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Boxer Uprising

(Encyclopedia)Boxer Uprising, 1898–1900, antiforeign movement in China, culminating in a desperate uprising against Westerners and Western influence. By the end of the 19th cent. the Western powers and Japan had ...

Schiller, Friedrich von

(Encyclopedia)Schiller, Friedrich von, 1759–1805, German dramatist, poet, and historian, one of the greatest of German literary figures, b. Marbach, Württemberg. The poets of German romanticism were strongly inf...

Romanian literature

(Encyclopedia)Romanian literature, the literature of Romania. Until the 16th cent. most writing by Romanians was in Slavonic. In 1541 a catechism in Romanian was issued at Sibiu, and from 1560 liturgical works were...

Sharon, Ariel

(Encyclopedia)Sharon, Ariel ärˈēĕl shärōnˈ [key], 1928–2014, Israeli general and politician, b. Kfar Malal as Ariel Scheinerman. As a teenager he joined the Haganah, the underground Zionist military brigad...

Mexican War

(Encyclopedia)Mexican War, 1846–48, armed conflict between the United States and Mexico. The United States had won an easy victory, partly because Mexico, torn by civil strife, could not present a united fron...

Herschel

(Encyclopedia)Herschel hûrˈshəl [key], family of distinguished English astronomers. Sir William Herschel,Sir William Herschel, 1738–1822, born Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel, was a great pioneer in astronomy. Bor...

Grass, Günter

(Encyclopedia)Grass, Günter günˈtər gräs [key], 1927–2015, German novelist, lyricist, artist, and playwright, b. Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). Writing from his experience in the Hitler Youth, the German army...

New York Philharmonic

(Encyclopedia)New York Philharmonic, dating from 1842, the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States. The orchestra as it now exists is the result of the merger of the Philharmonic Society of New York with the...

Carlyle, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Carlyle, Thomas, 1795–1881, English author, b. Scotland. One of the most important social critics of his day, Carlyle influenced many men of the younger generation, among them Matthew Arnold and J...

Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich

(Encyclopedia)Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich bərēsˈ nyĭkəlīˈəvĭch yĕltˈsĭn [key], 1931–2007, Soviet and Russian politician, president of Russia (1991–99). Born in Yekaterinburg (then Sverdlovsk) and ed...