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Gotha

(Encyclopedia)Gotha gōˈtä [key], city, Thuringia, central Germany. It is a rail junction, and its manufa...

James III, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)James III, 1452–88, king of Scotland (1460–88), son and successor of James II. During his minority he was under the care of his mother, Mary of Guelders, and her adviser, James Kennedy, bishop of ...

Blennerhassett, Harman

(Encyclopedia)Blennerhassett, Harman blĕnˈərhăsˌət [key], 1765–1831, Anglo-Irish pioneer in America, an associate of Aaron Burr. Wealthy and gifted, he fell in love with and married his beautiful niece, Mar...

Royal Greenwich Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Royal Greenwich Observatory, astronomical observatory established in 1675 by Charles II of England at Greenwich and known as the Royal Observatory. It moved during 1948–57 to Herstmonceux Castle, Su...

Mengistu Haile Mariam

(Encyclopedia)Mengistu Haile Mariam mĕnggīsˈto͞o hīˈlē märˈēəm [key], 1937–, military ruler of Ethiopia (1974–91). Mengistu, an army officer, participated prominently in Emperor Haile Selassie's over...

Murphy, Frank

(Encyclopedia)Murphy, Frank, 1890–1949, American political figure, associate justice of the Supreme Court (1940–49), b. Harbor Beach, Mich. After serving as a U.S. attorney (1919–20) and as a judge of recorde...

obscenity

(Encyclopedia)obscenity, in law, anything that tends to corrupt public morals by its indecency. The moral concepts that the term connotes vary from time to time and from place to place. In the United States, the wo...

probate

(Encyclopedia)probate prōˈbāt [key], in law, the certification by a court that a will is valid. Probate, which is governed by various statutes in the several states of the United States, is required before the w...

Walther von der Vogelweide

(Encyclopedia)Walther von der Vogelweide välˈtər fən dĕr fōˈgəlvīˌdə [key], c.1170–c.1230, German minnesinger of noble birth, probably the finest lyric poet of medieval Germany. He wandered from court ...

Hill, James Jerome

(Encyclopedia)Hill, James Jerome, 1838–1916, American railroad builder, b. Ontario, Canada. He went to St. Paul, Minn., in 1856. He became a partner of Norman Kittson in a steamboat line and, with Kittson, Donald...

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