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Charles University

(Encyclopedia)Charles University, at Prague, Czech Republic; also called Univ. of Prague. The oldest and one of the most important universities of central Europe, it was founded in 1348 by Holy Roman Emperor Charle...

Gregory XI

(Encyclopedia)Gregory XI, 1330–78, pope (1370–78), a Frenchman named Pierre Roger de Beaufort. He was the successor of Urban V, who had made an unsuccessful attempt to remove the papacy from Avignon to Rome (13...

American Colonization Society

(Encyclopedia)American Colonization Society, organized Dec., 1816–Jan., 1817, at Washington, D.C., to transport free blacks from the United States and settle them in Africa. The freeing of many slaves, principall...

Johnson, Boris

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Boris (Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson), 1964–, British political leader, b. New York City, grad. Oxford (1986). While at Oxford Johnson was president of the prestigious Oxford Union deb...

Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi

(Encyclopedia)Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi mo͞ohämˈmäd rĭzä shä păˈləvē [key], 1919–80, shah of Iran (1941–79). Educated in Switzerland, he returned (1935) to Iran to attend the military academy in Teh...

Ollivier, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Ollivier, Émile āmēlˈ ôlēvyāˈ [key], 1825–1913, French statesman, a leading figure in the “Liberal Empire” of Napoleon III. Widely known as a brilliant lawyer, he was elected to the legi...

Austin, Stephen Fuller

(Encyclopedia)Austin, Stephen Fuller, 1793–1836, American leader of colonization in Texas, known as the Father of Texas, b. Wythe co., Va.; son of Moses Austin. He grew up in Missouri, studied at Transylvania Uni...

Mary of Burgundy

(Encyclopedia)Mary of Burgundy, 1457–82, wife of Maximilian of Austria (later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I), daughter and heiress of Charles the Bold of Burgundy. The marriage of Mary was a major event in Euro...

Witte, Count Sergei Yulyevich

(Encyclopedia)Witte, Count Sergei Yulyevich syĭrgāˈ yo͞oˈlyĭvĭch vĭtˈə [key], 1849–1915, Russian premier. A railway administrator, he became minister of communications (1892) and minister of finance (18...

Wovoka

(Encyclopedia)Wovoka wōvōˈkə [key], c.1858–1932, Paiute, prophet of a messianic religion sometimes called the Ghost Dance religion. Also known as Jack Wilson, he was influenced by his father (a mystic) as wel...