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Zatlers, Valdis

(Encyclopedia)Zatlers, Valdis välˈdĭs zätˈlĕrs [key], 1955–, Latvian physician and political leader. A graduate (1979) of the Riga Institute of Medicine, he is an orthopedic surgeon and was director of the ...

Berlin airlift

(Encyclopedia)Berlin airlift, 1948–49, supply of vital necessities to West Berlin by air transport primarily under U.S. auspices. It was initiated in response to a land and water blockade of the city that had bee...

Nicholas I, king of Montenegro

(Encyclopedia)Nicholas I, 1841–1921, prince (1860–1910) and king (1910–18) of Montenegro, successor of his uncle, Danilo II. In 1862, after a series of frontier incidents, Nicholas was forced into war with th...

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...

Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi

(Encyclopedia)Pandit, Vijaya Lakshmi vĭjīˈə läkˈshmē pŭnˈdĭt [key], 1900–1990, Indian diplomat, sister of Jawaharlal Nehru. She played an active role in the Indian National Congress before Indian indepe...

Rakhmon, Emomali

(Encyclopedia)Rakhmon, Emomali, 1952–, Tajik political leader. His surname was Rahkmonov until 2007, when he called for Tajiks to revive their traditions and derussify their names. Rakhmon was the head of a state...

Hammer, Armand

(Encyclopedia)Hammer, Armand, 1898–1990, American business executive, b. New York City. He began in his father's pharmaceutical business and then expanded it into the Soviet Union. He returned (1930) to New York,...

United Church of Christ

(Encyclopedia)United Church of Christ, American Protestant denomination formed in 1957 by a merger of the General Council of Congregational Christian Churches (see Congregationalism) and the Evangelical and Reforme...

Chiang Ching-kuo

(Encyclopedia)Chiang Ching-kuo jyäng jĭng-gwô [key], 1909–88, eldest son of Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese Nationalist leader, and president of Taiwan. Returning after 12 years in the Soviet Union (1937), he served ...

Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isayevich

(Encyclopedia)Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr Isayevich əlyĭksänˈdər ēsīˈəvĭch sôlˌzhənētˈsĭn [key], 1918–2008, Russian writer widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential authors of the 20...