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Lilienthal, Otto

(Encyclopedia)Lilienthal, Otto ôˈtō lēˈlyəntäl [key], 1848–96, German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer in his experiments with gliders. He made major developments in the glider based on his observations of...

Leo I, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo I, d. 474, Byzantine or East Roman emperor (457–74). Chosen by the senate to succeed Marcian, he sought to counteract the preponderance of Germans in the Roman army by enlisting Isaurians. A nav...

Philip II, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Philip II or Philip Augustus, 1165–1223, king of France (1180–1223), son of Louis VII. During his reign the royal domains were more than doubled, and the royal power was consolidated at the expens...

Manuel I, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Manuel I (Manuel Comnenus) kŏmnēˈnəs [key], c.1120–1180, Byzantine emperor (1143–80), son and successor of John II. He began his reign with a war against the Seljuk Turks, the subjugation of R...

Theodore II , Byzantine emperor of Nicaea

(Encyclopedia)Theodore II (Theodore Lascaris), 1222–58, Byzantine emperor of Nicaea (1254–58), son and successor of John III. He fought the Bulgarians and temporarily regained parts of Thrace. He made Nicaea a ...

orders, holy

(Encyclopedia)orders, holy [Lat. ordo,=rank], in Christianity, the traditional degrees of the clergy, conferred by the Sacrament of Holy Order. The episcopacy, priesthood or presbyterate, and diaconate were in gene...

Shapur II

(Encyclopedia)Shapur II or Sapor II, 310–79, king of Persia (310–79), of the Sassanid, or Sassanian, dynasty. He was the posthumous son of Hormuz II and therefore was born king. His long reign was marked by gre...

Holy Week

(Encyclopedia)Holy Week, week before Easter. Its chief days are named Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday. In Christian life it is a week of devout observance, commemorating the Passion and...

Nicolai, Otto

(Encyclopedia)Nicolai, Otto ôˈtō nēkōläˈē, nēˈkōlī [key], 1810–49, German composer. His opera Il Templario (1840), after Scott's Ivanhoe, was successful, but his masterpiece was the comic opera The Me...

Eberhard

(Encyclopedia)Eberhard āˈbərhärtˌ [key], d. 939, duke of Franconia; brother of the German king, Conrad I, whom he succeeded as duke. The first to rebel against the centralizing policy of Holy Roman Emperor Ott...