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Laon

(Encyclopedia)Laon läN [key], commercial town (1990 pop. 28,670), capital of Aisne dept., N France. It has forges, a printing plant, and factories that make heating equipment and metal goods. Situated on a rocky h...

Washington, Walter Edward

(Encyclopedia)Washington, Walter Edward, 1915–2003, American political figure, first African-American mayor of Washington, D.C. (1975–79) and of a major American city, b. Dawson, Ga., grad. Howard Univ. (A.B., ...

Cajetan

(Encyclopedia)Cajetan [Lat.,=from Gaeta], 1469?–1534, Italian prelate, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, b. Gaeta. His original name was Giacomo de Vio. He joined the Dominicans (c.1484), became general of t...

Bugenhagen, Johann

(Encyclopedia)Bugenhagen, Johann yōˈhän bo͞oˈgənhäˌgən [key], 1485–1558, German Protestant reformer. Born in Pomerania, he is sometimes called Dr. Pomeranus. Bugenhagen, an ordained priest, was attracted...

Poinsett, Joel Roberts

(Encyclopedia)Poinsett, Joel Roberts poinˈsĕt [key], 1779–1851, American diplomat and politician, b. Charleston, S.C. In 1810 he was sent as a special commissioner to South America to investigate political cond...

Saint-Dié

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Dié săN-dyā [key], city (1990 pop. 23,670), Vosges dept., E France, in Lorraine, on the Meurthe River. It is an industrial center where foundry products, chemical products, and machinery are ...

Osiander, Andreas

(Encyclopedia)Osiander, Andreas ändrāˈäs ōzēänˈdər [key], 1498–1552, German reformer. His original name was Hosemann or Heiligmann. Ordained a priest in 1520, Osiander joined the cause of the Reformation...

Michael VIII, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Michael VIII (Michael Palaeologus), c.1225–1282, Byzantine emperor (1261–82), first of the Palaeologus dynasty. Following the murder of the regent for Emperor John IV of Nicaea, he was appointed (...

Theresa, Saint (Theresa of Lisieux)

(Encyclopedia)Theresa or Thérèse, Saint (Theresa of Lisieux), 1873–97, French Carmelite nun, one of the most widely loved saints of the Roman Catholic Church, b. Alençon. Her original name was Marie-Françoise...

Plath, Sylvia

(Encyclopedia)Plath, Sylvia, 1932–63, American poet, b. Boston. Educated at Smith College and Cambridge, Plath published poems even as a child and won many academic and literary awards. Her first volume of poetry...