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Lilburne, John

(Encyclopedia)Lilburne, John, 1614?–1657, English political leader and pamphleteer of the Levelers. He was tried before the court of the Star Chamber as early as 1638 for printing and distributing antiepiscopal w...

Lin Biao

(Encyclopedia)Lin Biao or Lin Piao both: lĭn byou [key], 1908–71, Chinese Communist general and political leader. Lin was trained at Whampoa Academy, and during the Northern Expedition he rose to company command...

Li Peng

(Encyclopedia)Li Peng lē pŭng [key], 1928–2019, Chinese Communist leader, premier of China (1988–98), b. Chengdu, Sichuan prov., China. Orphaned at age three when his father was executed by the Kuomintang, Li...

Khazars

(Encyclopedia)Khazars khäˈzärz [key], ancient Turkic people who appeared in Transcaucasia in the 2d cent. a.d. and subsequently settled in the lower Volga region. They emerged as a force in the 7th cent. and ros...

violet

(Encyclopedia)violet, common name for some members of the Violaceae, a family of chiefly perennial herbs (and sometimes shrubs, small trees, or climbers) found on all continents. Violets, including the genus Viola ...

Whitlam, Gough

(Encyclopedia)Whitlam, Gough gŏf [key], 1916–2014, Australian political leader. Edward Gough Whitlam studied law and entered practice near Sydney after serving in World War II. A member of the Labour party, he w...

Bar, Confederation of

(Encyclopedia)Bar, Confederation of, union formed in 1768 at Bar, in Podolia (now in W Ukraine), by a number of Polish nobles to oppose the interference of Catherine II of Russia in Polish affairs. Headed by the Pu...

Blum, Léon

(Encyclopedia)Blum, Léon lāôNˈ blo͝om [key], 1872–1950, French Socialist leader and writer. Well established in literary circles, he entered politics during the Dreyfus Affair and rose to party leadership. I...

Wriston, Walter Bigelow

(Encyclopedia)Wriston, Walter Bigelow, 1919–2005, American banker, b. Middletown, Conn., grad. Wesleyan (B.A., 1941); Fletcher School, Tufts Univ. (M.A., 1942). Widely considered the most important and influentia...

Saint Helens, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Saint Helens, Mount, volcanic peak, 8,363 ft (2,549 m; 9,677 ft/2,950 m before its 1980 eruption) high, SW Wash., historically the most active volcano in the Cascade Range. Dormant since 1857, Mt. St....