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Kesselring, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Kesselring, Albert älˈbĕrt kĕsˈəlrĭng [key], 1885–1960, German field marshal. An artillery staff officer in World War I, he later joined the air force and rapidly rose in rank during the Hitl...

Khiva, khanate of

(Encyclopedia)Khiva, khanate of, former state of central Asia, based on the Khiva (Khwarazm or Khorezm) oasis along the Amu Darya River. The khanate lay S of the Aral Sea and included large areas of the Kyzyl Kum a...

Wen Jiabao

(Encyclopedia)Wen Jiabao wĕnˈ jyäˈbouˈ [key], 1942–, Chinese political leader, b. Tianjin. Originally a geologist, he worked for the Gansu provincial geological bureau (1968–82), where he was the head of i...

Blücher, Vasily Konstantinovich

(Encyclopedia)Blücher, Vasily Konstantinovich blüˈkhər [key], 1889–1937?, Russian general. An enlisted man in the czarist army, Blücher joined the Bolshevik party in 1916. He rose to high command in the civ...

Balfour, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Balfour, Sir James, d. 1583, Scottish judge and politician. Captured (1547) at St. Andrews after the murder of Cardinal Beaton, he served a sentence in the French galleys and on his release (1549) abj...

beryl

(Encyclopedia)beryl bĕrˈĭl [key], mineral, a silicate of beryllium and aluminum, Be3Al2Si6O18, extremely hard, occurring in hexagonal crystals that may be of enormous size and are usually white, yellow, green, b...

Rocky Mountain spotted fever

(Encyclopedia)Rocky Mountain spotted fever, infectious disease caused by a rickettsia. The bacterium is harbored by wild rodents and other animals and is carried by infected ticks of several species that attach the...

Roland de la Platière, Jean Marie

(Encyclopedia)Roland de la Platière, Jean Marie zhäN märēˈ rôläNˈ də lä plätyĕrˈ [key], 1734–93, French revolutionary. An inspector general of commerce at Rouen and Amiens, he went to Paris in 1791 a...

Pickens, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Pickens, Andrew, 1739–1817, American Revolutionary soldier, b. near Paxtang, Pa. He moved (1752) to South Carolina and took part (1761) in frontier warfare against the Cherokee. During the American ...

Bagaza, Jean-Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Bagaza, Jean-Baptiste zhäN-bätēstˈ bägäzäˈ [key], 1946–2016, Burundian army officer and political leader. An ethnic Tutsi, he was educated at Belgian military schools, rose through the ranks...