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Leven, Alexander Leslie, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Leven, Alexander Leslie, 1st earl of lĕvˈən [key], 1580?–1661, Scottish general. He served in the Swedish army some 30 years, being knighted by Gustavus II and fighting in the Thirty Years War. R...

Pyrrhus, Molossian king of Epirus

(Encyclopedia)Pyrrhus pĭrˈəs [key], c.318–272 b.c., Molossian king of Epirus. He fought at Ipsus in Asia Minor in the service of Demetrius Poliorcetes (later Demetrius I) of Macedon, and by the aid of Ptolemy ...

Tyson, Mike

(Encyclopedia)Tyson, Mike (Michael Gerald Tyson), 1966–, American boxer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. At the age of 12, Tyson was sent to reform school, where he began to box. In a whirlwind career begun in 1985 when he tur...

Gloucester, Humphrey, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Gloucester, Humphrey, duke of, 1391–1447, English nobleman; youngest son of Henry IV and Mary de Bohun. He was well educated and had a great interest in humanist scholarship. After the accession of ...

Alfonso XIII, king of Spain

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso XIII, 1886–1941, king of Spain (1886–1931), posthumous son and successor of Alfonso XII. His mother, Maria Christina (1858–1929), was regent until 1902. In 1906, Alfonso married Princess...

Veterans Affairs, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Veterans Affairs, United States Department of, federal executive department established to operate programs to benefit veterans and their families. The department was established in 1989; its predeces...

Louis VI, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis VI (Louis the Fat), 1081–1137, king of France (1108–37). He succeeded his father, Philip I, with whom he was associated in government from c.1100. He firmly established his authority within ...

Peter III, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Peter III, 1728–62, czar of Russia (1762), son of Charles Frederick, dispossessed duke of Holstein-Gottorp, and of Anna Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great. He succeeded to the throne on the death...

James V, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)James V, 1512–42, king of Scotland (1513–42), son and successor of James IV. His mother, Margaret Tudor, held the regency until her marriage in 1514 to Archibald Douglas, 6th earl of Angus, when s...

Philip IV, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily

(Encyclopedia)Philip IV, 1605–65, king of Spain, Naples, and Sicily (1621–65) and, as Philip III, king of Portugal (1621–40); son and successor of Philip III of Spain. Philip IV was intelligent but lacked int...