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Saxe-Coburg

(Encyclopedia)Saxe-Coburg săks-kōbərg [key], Ger. Sachsen-Coburg, former duchy, central Germany. A possession of the Ernestine branch of the house of Wettin, it was given by Ernest the Pious (d. 1675) of Saxe-Go...

Johnson, Herschel Vespasian

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Herschel Vespasian, 1812–80, U.S. political leader, b. Burke co., Ga. Admitted to the bar in 1834, he filled (1848–49) an unexpired Senate term before serving as circuit court judge (1849...

Ai

(Encyclopedia)Ai āˈī [key], in the Bible. 1 Canaanite royal city, E of Bethel. Abraham pitched his tent there when he arrived in Canaan. It is probably the modern et-Tell, near Bethel (West Bank). Excavations ha...

Stoker, Bram

(Encyclopedia)Stoker, Bram (Abraham Stoker), 1847–1912, English novelist, b. Dublin, Ireland. He is best remembered as the author of Dracula (1897), a horror story recounting the activities of the vampire Count D...

Sisyphus

(Encyclopedia)Sisyphus sĭsˈĭfəs [key], in Greek mythology, son of Aeolus and founder and king of Corinth. Renowned for his cunning, he was said to have outwitted even Death. For his disrespect to Zeus, he was c...

Leopold III, king of the Belgians

(Encyclopedia)Leopold III, 1901–83, king of the Belgians (1934–51), son and successor of Albert I. In 1936, Leopold announced a fundamental change in foreign policy; Belgium abandoned its military alliance with...

Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma

(Encyclopedia)Mountbatten, Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma mountbătˈən [key], 1900–1979, British admiral; great-grandson of Queen Victoria and uncle of Philip Mountbatten, d...

einsteinium

(Encyclopedia)einsteinium īnˈstīˌnēəm, īnstīˈ– [key] [for Albert Einstein], artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Es; at. no. 99; mass no. of most stable isotope 252; m.p. about 860�...

Edward VII

(Encyclopedia)Edward VII (Albert Edward), 1841–1910, king of Great Britain and Ireland (1901–10). The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, he was created prince of Wales almost immediately after his ...

Close, Glenn

(Encyclopedia)Close, Glenn, 1947–, American actress, b. Greenwich, Conn. She began her career in the theater, debuting on Broadway in Love for Love (1974), winning an Obie for the off-Broadway The Singular Life o...