(Encyclopedia) Armstrong, John, 1717?–1795, American pioneer, known as the “hero of Kittanning,” b. Co. Fermanagh, Ireland. He laid out the town of Carlisle, Pa. In 1756 he led the expedition that…
(Encyclopedia) lentil, leguminous Old World annual plant (Lens culinaris) with whitish or pale blue flowers. Its pods contain two greenish-brown or dark-colored seeds, also called lentils, which when…
(Encyclopedia) LentulusLentuluslĕnˈty&oomacr;ləs [key], ancient Roman patrician family of the Cornelian gens. Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, d. 63 b.c., was notorious for his private life and…
(Encyclopedia) Lenya, LotteLenya, Lottelôtˈə lĕnˈyä [key], 1898–1981, Viennese singer and character actress, b. Karoline Blamauer. The wife of the composer Kurt Weill, Lenya was the foremost singer…
(Encyclopedia) Lenz, Jakob Michael ReinholdLenz, Jakob Michael Reinholdyäˈkôp mĭkhˈäĕl rīnˈhôlt lĕnts [key], 1751–92, German writer. He was a friend of Goethe, whom he first imitated, then lampooned…
(Encyclopedia) Lenz's law, physical law, discovered by the German scientist H. F. E. Lenz in 1834, that states that the electromotive force (emf) induced in a conductor moving perpendicular to a…
(Encyclopedia) Leo I, Saint (Saint Leo the Great), c.400–461, pope (440–61), an Italian; successor of St. Sixtus III. A Doctor of the Church, he was one of the greatest pontiffs of the early years of…
(Encyclopedia) Leo III, Saint, pope (795–816), a Roman; successor of Adrian I. He was attacked about the face and eyes by members of Adrian's family, who hoped to render him unfit for the papacy. Leo…
(Encyclopedia) Leo IV, Saint, d. 855, pope (847–55), a Roman; successor of Sergius II. He had seen the Saracen attack on Rome (846), and to prevent its recurrence he fortified the city and its…
(Encyclopedia) Leo IX, Saint, 1002–54, pope (1049–54), a German named Bruno of Toul, b. Alsace; successor of Damasus II. A relative of Holy Roman Emperor Henry III, he was educated at Toul and was…
