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Ahmad Shah

(Encyclopedia)Ahmad Shah äkhmädˈ shäˈ [key], c.1723–1773, Afghan ruler (1747–73), founder of the Durani dynasty. His success in commanding Afghan forces in India for Nadir Shah of Iran won him the rule of ...

Fuad I

(Encyclopedia)Fuad I (Ahmed Fuad Pasha) fo͞oädˈ [key], 1868–1936, first king of modern Egypt, son of the khedive Ismail Pasha. Educated in Europe, Fuad returned to Egypt in 1880. He was particularly concerned ...

Quito

(Encyclopedia)Quito kēˈtō [key], city (1990 pop. 1,100,847), N central Ecuador, capital of Ecuador and of Pichincha prov. After Guayaquil it is Ecuador's largest city. The setting of Quito is visually splendid: ...

Nara

(Encyclopedia)Nara näˈrä [key], city (1990 pop. 349,349), capital of Nara prefecture, S Honshu, Japan. An ancient cultural and religious center, it was founded in 706 by imperial decree and was modeled after Cha...

Kukawa

(Encyclopedia)Kukawa ko͞oˈkä [key], town, NE Nigeria. It is in a farming and salt-mining region. Kukawa was founded in 1814 by Muhammad al-Kanemi of the state of Bornu. The capital and chief commercial center of...

Marshall, Kerry James

(Encyclopedia)Marshall, Kerry James, 1955–, American painter, b. Birmingham, Ala., B.F.A. Otis Art Institute (now Otis College of Art and Design), Los Angeles, 1978. A figurative and narrative artist whose subjec...

Bellarmine, Saint Robert

(Encyclopedia)Bellarmine, Saint Robert bĕlärˈmĭn [key], 1542–1621, Italian theologian, cardinal, Doctor of the Church, and a principal influence in the Counter Reformation. His full name was Roberto Francesco...

Falla, Manuel de

(Encyclopedia)Falla, Manuel de mänwĕlˈ dā fäˈlyä [key], 1876–1946, Spanish composer; pupil of Felipe Pedrell. In Paris from 1907 to 1914, he met Debussy, Dukas, and Ravel, and was to some extent influenced...

pragmatic sanction

(Encyclopedia)pragmatic sanction, decision of state dealing with a matter of great importance to a community or a whole state and having the force of fundamental law. The term originated in Roman law and was used o...

More, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)More, Sir Thomas (Saint Thomas More), 1478–1535, English statesman and author of Utopia, celebrated as a martyr in the Roman Catholic Church. He received a Latin education in the household of Cardin...