Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th president of the United States (1963–69). A moderate Democrat and vigorous leader in the United States Senate, Johnson was elected vice president in 1960 and acceded to the presidency in 1963 upon the assassination of Pres. John F. Kennedy. During his administration

LBK culture, Neolithic culture that expanded over large areas of Europe north and west of the Danube River (from Slovakia to the Netherlands) about the 5th millennium bc. Farmers probably practiced a form of shifting cultivation on the loess soil. Emmer wheat and barley were grown, and domestic

leveraged buyout (LBO), acquisition strategy whereby a company is purchased by another company using borrowed money such as bonds or loans. In numerous cases, leveraged buyouts (LBOs) have been used by managers to buy out shareholders to gain control over the company, and the strategy played an

Pakistan: The Indus River plain: …the World Bank, constructed the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) in the 1980s and ’90s. The intent was to build a large artificial waterway roughly east of and parallel to the Indus to carry salt water from the plains of Punjab and Sindh provinces to the Arabian Sea coast in…

Large Binocular Telescope Observatory (LBTO), observatory consisting of two 8.4-metre (28-foot) telescopes located on Mount Graham (3,221 metres [10,567 feet]) in Arizona, U.S. The two telescopes combined have the resolution of a telescope with a mirror 22.8 metres (74.8 feet) across. Construction

cricket: Methods of dismissal: The batsman is out “leg before wicket” (lbw) if he intercepts with any part of his person (except his hand) that is in line between wicket and wicket a ball that has not first touched his bat or his hand and that has or would have pitched (hit the…

endangered species: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: …status in the near future Least Concern (LC), a category containing species that are pervasive and abundant after careful assessment Data Deficient (DD), a condition applied to species in which the amount of available data related to its risk of extinction is lacking in some way. Consequently, a complete assessment…

chemical analysis: Chromatography: …a liquid, the technique is liquid chromatography; if it is a gas, the technique is gas chromatography.

Library of Congress Classification, system of library organization developed during the reorganization of the U.S. Library of Congress. It consists of separate, mutually exclusive, special classifications, often having no connection save the accidental one of alphabetical notation. Unlike the Dewey

Charlotte Perriand: Collaborations with Le Corbusier: …tilting back”; also identified as LC1), the “Fauteuil Grand Confort” easy chair (1928; LC2 and LC3), and the chaise lounge (1928; LC4). Because of Le Corbusier’s towering reputation, he is often given sole credit for the conception and design of the chairs. However, as with any highly collaborative undertaking, giving…

Charlotte Perriand: Collaborations with Le Corbusier: …and the chaise lounge (1928; LC4). Because of Le Corbusier’s towering reputation, he is often given sole credit for the conception and design of the chairs. However, as with any highly collaborative undertaking, giving credit to any single individual is problematic. Perriand acknowledged that he had defined the framework of…

Lutheran Church in America, Lutheran church in North America that in 1988 merged with two other Lutheran churches to form the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

bile acid: Synthesis and circulation: …produced from cholic acid, and lithocholic acid, which is generated from chenodeoxycholic acid. Secondary bile acids function primarily as signaling molecules, which can influence such processes as immune responses, fat digestion, and cell proliferation.

amphibious vehicle: … took delivery of its first LCAC (“landing craft, air cushion”) in 1984, and 90 more would enter service over subsequent years. Although boasting lighter armament than the LVT and its descendants—its twin gun mounts could support light or heavy machine guns or 40-mm grenade launchers—the LCAC’s range and versatility made…

chemical bonding: Molecular orbital theory: …which is known as the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) approximation, each MO is constructed from a superposition of atomic orbitals belonging to the atoms in the molecule. The size of the contribution of an orbital from a particular atom indicates the probability that the electron will be found…

London: The City Corporation: …London as a whole, the London County Council (LCC). However, the City Corporation successfully lobbied to preserve its autonomy and secured the creation of a second tier of elected local governments, the metropolitan boroughs, to function as a political counterweight to the LCC.

liquid crystal display (LCD), electronic display device that operates by applying a varying electric voltage to a layer of liquid crystal, thereby inducing changes in its optical properties. LCDs are commonly used for portable electronic games, as viewfinders for digital cameras and camcorders, in

Lesotho: Political crisis: …formed his own party, the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD). The LCD overwhelmingly won the general elections of May 1998, and, upon Mokhehle’s resignation, Pakalitha Mosisili became prime minister. Although claims of voting fraud were raised, the election was declared free and fair by many international observers. Opposition parties protesting…

landing craft: …Tank, mounted with rockets, and LCG(L) designated a Landing Craft, Gun (Large), a craft equipped with two 4.7-inch (119-mm) naval guns to engage fortified beach defenses with direct fire.

