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Berlin, Conference of

(Encyclopedia)Berlin, Conference of, 1884–85, international meeting aimed at settling the problems connected with European colonies in Africa. At the invitation of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, represe...

Quedlinburg

(Encyclopedia)Quedlinburg kvādˈlēnbo͝orkh [key], city (1994 pop. 26,853), Saxony-Anhalt, central Germany, at the foot of the lower Harz Mts. It is an industrial center and an agricultural market. Manufactures i...

earring

(Encyclopedia)earring, a personal adornment, sometimes an amulet, worn attached to the ear lobe. Since prehistoric times the ear has been pierced for the insertion of the earring; certain primitive tribes distort t...

Alekhine, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Alekhine, Alexander əlyĕkhˈēn [key], 1892–1946, Russian-French chess player, b. Moscow. He became a naturalized French citizen after the Russian Revolution. At the age of 16 he gained the rank o...

crest

(Encyclopedia)crest, in feudal livery, an ornament of the headpiece that afforded protection against a blow. The term is incorrectly used to mean family coat of arms. Crests were widely used in the 13th cent. by fe...

Abel, Niels Henrik

(Encyclopedia)Abel, Niels Henrik nēls hĕnˈrĭk äˈbəl [key], 1802–29, Norwegian mathematician. While a student at the Univ. of Christiania (Oslo) he did fundamental work on the integration of functional expr...

Comines, Philippe de

(Encyclopedia)Comines, Philippe de fēlēpˈ də kōmēnˈ [key], c.1447–c.1511, French historian, courtier, and diplomat. In 1472 he left the service of Charles the Bold of Burgundy to enter that of Louis XI of ...

Cobb, Howell

(Encyclopedia)Cobb, Howell, 1815–68, American politican, b. Jefferson co., Ga. In 1837 he became solicitor general of the western judicial circuit of Georgia, a district populated largely by small farmers of Unio...

Feodor III

(Encyclopedia)Feodor III, 1661–82, czar of Russia (1676–82), son and successor of Alexis. Although an invalid, Feodor strove to carry out reforms. In 1681 he abolished the system of precedence among the boyar f...

Aoun, Michel Naim

(Encyclopedia)Aoun, Michel Naïm, 1935–, Lebanese military and political leader. A graduate of Lebanon's military academy (1958), he fought in several major battles during the civil war (1975–90), rising to the...