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Medici, Gian Gastone de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Gian Gastone de' dā mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1671–1737, grand duke of Tuscany (1723–37); son and successor of Cosimo III de' Medici. Gian Gastone was the last male member ...

Anne of Cleves

(Encyclopedia)Anne of Cleves klēvz [key], 1515–57, fourth queen consort of Henry VIII of England. The sister of William, duke of Cleves, one of the most powerful of the German Protestant princes, she was conside...

Juneteenth

(Encyclopedia)Juneteenth or Emancipation Day, June 19th, holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States. It began in Texas when news of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (effective Jan. 1, 1863) fina...

Japarov, Sadyr Nurgozhoevich

(Encyclopedia)Japarov, Sadyr Nurgozhoevich, 1968–, Kyrgyz political leader. Elected to parliament in 2005, he was originally a member of the Ak-Jol party and a supporter of President Bakiyev. When Bakiyev was ous...

Crittenden Compromise

(Encyclopedia)Crittenden Compromise, in U.S. history, unsuccessful last-minute effort to avert the Civil War. It was proposed in Congress as a constitutional amendment in Dec., 1860, by Sen. John J. Crittenden of K...

Dáil Éireann

(Encyclopedia)Dáil Éireann dôl āˈrôn, dīl ârˈən [key] [Irish,=diet of Ireland], the popular representative body of the Oireachtas, or National Parliament, of the Republic of Ireland. The second, smaller c...

Comenius, John Amos

(Encyclopedia)Comenius, John Amos kōmēˈnēəs [key], Czech Jan Amos Komenský, 1592–1670, Moravian churchman and educator, last bishop of the Moravian Church. Comenius advocated relating education to everyday ...

Chicherin, Georgi Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Chicherin, Georgi Vasilyevich gēôrˈgē vəsēˈlyəvĭch chēchâˈrĭn [key], 1872–1936, Russian diplomat. Of noble origin, he entered the Russian foreign office but resigned (1904) after joinin...

Schofield, John McAllister

(Encyclopedia)Schofield, John McAllister skōˈfēld [key], 1831–1906, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Gerry, N.Y. He taught at West Point (1855–60) and on the outbreak of the Civil War became chief...

Roehm, Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Roehm or Röhm, Ernst both: ĕrnst röm [key], 1887–1934, German National Socialist leader. An army officer in World War I, he met (1919) Adolf Hitler, whose political career he helped to launch. Ro...