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Cleveland Orchestra

(Encyclopedia)Cleveland Orchestra, one of the foremost orchestras in the United States. It gave its first performance in 1918 under Nikolai Sokoloff, who was conductor until 1933. In 1931, the orchestra moved from ...

operetta

(Encyclopedia)operetta ŏpərĕtˈə [key], type of light opera with a frivolous, sentimental story, often employing parody and satire and containing both spoken dialogue and much light, pleasant music. In the earl...

Swabian League

(Encyclopedia)Swabian League, association of Swabian cities and other powers in SW Germany for the protection of trade and for regional peace. The Swabian League of 1488–1534 is the best known of the long series ...

Russian and Soviet Rulers since 1462 (table)

(Encyclopedia)Russian and Soviet Rulers since 1462(including dates of rule) House of Rurik House of Godunov Usurpers House of Romanov Provisional Government(premiers) Soviet Russia (1917–22) and the U...

Northern War

(Encyclopedia)Northern War, 1700–1721, general European conflict, fought in N and E Europe at the same time that the War of the Spanish Succession was fought in the west and the south. It arose chiefly from the d...

Alfonso IV, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso IV, 1299–1336, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1327–36), son and successor of James II. Before his accession he conquered (1323–24) Sardinia, where later a revolt involved him in...

Timmermans, Felix

(Encyclopedia)Timmermans, Felix fāˈlĭks tĭmˈərmäns [key], 1886–1947, Flemish novelist. Among his most successful works are Pallieter (1916, tr. 1924), the story of a lusty Fleming of gigantic appetites, an...

Martin IV, d. 1285, pope

(Encyclopedia)Martin IV, d. 1285, pope (1281–85), a Frenchman named Simon de Brie; successor of Nicholas III. He was chancellor under Louis IX of France and was created cardinal by Urban IV. He was thus a support...

boyars

(Encyclopedia)boyars bōyärzˈ [key], upper nobility in Russia from the 10th through the 17th cent. The boyars originally obtained influence and government posts through their military support of the Kievan prince...

Tolstoy, Aleksey Nikolayevich

(Encyclopedia)Tolstoy, Aleksey Nikolayevich təlstoiˈ [key], 1883–1945, Russian writer. He was distantly related to Leo Tolstoy. Of aristocratic origin, he opposed the Bolsheviks in 1917 and emigrated to Wester...