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Wang An-shih

(Encyclopedia)Wang An-shih wäng än-shûr [key], 1021–86, Chinese Sung dynasty statesman. As a chief councilor (1069–74, 1075–76) he directed sweeping administrative and fiscal reforms that drew strong conse...

Thaksin Shinawatra

(Encyclopedia)Thaksin Shinawatra täkˈsĭn shĭˈnäwät [key], 1949–, Thai business executive and political leader, b. Chiang Mai. Born into a wealthy merchant family, he went into the Thai police service in 19...

Princip, Gavrilo

(Encyclopedia)Princip, Gavrilo gävˈrēlō prēnˈtsēp [key], 1895–1918, Serbian political agitator, b. Bosnia. As a high-school student and a member of the Serbian nationalist secret society Union or Death (kn...

Stalin, Joseph Vissarionovich

(Encyclopedia)Stalin, Joseph Vissarionovich stäˈlĭn, Rus. vĭsəryôˈnəvĭch stäˈlyĭn [key], 1879–1953, Soviet Communist leader and head of the USSR from the death of V. I. Lenin (1924) until his own deat...

Merseyside

(Encyclopedia)Merseyside, former metropolitan county, NW England. Created in the 1974 local government reorganization, the county embraced the Greater Liverpool metropolitan area and comprised five metropolitan dis...

Dinkins, David Norman

(Encyclopedia)Dinkins, David Norman, 1927–2020, African-American political leader, b. Trenton, N.J. After graduating (1956) from Brooklyn Law School, he went into private law practice. Active in Democratic politi...

West Yorkshire

(Encyclopedia)West Yorkshire, former metropolitan county, N central England. Created in the 1974 local government reorganization, the county largely embraced the Leeds conurbation and comprised five metropolitan di...

Texas Rangers

(Encyclopedia)Texas Rangers, mounted fighting force organized (1835) during the Texas Revolution. During the republic they became established as the guardians of the Texas frontier, particularly against Native Amer...

Mélusine

(Encyclopedia)Mélusine mĕlyo͝osēˈnä [key], in French legend, a fairy who changed into a serpent from the waist down every Saturday. She married a mortal, Count Raymond, said to be the ancestor of the house of...

Siegen, Ludwig von

(Encyclopedia)Siegen, Ludwig von lo͝otˈvĭkh fən zēˈgən [key], c.1609–1680, German engraver, b. Holland, educated in Germany. He is said to have invented (c.1640) the mezzotint process of engraving. Among h...