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Wickremesinghe, Ranil Shriyan

(Encyclopedia)Wickremesinghe, Ranil Shriyan ränēlˈ shrēyänˈ wĭkrəməsĭngˈhä [key], 1949–, Sri Lankan political leader. A member of the United National party and party leader (1994–), he was first ele...

Bannon, Steve

(Encyclopedia)Bannon, Steve (Stephen Kevin Bannon), 1953–, American political strategist, financier, and media executive, b. Norfolk, Va. After serving as an officer in the U.S. navy (1976–83), he worked as an ...

South Arabia, Federation of

(Encyclopedia)South Arabia, Federation of, federation, 1963–67, S Arabian peninsula, formed by the merger of the British colony of Aden with the Federation of the Emirates of the South, a British protectorate. Th...

Yonai, Mitsumasa

(Encyclopedia)Yonai, Mitsumasa, 1880–1948, Japanese naval officer and political leader, b. Morioka. He attended the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy (grad. 1901) and the Naval War College, served in the Russo-Japa...

Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Aleksey Petrovich, Count

(Encyclopedia)Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Aleksey Petrovich, Count əlyĭksyāˈ pētrôˈvĭch byĭsto͞oˈzhĕv-rēo͞oˈmyĭn [key], 1693–1766, Russian statesman. With the accession (1741) of Czarina Elizabeth, he was a...

Semmes, Raphael

(Encyclopedia)Semmes, Raphael sĕmz [key], 1809–77, American naval officer, b. Charles co., Md. He took part in the Mexican War, practiced law at Mobile, Ala., and was in the Lighthouse Service from 1856 to Feb.,...

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...