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Scherer, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Scherer, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm shĕrˈər [key], 1841–86, German philologist, b. Austria. Scherer held professorships at the universities of Vienna, Strasbourg, and Berlin. His History of German Liter...

Triple Alliance and Triple Entente

(Encyclopedia)Triple Alliance and Triple Entente äntäntˈ [key], two international combinations of states that dominated the diplomatic history of Western Europe from 1882 until they came into armed conflict in W...

Austrian Succession, War of the

(Encyclopedia)Austrian Succession, War of the, 1740–48, general European war. In 1744 Frederick II, fearing the rising power of Austria, started the Second Silesian War by invading Bohemia; he was soon expell...

Jersey City

(Encyclopedia)Jersey City, city (1990 pop. 228,537), seat of Hudson co., NE N.J., a port on a peninsula formed by the Hudson and Hackensack rivers and Upper New York Bay, opposite lower Manhattan; settled before 16...

city-state

(Encyclopedia)city-state, in ancient Greece, Italy, and Medieval Europe, an independent political unit consisting of a city and surrounding countryside. The first city-states were in Sumer, but they reached their p...

Texas City

(Encyclopedia)Texas City, city (1990 pop. 40,822), Galveston co., S Tex., on Galveston Bay, opposite the city of Galveston; inc. 1911. It is a railroad terminus and an industrial city and port with huge oil refiner...

Oklahoma City

(Encyclopedia)Oklahoma City (1990 pop. 444,719), state capital, and seat of Oklahoma co., central Okla., on the North Canadian River; inc. 1890. The state's largest city, it is an important livestock market, a whol...

Union City

(Encyclopedia)Union City. 1 Residential city (1990 pop. 53,762), Alameda co., W Calif., in an agricultural region; inc. 1959 with the merger of Decoto and Alvarado districts. Metal, plastic, paper, and food product...

Midwest City

(Encyclopedia)Midwest City, city (1990 pop. 52,267), Oklahoma co., central Okla., a residential suburb of Oklahoma City; founded 1942 with the activation of adjoining Tinker Air Force Base, a logistics center. The ...

Matthias

(Encyclopedia)Matthias, 1557–1619, Holy Roman emperor (1612–19), king of Bohemia (1611–17) and of Hungary (1608–18), son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. He was appointed governor of Austria (1593) by h...