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Borgia

(Encyclopedia)Borgia bôrˈhä [key], Spanish-Italian noble family, originally from Aragón. When Alfonso de Borja, cardinal-archbishop of Valencia, was pope as Calixtus III (1455–58), several relatives followed ...

Stuart, Gilbert

(Encyclopedia)Stuart, Gilbert, 1755–1828, American portrait painter, b. North Kingstown, R.I., best known for his portraits of George Washington. Having shown an early talent for drawing, he became the pupil of C...

narodniki

(Encyclopedia)narodniki närôdˈnĭkē [key], Russian populists, adherents of an agrarian socialist movement active from the 1860s to the end of the 19th cent. Influenced by the writings of Aleksandr Herzen, the n...

Halicarnassus

(Encyclopedia)Halicarnassus hălˌĭkärnăˈsəs [key], ancient city of Caria, SW Asia Minor, on the Ceramic Gulf (now the Gulf of Kos) and on the site of the modern city of Bodrum, Turkey. Halicarnassus was Greek...

Gregory XII

(Encyclopedia)Gregory XII, c.1327–1417, pope (1406–15), a Venetian named Angelo Correr; successor of Innocent VII. As a condition of election, Gregory promised to do everything possible to end the Great Schism,...

Giers, Nikolai Karlovich

(Encyclopedia)Giers, Nikolai Karlovich nyĭkəlīˈ kärˈləvĭch gēyĕrsˈ [key], 1820–95, Russian statesman. Appointed deputy foreign minister in 1875, he increasingly took over the duties of the elderly fore...

Humboldt, Wilhelm, Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Humboldt, Wilhelm, Freiherr von frīˈhĕr fən ho͝omˈbôlt [key], 1767–1835, German statesman and philologist; brother of Alexander von Humboldt. As Prussian minister of education (1809–10) he...

hydrofoil

(Encyclopedia)hydrofoil, flat or curved finlike device, attached by struts to the hull of a watercraft, that lifts the moving watercraft above the water's surface. The term is often extended to include the vessel i...

Juan Fernández

(Encyclopedia)Juan Fernández hwän fārnänˈdās [key], group of small islands, S Pacific, c.400 mi (640 km) W of Valparaiso, Chile. They belong to Chile and are constitutionally a special territory; they are adm...

James II, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)James II, 1430–60, king of Scotland (1437–60), son and successor of James I. During his minority successive earls of Douglas vied for power with factions led by Sir William Crichton and Sir Alexan...