Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Tomar to͝omärˈ [key], town (1991 pop. 14,003), Santarém dist., central Portugal, in Ribatejo. It has paper and textile mills and other industries but is noted chiefly as the center of the Knights ...

(Encyclopedia) Vendôme, Louis Joseph, duc de dük də väNdōmˈ [key], 1654–1712, marshal of France; grandson of César de Vendôme and son of Laura Mancini. He fought in the War of the Grand Alliance. In the W...

(Encyclopedia) Verdun, battle of, the longest and one of the bloodiest engagements of World War I. Two million men were engaged. It began on Feb. 21, 1916, when the Germans, commanded by Crown Prince Frederick Willi...

(Encyclopedia) Wilhelmina vĭlˌhĕlmēˈnä [key], 1880–1962, queen of the Netherlands (1890–1948), daughter and successor of William III. Her mother, Emma of Waldeck-Pyrmont, was regent until 1898. Wilhelmina ...

(Encyclopedia) Ruffin, Edmund rŭfˈĭn [key], 1794–1865, American agriculturist, one of the Southern fire-eaters, b. Prince George co., Va. His interest in improving impoverished land led him to become a pioneer ...

(Encyclopedia) Bao Dai bou dī [key], 1913–97, emperor of Annam (1926–45) and chief of state of Vietnam (1949–55). Born Prince Nguyen Vinh Thuy, he was the son of Emperor Khai Din and succeeded to the throne i...

(Encyclopedia) Takahata, Isao, 1935–2018, Japanese animator. One the most influential directors of Japanese animated films (anime), he joined Tokyo's Toei animation studio in 1959. His first feature film, Hols: Pr...

(Encyclopedia) Beauharnais, Eugène de də bōärnāˈ [key], 1781–1824, French general; son of Alexandre and Josephine de Beauharnais (Empress Josephine). He served ably in the campaigns of his stepfather, Napol...

(Encyclopedia) Ploieşti ployĕshtˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 259,014), S central Romania, in Walachia. It is the chief center of the Romanian petroleum industry and of the Ploieşti oil region. The city is a railroad...

(Encyclopedia) Rainier III rĕnyāˈ [key], 1923–2005, prince of Monaco (1949–2005), a member of the Grimaldi family, which has ruled the tiny principality since 1297. Fiercely anti-Nazi, Ranier served with dist...