king of the Belgians whose actions as commander in chief of the Belgian Army during the German conquest of Belgium (1940) in World War II aroused opposition to his rule, ...
poet whose unique expression and masterly technique set him apart from other heirs to the Dutch literary renaissance of the 1880s. His poetry is often wistful and melancholy in mood, ...
two celebrated Chicago murderers of 1924, who confessed to the kidnapping and murder of 14-year-old Robert ("Bobbie") Franks for an "intellectual" thrill. Pleading guilty, they were defended in a bench ...
(Oct. 7, 1571), naval engagement between allied Christian forces and the Ottoman Turks during an Ottoman campaign to acquire the Venetian island of Cyprus. Seeking to drive Venice from the ...
people of eastern Nepal, western Bhutan, Sikkim state, and the Darjeeling district of West Bengal in India. They number about 46,000 (11,000 in India; 25,000 in Sikkim; and 10,000 in ...
one of the most commonly encountered genera of extinct treelike club mosses, order Lepidodendrales, class (or subdivision) Lycopsida. Some of its species, prominent during the Late Carboniferous Period (ending 286 ...
the most common lithium mineral, basic potassium and lithium aluminosilicate; a member of the common mica group. It is economically important as a major source of lithium. Because it is ...
any member of the insect order Lepidoptera, which, with as many as 100,000 species, is second in size only to the Coleoptera, the beetles. In addition to the familiar butterflies ...
segment of the Central Alps along the Italian-Swiss border, bounded by the Simplon Pass and Pennine Alps (q.v.; west-southwest), the Upper Rhone and Vorderrhein river valleys (north), Splugen Pass (Italian ...
chronic infectious disease that affects the skin, the peripheral nerves (nerves outside the brain and spinal cord), and the mucous membranes of the nose, throat, and eyes. It is caused ...
German Egyptologist and a founder of modern, scientific archaeology who did much to catalog Egyptian archaeological remains and to establish a chronology for Egyptian history.
genus of extinct brachiopods (lamp shells) commonly found as fossils in Ordovician to Lower Carboniferous sedimentary rocks (between 505 and 320 million years old). The very distinctive shell of Leptaena ...
(354 BC), ancient Athenian tax measure, subject of an early speech of the orator Demosthenes. The law, named for the man who proposed it, was backed by the Athenian statesman ...
largest city of the ancient region of Tripolitania. It is located 62 miles (100 km) southeast of Tripoli on the Mediterranean coast of Libya. Lying 2 miles (3 km) east ...
small Carthaginian city located 10 miles (16 km) from modern Al-Munastir (Ruspinum), Tunisia. In Roman times it was the centre of a prosperous olive-growing district, and its exports included olive ...
family of frogs (order Anura), including more than 900 species, most of which are found in South and Central America. Leptodactylid frogs live in water, on land, or in trees. ...
extinct genus of pelecypods (clams) found as fossils in Silurian to Lower Carboniferous rocks (between 438 and 320 million years old). Its distinct shell, roughly oval except for a sharp ...
extinct genus of articulate brachiopods, or lamp shells, of the Permian period (286 to 245 million years ago). Leptodus, a very specialized form characterized by an aberrant morphology, had an ...
genus of marine fish thought to represent the ancestral form that gave rise to the teleosts, the dominant group of fishes in the world today. Leptolepis was abundant between 208 ...
any member of a class of subatomic particles that respond only to the electromagnetic force, weak force, and gravitational force and are not affected by the strong force. Leptons are ...
one of the 30 soil groups in the classification system of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Leptosols are soils with a very shallow profile depth (indicating little influence of ...
genus of about 40 species of subtropical evergreen shrubs or small trees, in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae), native to Australasia. Several species have been introduced to temperate regions and grown ...
acute systemic illness of animals, occasionally communicable to humans, that is characterized by extensive inflammation of the blood vessels. It is caused by a spirochete, or spiral-shaped bacterium, of the ...
capital of Lerida provincia, in the comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") of Catalonia, northeastern Spain, on the Segre River near its confluence with the Ebro River. Of Iberian origin, the town ...
provincia, in the comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") of Catalonia, northeastern Spain. It was bounded by France and Andorra to the north and by the provincias of Gerona and Barcelona (east), ...
Cistercian monastery, originally founded about 410 by St. Honoratus of Arles on a Mediterranean island opposite Cannes (now in France). It flourished in the 5th century, when it was a ...
river in west-central Mexico. It rises on the central plateau 15 miles (24 km) southeast of Toluca and flows northwestward through the state of Mexico, forms the short border between ...