metabolic disease: Fatty acid oxidation defects: Long-chain 3-hydroxy-acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (LCHAD) deficiency may present with heart failure, hypoglycemia, multi-organ system failure, and retinal pigmentary changes. A fetus with LCHAD deficiency can induce liver disease during pregnancy in a mother who is a heterozygous carrier for the condition. This appears to be due…

landing craft: The resulting Landing Craft, Infantry (Large), called the LCI, was a 158-foot (48-metre) vessel with the capacity to carry 200 infantrymen on a 48-hour passage—more than enough time to cross small bodies of water such as the English Channel. The LCI did not have the standard bow…

Crédit Lyonnais, Le (LCL), major French commercial bank noted for providing financial services throughout the world and for aggressive acquisitions in the late 20th century. The bank is headquartered in Paris. Originally called Crédit Lyonnais, it was founded by Henri Germain on July 6, 1863, in

arithmetic: Fundamental theory: …of the numbers, called their least common multiple (LCM).

Las Campanas Observatory (LCO), astronomical observatory established in 1969 in the Atacama desert of Chile at an altitude of 2,282 metres (7,487 feet). It is owned by the Carnegie Institution for Science, an American private research centre. The region is well known for its remarkably clear skies

nuclear power: Economics: …industry is known as the levelized cost of electricity, or LCOE, which is the cost of generating one kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity averaged over the lifetime of the power plant. The LCOE is also known as the “busbar cost,” as it represents the cost of the electricity up to the…

LCROSS, U.S. spacecraft that was deliberately crashed into the Moon on October 9, 2009, resulting in the discovery of subsurface water. LCROSS was launched on June 18, 2009, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on an Atlas rocket that also carried the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a spacecraft

warship: Amphibians: Navy called the LCT (landing craft, tank), was carried over oceanic distances and launched at the time of assault. The LCT was too large to fit the davit of a conventional transport, so a new type of ship, the LSD (landing ship, dock), was created specifically to carry it.…

landing craft: The LCT Mk4 was capable of carrying and deploying six medium tanks. This vessel was used extensively at Normandy.

landing craft: For example, LCT(R) designated a Landing Craft, Tank, mounted with rockets, and LCG(L) designated a Landing Craft, Gun (Large), a craft equipped with two 4.7-inch (119-mm) naval guns to engage fortified beach defenses with direct fire.

Lutheran Council in the United States of America (LCUSA), cooperative agency for four Lutheran churches whose membership included about 95 percent of all Lutherans in the U.S., established Jan. 1, 1967, as a successor to the National Lutheran Council (NLC). The member churches were the Lutheran

landing craft: …the basic design for the Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP), often simply called the Higgins boat. The LCVP could carry 36 combat-equipped infantrymen or 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg) of cargo from ship to shore. During World War II the United States produced 23,398 of the craft. The British version of…

Sister Simone Campbell: …though informal role in the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), a coalition representing the majority of American sisters. Campbell was also active on international issues and took part in religious delegations to Chiapas, Mexico (1996), Iraq (2002), Syria (2008), and Lebanon (2008).

Austria: Manufacturing: …the basic oxygen process, or LD process, originally named for the cities of Linz and Donawitz (the latter now part of Leoben); it is used under license by steelworks throughout the world. A considerable portion of Austria’s iron and steel industry is involved with construction abroad. Iron and steel firms…

drug: Dose-response relationship: …result being expressed as the median lethal dose (LD50), which is defined as the dose causing mortality in 50 percent of a group of animals.

therapeutic index, margin of safety that exists between the dose of a drug that produces the desired effect and the dose that produces unwanted and possibly dangerous side effects. This relationship is defined as the ratio LD50:ED50, where LD50 is the dose at which a drug kills 50 percent of a test

Lithuania: Independence restored: …Party, which renamed itself the Lithuanian Democratic Labour Party (LDLP), won 73 of 141 seats. Despite its victory, the LDLP did not seek to reverse policies. Instead, the government liberalized the economy, joined the Council of Europe, became an associate member of the Western European Union, and pursued membership in…

Kosovo: Political process: …main Kosovar Albanian parties, the Democratic League of Kosovo (Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës; LDK) and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (Partia Demokratike e Kosovës; PDK), formed independent Kosovo’s first coalition government, with Hashim Thaçi of the PDK as prime minister and Fatmir Sejdiu of the LDK as president. The LDK…

atherosclerosis: Pathophysiology: …more and more fatty materials—primarily low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), protein-lipid complexes that serve as a vehicle for delivering cholesterol to the body—immune cells called macrophages are drawn to the site to scavenge the materials. When filled with lipids, the macrophages become known as “foam cells,” which later die and accumulate in…

