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White, Robert Michael

(Encyclopedia)White, Robert Michael, 1924–2010, American aviator, b. New York City. A fighter pilot during World War II, he was shot down over Germany and held in a prisoner-of-war camp (Feb.–Apr, 1945); he was...

Pedro II

(Encyclopedia)Pedro II (Dom Pedro II de Alcântara), 1825–91, emperor of Brazil (1831–89). At the age of five, he succeeded under a regency when his father, Pedro I, abdicated. He was declared of age in 1840. P...

William II, emperor of Germany and king of Prussia

(Encyclopedia)William II, 1859–1941, emperor of Germany and king of Prussia (1888–1918), son and successor of Frederick III and grandson of William I of Germany and of Queen Victoria of England. After the out...

Ottonian art

(Encyclopedia)Ottonian art ŏtōˈnēən [key], art produced (c.900–1050) in the East Frankish kingdom of Germany known, after the emperors Otto (936–1002), as the Ottonian kingdom. Influenced by Byzantine and ...

Ottocar II

(Encyclopedia)Ottocar II or Přemysl Ottocar II, c.1230–1278, king of Bohemia (1253–78), son and successor of Wenceslaus I. Ottocar shrewdly exploited the disorders of the great interregnum in the Holy Roman Em...

Gustavus II

(Encyclopedia)Gustavus II (Gustavus Adolphus), 1594–1632, king of Sweden (1611–32), son and successor of Charles IX. In military organization and strategy, Gustavus was ahead of his time. While most powers re...

Rostovtzeff, Michael Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Rostovtzeff, Michael Ivanovich rŏstŏvˈtsĕf [key], 1870–1952, American historian, b. Kiev, Ukraine. He studied at the Univ. of St. Petersburg where he was professor of Latin and of Roman history ...

Sigismund II

(Encyclopedia)Sigismund II or Sigismund Augustus, 1520–72, king of Poland (1548–72). Crowned in 1530 to assure his succession, he assumed the royal functions at the death of his father, Sigismund I. By the Unio...

Bahadur Shah II

(Encyclopedia)Bahadur Shah II bähäˈdo͝or shä [key], 1775–1862, last Mughal emperor of India (1837–57). A political figurehead, he was completely controlled by the British East India Company, who found it c...

Conrad II, ruler of the Holy Roman Empire

(Encyclopedia)Conrad II, c.990–1039, Holy Roman emperor (1027–39) and German king (1024–39), first of the Salian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. With the end of the Saxon line on the death of Henry II, the ...