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John II, king of Portugal

(Encyclopedia) John II (John the Perfect), 1455–95, king of Portugal (1481–95), son and successor of Alfonso V. He was an astute politician and statesman and a patron of Renaissance art and learning. He reduced ...

Force, Peter

(Encyclopedia) Force, Peter, 1790–1868, American journalist and historian, b. near Paterson, N.J. He served in the War of 1812 and afterward established himself in Washington, D.C., as a printer. Entering local po...

Voulkos, Peter

(Encyclopedia) Voulkos, Peter, 1924–2002, American ceramist and sculptor who helped establish ceramics as a fine art, b. Bozeman, Mont., B.S. Montana State College (now Montana State Univ.), 1951, M.F.A California...

Bar, Confederation of

(Encyclopedia) Bar, Confederation of, union formed in 1768 at Bar, in Podolia (now in W Ukraine), by a number of Polish nobles to oppose the interference of Catherine II of Russia in Polish affairs. Headed by the Pu...

Emancipation, Edict of

(Encyclopedia) Emancipation, Edict of, 1861, the mechanism by which Czar Alexander II freed all Russian serfs (one third of the total population). All personal serfdom was abolished, and the peasants were to receive...

Sellars, Peter

(Encyclopedia) Sellars, Peter, 1957–, American director, b. Pittsburgh, grad. Harvard (1981). A highly innovative director, he began his career with the Boston Shakespeare Co. (1983–84) and Washington's American...

Philip II, king of Macedon

(Encyclopedia) Philip II, 382–336 b.c., king of Macedon (359–336 b.c.), son of Amyntas II. While a hostage in Thebes (367–364), he gained much knowledge of Greece and its people. He was appointed regent for Am...

Ahmed II

(Encyclopedia) Ahmed II, 1642–95, Ottoman sultan (1691–95), brother and successor of Sulayman II to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Soon after his reign began, the Turkish defeat at Slankamen, Serbia ...
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