕrˈ [key], 1528–80, duke of Savoy (1553–80), called Ironhead. He succeeded his father, Charles III, who had been dispossessed of his duchy by Francis I of ...

Spoleto

(Encyclopedia)Spoleto spōlĕˈtō [key], city (1991 pop. 37,763), Umbria, central Italy. It is a light industrial and tourist center. An Umbrian and later an Etruscan town, the city flourished after being taken (2...

Brunswick, former state, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Brunswick brounˈshfīk [key], former state, central Germany, surrounded by the former Prussian provinces of Saxony, Hanover, and Westphalia. The region of Braunschweig is situated on the North German...

Medici, Ferdinand I de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Ferdinand I de', 1549–1609, grand duke of Tuscany (1587–1609); brother and successor of Francesco de' Medici. He was made a cardinal in his youth, and he built the famous Villa Medici at R...

Forbin, Claude, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Forbin, Claude, comte de klōd kôNt də fôrbăNˈ [key], 1656–1733, French naval commander. He fought in the Antilles (1680) and in Abraham Duquesne's Algerian campaign (1682–83) and from 1685 t...

Moscow, city, Russia

(Encyclopedia)Moscow mŏsˈkou, –kō [key], Rus. Moskva, city (1991 est. pop. 8,802,000), capital of Russia and of Moscow region and the administrative center of the Central federal district, W central European R...

Yaroslav

(Encyclopedia)Yaroslav (Yaroslav the Wise) yərəslävˈ [key], 978–1054, grand duke of Kiev (1019–54); son of Vladimir I. Designated by his father to rule in Novgorod, he became grand duke of Kiev after defeat...

Haute-Savoie

(Encyclopedia)Haute-Savoie ōt-sävwäˈ [key] department, E France, in the northern part of the old duchy of ...