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Riccardo Muti
Riccardo Muti , 1941-, Italian conductor. Principal conductor of the Maggio Musicale (1969-81) in Florence and of the Philharmonia Orchestra (1973-82) in London, he became (1977) principal guest conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra and succeeded (1980) Eugene Ormandy as its musical director, a ...
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Montpelier
Montpelier estate, central Va., near Charlottesville; formerly the home of President James Madison . The brick mansion was built c.1760 by Madison's father. Altered and enlarged by later owners, it has been restored (completed 2008) to its appearance when Madison lived there. Madison and his wife ...
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Peć
Peć , Albanian Peja, town (1991 pop. 68,163), S Serbia, in the Kosovo region. A trade center, it has industries that produce leather goods, foodstuffs, and handicrafts. Stephen Dušan in 1346 made Peć the seat of the Orthodox patriarchs of Serbia, who resided there until 1766. ...
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Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare , city (1991 pop. 60,821), North Somerset, SW England, on the Bristol Channel. It is a seaside resort with attractions that include Worlebury Hill, with its Iron Age hill fort and beautiful view of the opposite coast of Wales; a long esplanade; and Brean Down, a bird sanctuary. The...
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Wojciech Jaruzelski
Wojciech Jaruzelski , 1923-, Polish military and political leader. He fought in World War II, became a general in 1956, and began his rise in the Communist party in 1960. During the 1981 crisis involving the trade union Solidarity , Jaruzelski became premier and party leader. Known as a moderate, h...
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Titanic
Titanic , British liner that sank on the night of Apr. 14-15, 1912, less than three hours after crashing into an iceberg in the N Atlantic S of Newfoundland. More than 1,500 lives were lost. The Titanic, thought to be the fastest ship afloat and almost unsinkable, was on her maiden voyage and carr...
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Sark
Sark Fr. Sercq (sĕrk), island (1991 pop. 575), 2 sq mi (5 sq km), in the English Channel, E of Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands . It is divided into Great Sark and Little Sark, which are connected by a natural causeway, the Coupée. The interior is reached through tunnels from Cre...
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Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip gäz´e , (2003 est. pop. 1,330,000) rectangular coastal area, c.140 sq mi (370 sq km), SW Asia, on the Mediterranean Sea adjoining Egypt and Israel, in what was formerly SW Palestine, now officially administered by the Palestinian Authority .
People and Economy
The G...
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William Frank Buckley, Jr.
William Frank Buckley, Jr. 1925-2008, American editor, author, and lecturer, b. New York City, grad. Yale, 1946. A popular, eloquent, and witty spokesman for the conservative point of view, Buckley helped found the modern conservative movement and played an important part in promoting the growth of...
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Mengistu Haile Mariam
Mengistu Haile Mariam , 1937-, military ruler of Ethiopia (1974-91). Mengistu, an army officer, participated prominently in Emperor Haile Selassie 's overthrow (1974). Emerging through violence as preeminent military ruler by 1977, he sought Soviet aid, established a socialist People's Republic and...
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