Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Albert II, 1934–, king of the Belgians (1993–2013), the younger son of Leopold III. He married Donna Paola Ruffo de Calabria in 1959; they have three children. Albert became king when Baudouin, hi...

(Encyclopedia) West Glamorgan gləmôrˈgən [key], former county, S Wales. Created in the 1974 reorganization of Welsh local government from portions of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, in the 1996 reorganization West ...

(Encyclopedia) West, Morris (Morris Langlo West), 1916–99, Australian novelist, b. Melbourne. West's novels often reveal an interest in both Roman Catholicism and international politics, as reflected in his best-s...

(Encyclopedia) West, Nathanael, 1903–40, American novelist, whose real name was Nathan Weinstein, b. New York City, grad. Brown Univ., 1924. An innovative, highly original author, West revealed the sterility and g...

(Encyclopedia) Berenice bĕrənīˈsē [key], b. c.340 b.c., d. 281 or 271 b.c., consort and half-sister of Ptolemy I, king of ancient Egypt. A Macedonian, she was the widow of Philip, one of the officers of Alexand...

(Encyclopedia) Cole, Nat “King,” 1919–65, American musician and composer, b. Montgomery, Ala., as Nathaniel Adams Coles. A jazz pianist, he played Los Angeles nightclubs and in 1938 formed the King Cole Trio. ...

(Encyclopedia) West Chester, borough (1990 pop. 18,041), seat of Chester co., SE Pa., W of Philadelphia; inc. 1799. Primarily residential, West Chester was long the trade and processing center for an agricultural re...

(Encyclopedia) West Bromwich brŭmˈĭj, –ĭch, brŏmˈwĭch [key], town, Sandwell borough, W central England. On the site of a 12th-century Benedictine priory, West Bromwich has foundries and engineering and chem...

(Encyclopedia) Charles XIV (Charles John; Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte) zhäN bäptēstˈ zhül bĕrnädôtˈ [key], 1763–1844, king of Sweden and Norway (1818–44), French Revolutionary general. Bernadotte ros...

(Encyclopedia) God Save the King (or Queen), the English national anthem. The words and music are both of doubtful origin. The air, possibly derived from a folk tune, has been attributed to Henry Carey (whose claim ...