Lithuania: Independence restored: …Party, which renamed itself the Lithuanian Democratic Labour Party (LDLP), won 73 of 141 seats. Despite its victory, the LDLP did not seek to reverse policies. Instead, the government liberalized the economy, joined the Council of Europe, became an associate member of the Western European Union, and pursued membership in…

Rolandas Paksas: Paksas founded the centre-right Liberal Democratic Party (Liberalų Demokratų Partija; LDP) in March 2002. Under its banner, he won the presidency of Lithuania in the second round of elections on Jan. 5, 2003, with 54.7 percent of the vote. His success came as a surprise to many. All the…

Raila Odinga: Political maneuvers: …left KANU and formed the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

neofascism: …Marine Le Pen, and the Liberal-Democratic Party in Russia, led from 1991 by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, are often cited as neofascist.

Liberal-Democratic Party of Japan (LDP), Japan’s largest political party, which has held power almost continuously since its formation in 1955. The party has generally worked closely with business interests and followed a pro-U.S. foreign policy. During nearly four decades of uninterrupted power

polyethylene: Low-density polyethylene: LDPE is prepared from gaseous ethylene under very high pressures (up to about 350 megapascals, or 50,000 pounds per square inch) and high temperatures (up to about 350 °C [660 °F]) in the presence of oxide initiators. These processes yield a polymer structure…

neofascism: …Marine Le Pen, and the Liberal-Democratic Party in Russia, led from 1991 by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, are often cited as neofascist.

The Adventures of Pinocchio, classic children’s novel written by C. Collodi that first appeared in serial form in 1881 in the Giornale dei bambini (“Children’s Magazine”) and was published as a book in 1883. It tells the story of the little marionette who wants to be a real boy, and it is perhaps

Celtic literature: Prose: …as Toussaint Le Garrec and Abbé J. Le Bayon, who revived several great mystery plays—Nicolazig, Boeh er goed (“The Voice of the Blood”), Ar hent en Hadour (“In the Steps of the Sower”), and Ar en hent de Vethleem (“On the Way to Bethlehem”).

The Cosby Show: …show, were 20-something Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), teenagers Denise (Lisa Bonet) and Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner), preteen Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and young Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam). Grandparents Anna and Russell Huxtable (Clarice Taylor and Earle Hyman) frequently appeared, and the irresistible Olivia (Raven-Symoné

Joseph-Achille Le Bel was a French chemist whose explanation of why some organic compounds rotate the plane of polarized light helped to advance stereochemistry. Le Bel studied at the École Polytechnique in Paris and was an assistant to A.-J. Balard and C.-A. Wurtz. He perceived that a molecule in

Jakob Christof Le Blon was a German-born painter and engraver who was the first to make use of several metal plates (each for an individual colour) for making prints with continuous gradations of colour. His colour theory formed the foundation for modern colour printing. Le Blon lived in Rome,

Jakob Christof Le Blon was a German-born painter and engraver who was the first to make use of several metal plates (each for an individual colour) for making prints with continuous gradations of colour. His colour theory formed the foundation for modern colour printing. Le Blon lived in Rome,

Alexandre-Jean-Baptiste Le Blond was a French landscape designer who designed the gardens for the palace of Peter I (the Great), at Peterhof, Russia. Le Blond was brought up among the great French gardening families. He collaborated with André Le Nôtre in designs of parterres, which were published

Jakob Christof Le Blon was a German-born painter and engraver who was the first to make use of several metal plates (each for an individual colour) for making prints with continuous gradations of colour. His colour theory formed the foundation for modern colour printing. Le Blon lived in Rome,

Alexandre-Jean-Baptiste Le Blond was a French landscape designer who designed the gardens for the palace of Peter I (the Great), at Peterhof, Russia. Le Blond was brought up among the great French gardening families. He collaborated with André Le Nôtre in designs of parterres, which were published

Gustave Le Bon was a French social psychologist best known for his study of the psychological characteristics of crowds. After receiving a doctorate of medicine, Le Bon traveled in Europe, North Africa, and Asia and wrote several books on anthropology and archaeology. His interests later shifted to

tragedy: The English heroic play: … (following the contemporary French critic, René Le Bossu) in his preface to his Troilus and Cressida (1679), is “to make the moral of the work; that is, to lay down to yourself what that precept of morality shall be, which you would insinuate into the people.” In All for Love…

airport: Evolution of airports: (Croydon), Paris (Le Bourget), and Berlin (Tempelhof) were laid out on sites close to the city centres. Because even transport aircraft of the period were relatively light, paved runways were a rarity. Croydon, Tempelhof, and Le Bourget, for example, all operated from grass strips only. Early airports…

