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epitaph

(Encyclopedia)epitaph, strictly, an inscription on a tomb; by extension, a statement, usually in verse, commemorating the dead. The earliest such inscriptions are those found on Egyptian sarcophagi. In England epit...

Maximin, d. 238, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Maximin (Caius Julius Verus Maximinus) măkˈsĭmĭn [key], d. 238, Roman emperor (235–38). A rough Thracian soldier of great physical strength, he rose in the army, and when the soldiers revolted a...

Most, Johann Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Most, Johann Joseph mōst [key], 1846–1906, German anarchist. A bookbinder by trade, he served as editor of socialist papers in Germany and Austria. His publications were suppressed, and he was freq...

mobile, in art

(Encyclopedia)mobile mōˈbēl [key], a type of moving sculptural artwork developed by Alexander Calder in 1932 and named by Marcel Duchamp. Often constructed of colored metal pieces connected by wires or rods, the...

Neman

(Encyclopedia)Neman nyĕˈmən [key], Ger. Memel, Lithuanian Nemanos, Pol. Niemen, river, c.580 mi (930 km) long, rising in central Belarus, SW of Minsk. It flows generally W to Grodno, then N and W through S Lithu...

Pella

(Encyclopedia)Pella pĕlˈə [key], ancient city of Macedon, about 24 mi (39 km) NW of Thessalonica (now Thessaloníki). It became the capital of the Macedonian kingdom in the 4th cent. b.c. It prospered under Mace...

Kondouriotis, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Kondouriotis, Paul kôndo͞oryôˈtĭs [key], 1857–1935, Greek admiral and statesman. He became a national hero through his victories over the Turkish fleet in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and in t...

Lateran Council, Third

(Encyclopedia)Lateran Council, Third, 1179, 11th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. It was convened at the Lateran Palace, Rome, by Pope Alexander III after the Peace of Venice (1178) had reconciled h...

Urban IV

(Encyclopedia)Urban IV, d. 1264, pope (1261–64), a Frenchman (b. Troyes) named Jacques Pantaléon; successor of Alexander IV. In the pontifical service he was sent on missions into N Germany; then he was made bis...

Zion, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Zion zīˈən [key], city (1990 pop. 19,775), Lake co., extreme NE Ill., on Lake Michigan; inc. 1902. Largely residential, the city has some light industry. Zion was founded in 1901 by John Alexander ...