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Thapsacus

(Encyclopedia)Thapsacus thăpˈsəkəs [key], ancient city, N central Syria, on the Euphrates. It was at a ford in the river, which was the chief crossing for many hundreds of miles and was used by various conquero...

Carême, Marie Antoine

(Encyclopedia)Carême, Marie Antoine märēˈ äNtwänˈ kärĕmˈ [key], 1784–1833, celebrated French cook and gastronomist. He was chef for Talleyrand, Czar Alexander I, George IV, and Baron Rothschild. His wri...

Conway Cabal

(Encyclopedia)Conway Cabal, 1777, intrigue in the American Revolution to remove George Washington as commander in chief of the Continental Army. Washington had been defeated at Brandywine and Germantown, and Horati...

Milan, prince and king of Serbia

(Encyclopedia)Milan (Milan Obrenović) mĭlˈän ōbrĕˈnəvĭch [key], 1854–1901, prince (1868–82) and king (1882–89) of Serbia; grandnephew of Miloš Obrenović. He succeeded his cousin Michael Obrenović ...

La Harpe, Frédéric César de

(Encyclopedia)La Harpe, Frédéric César de frādārēkˈ sāzärˈ də lä ärp [key], 1754–1838, Swiss statesman. He went (1782) to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he became the tutor of the future Czar Alexande...

Troppau, Congress of

(Encyclopedia)Troppau, Congress of trôpˈou [key], 1820, international conference convened at the behest of Czar Alexander I of Russia under the provisions of the Quadruple Alliance. The congress, which met at Tro...

Pozzo di Borgo, Carlo Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Pozzo di Borgo, Carlo Andrea kärˈlō ändrĕˈä pôtˈtsō dē bôrˈgō [key], 1764–1842. Corsican politician and diplomat in Russian service, b. Corsica. In the French Revolution, he allied wit...

apostrophe, figure of speech

(Encyclopedia)apostrophe, figure of speech in which an absent person, a personified inanimate being, or an abstraction is addressed as though present. The term is derived from a Greek word meaning “a turning away...

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