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Philip of Swabia

(Encyclopedia)Philip of Swabia swāˈbēə [key], 1176?–1208, German king (1198–1208), son of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I. After the death (1197) of his brother, German King and Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, ...

Ottocar II

(Encyclopedia)Ottocar II or Přemysl Ottocar II, c.1230–1278, king of Bohemia (1253–78), son and successor of Wenceslaus I. Ottocar shrewdly exploited the disorders of the great interregnum in the Holy Roman Em...

Thomson, Peter William

(Encyclopedia)Thomson, Peter William, 1929–2018, Australian golfer. A leading player in European tournaments at a time when Australians had not yet emerged as top golfers, Thomson had a compact swing and efficien...

Bardiyah

(Encyclopedia)Bardiyah or Bardia both: bärdēˈä, bärˈdēä [key], town, NE Libya, a port on the Mediterranean Sea, near the Egyptian border. During World War II it was the most strongly defended Italian positi...

Richards, Gordon

(Encyclopedia)Richards, Gordon, 1904–86, British jockey. He began as a stable apprentice in 1919. From the mid-1920s until his retirement in 1954, he was the championship jockey of England 26 times. In 1943 he be...

Vetch, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Vetch, Samuel, 1668–1732, British soldier and colonial administrator, b. Scotland. He settled in Albany, N.Y., in 1699 and became a trader with the Native Americans. Author of a plan to capture Fren...

Rhodes, Cecil John

(Encyclopedia)Rhodes, Cecil John sĕsˈĭl, rōdz [key], 1853–1902, British imperialist and business magnate. A trip in 1875 through the rich territories of Transvaal and Bechuanaland apparently helped to insp...

Porter, David

(Encyclopedia)Porter, David, 1780–1843, American naval officer, b. Boston. Appointed a midshipman in 1798, he served in the West Indies and in the war with Tripoli. In 1803 his ship, the Philadelphia, was capture...

Pinang

(Encyclopedia)Pinang or Penang both: pənăngˈ [key], state (1991 pop. 1,065,075), c.400 sq mi (1,040 sq km), Malaysia, on the Strait of Malacca. It consists of Pulau Pinang (an island of 108 sq mi/280 sq km), for...

Cotton, John

(Encyclopedia)Cotton, John, 1584–1652, Puritan clergyman in England and Massachusetts, b. Derbyshire, educated at Cambridge. Imbued with Puritan doctrines, he won many followers during his 20 years as vicar of th...