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Koch, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Koch, Robert rōˈbĕrt kôkh [key], 1843–1910, German bacteriologist. He studied at Göttingen under Jacob Henle. As a country practitioner in Wollstein, Posen (now Wolsztyn, Poland), he devoted mu...

prefect

(Encyclopedia)prefect or praefect both: prēˈfĕkt [key], in ancient Rome, various military and civil officers. Under the empire some prefects were very important. The Praetorian prefects (first appointed 2 b.c.) ...

Pompeius, Sextus

(Encyclopedia)Pompeius, Sextus sĕkˈstəs pŏmpāˈəs [key], d. 35 b.c., Roman commander; one of the sons of Pompey the Great. He fought for his father at Pharsalus, then went to Egypt and, after the battle of Th...

Suez

(Encyclopedia)Suez so͞oĕzˈ [key], city (1996 pop. 417,610), NE Egypt, at the northern end of the Gulf of Suez and at the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. An important port with extensive facilities, it is al...

Tallien, Jean Lambert

(Encyclopedia)Tallien, Jean Lambert zhäN läNbĕrˈ tälyăNˈ [key], 1767–1820, French revolutionary. A law clerk and later a printer, he became known through his Jacobin journal, Ami des citoyens. A leader in ...

basketry

(Encyclopedia)basketry, art of weaving or coiling and sewing flexible materials to form vessels or other commodities. The materials used include twigs, roots, strips of hide, splints, osier willows, bamboo splits, ...

umbrella

(Encyclopedia)umbrella, a small canopy used as a protection against the sun in China, Egypt, and elsewhere in remote antiquity. It was often an emblem of rank. During the Middle Ages the umbrella became almost exti...

Beyazid II

(Encyclopedia)Beyazid II, 1447–1513, Ottoman sultan (1481–1512), son and successor of Muhammad II to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). With the help of the corps of Janissaries he put down the revolt o...

Zenobia

(Encyclopedia)Zenobia zĭnōˈbēə [key], d. after 272, queen of Palmyra. She was of Arab stock and was the wife of Septimius Odenathus. He was murdered, probably through her contrivance, and she obtained rule of ...

Banda, Rupiah Bwezani

(Encyclopedia)Banda, Rupiah Bwezani, 1937–, Zambian politician, president of Zambia (2008–11), b. Gwenda, Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Educated in Ethiopia, Sweden, and England, he joined the United Nation...