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Stephen Dušan

(Encyclopedia)Stephen Dušan or Dushan both: stĕˈfän do͞oˈshän [key], c.1308–1355, king (1331–46) and czar (1346–55) of Serbia, son of Stephen Uros III. He is also known as Stephen Uros IV. He was procl...

Sicilian Vespers

(Encyclopedia)Sicilian Vespers, in Italian history, name given the rebellion staged by the Sicilians against the Angevin French domination of Sicily; the rebellion broke out at Palermo at the start of Vespers on Ea...

Caracalla

(Encyclopedia)Caracalla kărəkălˈə [key], 188–217, Roman emperor (211–17); son of Septimius Severus. His real name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and he received his nickname from the caracalla, a Gallic tu...

Ringling Brothers

(Encyclopedia)Ringling Brothers, seven brothers, sons of German-born August Rüngeling, who established an American circus empire. Albert C. (1852–1916), Otto (1858–1911), Alfred T. (1861–1919), Charles Edwar...

Otto III, Holy Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Otto III, 980–1002, Holy Roman emperor (996–1002) and German king (983–1002), son of Holy Roman Emperor Otto II and the Byzantine princess Theophano. On Otto's accession Henry the Wrangler, the ...

Mesopotamia

(Encyclopedia)Mesopotamia mĕsˌəpətāˈmēə [key] [Gr.,=between rivers], ancient region of Asia, the territory about the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, included in modern Iraq. The region extends from the Persian...

Kurds

(Encyclopedia)Kurds kûrds, ko͝ords [key], a non-Arab Middle Eastern minority population that inhabits the region known as Kurdistan, an extensive plateau and mountain area, c.74,000 sq mi (191,660 sq km), in SW A...

Charles, Eugenia

(Encyclopedia)Charles, Eugenia (Mary Eugenia Charles), 1919–2005, Dominican politician, first female prime minister of Dominica (1980–95). A lawyer, she was a founder (1968) of the Dominica Freedom party (DFP) ...

Getty, Jean Paul

(Encyclopedia)Getty, Jean Paul, 1892–1976, American business executive, one of the richest men in the world during his life, b. Minneapolis, Minn. He inherited his father's oil business, George F. Getty, Inc., be...

apotheosis

(Encyclopedia)apotheosis əpŏthˌēōˈsĭs [key], the act of raising a person who has died to the rank of a god. Historically, it was most important during the later Roman Empire. In an emperor's lifetime his gen...