Spanish statesman who died a cardinal, having been the first of the validos-strong men or favourites-through whom the Habsburg kings were to govern Spain until the end ...
the leading Russian Romantic poet and author of the novel Geroy nashego vremeni (1840; A Hero of Our Time), which was to have a profound influence on later Russian writers.
American librettist and lyricist who collaborated with composer Frederick Loewe on the hit Broadway musicals Brigadoon (1947), Paint Your Wagon (1951), My Fair Lady (1956), and Camelot (1960) and the ...
prolific and popular dramatist, poet, and novelist, many of whose works exhibit nostalgia for pre-World War I Austrian aristocracy. In particular, his novel Die Standarte (1934), by depicting military unrest ...
island, one of the Dodecanese islands of Greece, in the Aegean Sea, east of the Cyclades and off the southwest coast of Turkey. It is surrounded by numerous islets and ...
French novelist, best known for his Le Fantome de l'opera (1910; The Phantom of the Opera), which later became famous in various film and stage renditions.
American motion-picture director whose wide variety of 75 films included dramas (Little Caesar [1930], I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang [1932], Thirty Seconds over Tokyo [1944]), romances (Tugboat ...
chief town of Scotland's Shetland Islands, an archipelago lying 130 miles (210 km) north of the Scottish mainland. Lerwick is the most northerly town in Britain. It is situated on ...
village, Bouches-du-Rhone departement, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur region, southeastern France, on a spur of the Alpilles Hills rising abruptly from the valley floor, northeast of Arles. ...
town, southwestern Haiti, on the southern Caribbean shore of the southern peninsula. Founded in 1786, it was plagued by disease and pirates during colonial times. In 1815 the South American ...
prolific French satirical dramatist and author of the classic picaresque novel Gil Blas, which was influential in making the picaresque form a European literary fashion.
(after its capital), largest island after Crete and Euboea in the Aegean Sea, forming with Lemnos and Ayios Evstratios islands the nomos (department) of Lesbos, Greece. The capital of the ...
Swiss-born American architect best known for conceiving, in conjunction with George Howe, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society Building, or PSFS (1931-32), which effectively introduced the International style of architecture into ...
hereditary metabolic disorder affecting the central nervous system and characterized by incoordination, mental retardation, aggressive behaviour, and compulsive biting. The cause of the syndrome is a defective organic catalyst or ...
one of the great French architects of the mid-16th century who contributed a decorative style that provided the foundation for the classical tradition of French architecture.
in Slavic mythology, the forest spirit. The leshy is a sportive spirit who enjoys playing tricks on people, though when angered he can be treacherous. He is seldom seen, but ...
in physiology, a structural or biochemical change in an organ or tissue produced by disease processes or a wound. The alteration may be associated with particular symptoms of a disease, ...
Scottish Roman Catholic bishop and historian and an adviser of Mary Stuart, queen of Scots. He was involved in plots to overthrow the Protestant government of Queen Elizabeth I and ...
city, Krasnoyarsk kray (region), Russia. The city extends for 19 miles (30 km) along the Yenisey River. It is a wood-processing centre and an important Yenisey River port. Lesosibirsk was ...
independent kingdom in southern Africa. With an area of 11,720 square miles (30,355 square km); it forms an enclave within the Republic of South Africa, bordering on three of the ...
any member of a genus (Lespedeza) of herbaceous plants in the pea family (Fabaceae), some of which are useful as forage and green manure crops. The approximately 40 species in ...
hostess of one of the most brilliant and emancipated of Parisian salons and the author of several volumes of passionate letters that reveal her romantic sensibility and genuine literary gifts.
river in southeastern Belgium. The Lesse River rises west of Libramont in the Ardennes and follows a short (52-mile [84-kilometre]), meandering northwesterly course to the Meuse River at Anseremme, a ...
long arc of small islands in the Caribbean Sea extending in a north-south direction from the Virgin Islands to Trinidad and then in an east-west direction from Margarita to Aruba ...
range of folded mountains in the southern part of the Caucasus region, connected with the main Caucasus Mountains by means of the Likhsky Mountains, which form the divide between the ...
middle section of the Himalayan mountain ranges, extending southeastward across north Pakistan, north India, Nepal, Sikkim (India), and into Bhutan. The range lies between the Great (north) and Siwalik, or ...
mountain range in the northeastern section of Heilungkiang sheng (province), China. The range is connected to the Greater Khingan Range by the I-lo-hu-li Mountains, which run northwest-southeast for some 375 ...
