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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, island nation (2015 est. pop. 109,000), 150 sq mi (388 sq km), West Indies, in the Windward Islands. It comprises the island of Saint Vincent (140 sq mi/363 sq...

Golden Horde, Empire of the

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Khanate of the Golden Horde (c.1300) Golden Horde, Empire of the, Mongol state comprising most of Russia, given as an appanage to Jenghiz Khan's oldest son, Juchi, and actually conquered and f...

Spanish Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Spanish Succession, War of the, 1701–14, last of the general European wars caused by the efforts of King Louis XIV to extend French power. The conflict in America corresponding to the period of the ...

Mary, the mother of Jesus

(Encyclopedia)Mary, in the Bible, mother of Jesus. Christian tradition reckons her the principal saint, naming her variously the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God (Gr., theotokos). Her name is the He...

Grand Alliance, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Grand Alliance, War of the, 1688–97, war between France and a coalition of European powers, known as the League of Augsburg (and, after 1689, as the Grand Alliance). Louis XIV of France took advanta...

Diamond Necklace, Affair of the

(Encyclopedia)Diamond Necklace, Affair of the, scandal that took place at the court of King Louis XVI of France just before the French Revolution. An adventuress who called herself the comtesse de La Motte duped Ca...

Knights of the Golden Circle

(Encyclopedia)Knights of the Golden Circle, secret order of Southern sympathizers in the North during the Civil War. Its members were known as Copperheads. Dr. George W. L. Bickley, a Virginian who had moved to Ohi...

Industrial Workers of the World

(Encyclopedia)Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), revolutionary industrial union organized in Chicago in 1905 by delegates from the Western Federation of Mines, which formed the nucleus of the IWW, and 42 other ...

Unknown Soldier, Tomb of the

(Encyclopedia)Unknown Soldier, Tomb of the, form of memorial to a nation's war dead, adopted by many countries after World War I. The Tomb of the Unknowns, a memorial to the American dead of World Wars I and II, th...

Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

(Encyclopedia)Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse əpŏkˈəlĭps [key], allegorical figures in the Book of Revelation in the Bible. The rider on the white horse has many interpretations—one is that he represents Chr...