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Mendeleev, Dmitri Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Mendeleev, Dmitri Ivanovich mĕndəlāˈəf, Rus. dəmēˈtrē ēväˈnəvĭch myĭndyĭlyāˈəf [key], 1834–1907, Russian chemist. He is famous for his formulation (1869) of the periodic law and t...

William II, king of the Netherlands

(Encyclopedia)William II, 1792–1849, king of the Netherlands and grand duke of Luxembourg (1840–49), son and successor of William I. He served with Wellington in the Peninsular War, was wounded at Waterloo, and...

Cantacuzene

(Encyclopedia)Cantacuzene känˈtäko͞ozēˈnô [key], noble Romanian family of Greek origin, tracing its descent from the Byzantine emperor John VI (John Cantacuzene). Under Ottoman rule members of the family wer...

Grossman, Vasily Semenovich

(Encyclopedia)Grossman, Vasily Semenovich, 1905–64, Russian novelist and journalist, b. Berdichev (now Berdychiv, Ukraine). He graduated (1929) from Moscow State Univ., published novels and short stories, and bec...

Pale

(Encyclopedia)Pale. 1 In Irish and English history, that district of indefinite and varying limits around Dublin, in which English law prevailed. The term was first used in the 14th cent. to designate what had prev...

Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot, duke of shrōzˈbərē, shro͞ozˈ– [key], 1660–1718, English statesman. Brought up a Roman Catholic, he embraced Protestantism in 1679. A powerful Whig, he was one of ...

Kars

(Encyclopedia)Kars kärs [key], city (1990 pop. 79,496), capital of Kars prov., E Turkey, in Armenia, on the Kars River. Its manufactures include textiles, carpets, and food products. The city is linked by rail to ...

Lexington and Concord, battles of

(Encyclopedia)Lexington and Concord, battles of, opening engagements of the American Revolution, Apr. 19, 1775. After the passage (1774) of the Intolerable Acts by the British Parliament, unrest in the colonies inc...

Kornilov, Lavr Georgyevich

(Encyclopedia)Kornilov, Lavr Georgyevich läˈvər gēyôrˈgyĭvĭch kərnyēˈləf [key], 1870–1918, Russian general, anti-Bolshevik commander during the civil war (1918–20). He fought in the Russo-Japanese W...

Rand, Ayn

(Encyclopedia)Rand, Ayn īn [key], 1905–82, American writer, b. St. Petersburg, Russia, as Alissa Rosenbaum. She came to the United States in 1926, became a citizen five years later, and worked for many years as ...