Bernard Le Bovier, sieur de Fontenelle was a French scientist and man of letters, described by Voltaire as the most universal mind produced by the era of Louis XIV. Many of the characteristic ideas of the Enlightenment are found in embryonic form in his works. Fontenelle was educated at the Jesuit

Anatole Le Braz was a French folklorist, novelist, and poet who collected and edited the legends and popular beliefs of his native province, Brittany. Educated in Paris, Le Braz was professor of philosophy at several schools and, later, professor of French literature at the University of Rennes

Denis Diderot: The Encyclopédie: In 1745 the publisher André Le Breton approached Diderot with a view to bringing out a French translation of Ephraim Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, after two other translators had withdrawn from the project. Diderot undertook the task with the distinguished mathematician Jean Le Rond d’Alembert as coeditor but soon profoundly changed…

Lillie Langtry was a British beauty and actress, known as the Jersey Lily. She was the daughter of the dean of Jersey. In 1874 she married Edward Langtry, who died in 1897, and in 1899 she married Hugo de Bathe, who became a baronet in 1907. In 1881 Langtry caused a sensation by being the first

Charles Le Brun was a painter and designer who became the arbiter of artistic production in France during the last half of the 17th century. Possessing both technical facility and the capacity to organize and carry out many vast projects, Le Brun personally created or supervised the production of

Cap-Haïtien, city, northern Haiti. Founded in 1670 by the French, the city was then known as Cap-Français and gained early renown as the “Paris of the Antilles.” It served as capital of the colony (then known as Saint-Domingue) until 1770 and was the scene of slave uprisings in 1791. U.S. ships

John le Carré was an English writer of suspenseful, realistic spy novels based on a wide knowledge of international espionage. Educated abroad and at the University of Oxford, le Carré taught French and Latin at Eton College from 1956 to 1958. In 1959 he became a member of the British foreign

Jean Le Chapelier was a French Revolutionary leader who in 1791 introduced in the National Assembly the Loi (“Law”) Le Chapelier, which made any association of workers or of employers illegal. In force until 1884, the law actually affected only workers, who found it much more difficult to conceal

France: Restructuring France: …economic marketplace as individuals, the Le Chapelier Law of June 1791 (named after reformer Jean Le Chapelier) banned workers’ associations and strikes. The precepts of economic individualism extended to rural life as well. In theory, peasants and landlords were now free to cultivate their fields as they wished, regardless of…

Henry-Louis Le Chatelier: …who is best known for Le Chatelier’s principle, which makes it possible to predict the effect a change of conditions (such as temperature, pressure, or concentration of reaction components) will have on a chemical reaction. His principle proved invaluable in the chemical industry for developing the most-efficient chemical processes.

Henry-Louis Le Chatelier was a French chemist who is best known for Le Chatelier’s principle, which makes it possible to predict the effect a change of conditions (such as temperature, pressure, or concentration of reaction components) will have on a chemical reaction. His principle proved

Casino Royale: …is a rich gambler named Le Chiffre (Orson Welles), who is actually a top operative in a crime syndicate known as SMERSH. Bond decides to confuse his enemies by enlisting numerous agents to adopt the name James Bond. He utilizes the services of agent Vesper Lynd (Ursula Andress) to seduce…

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio is a French author known for his intricate, seductive fiction and distinctive works of nonfiction that mediate between the past and the present, juxtaposing the modern world with a primordial landscape of ambiguity and mystery. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature

Michael Phelps: …that race featured South Africa’s Chad le Clos, who had beaten Phelps by five-hundredths of a second in the race at the 2012 Games and who had exchanged verbal barbs with the American over the following four years. Before the race, cameras caught le Clos warming up in front of…

Italo Calvino: …fantasy is Le cosmicomiche (1965; Cosmicomics), a stream-of-consciousness narrative that treats the creation and evolution of the universe. In the later novels Le città invisibili (1972; Invisible Cities), Il castello dei destini incrociate (1973; The Castle of Crossed Destinies), and Se una notte d’inverno un viaggiatore (1979; If on a…

Le Creusot, industrial town, Saône-et-Loire département, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté région, east-central France. It is located about 40 miles (65 km) southwest of Dijon. In 1782 a foundry and blast furnaces, using coal instead of wood for the first time in France, were built at Le Creusot. Shortly

Jean Renoir: Early years: Lange (1936; The Crime of Monsieur Lange), which, in contrast to the rather stilted manner of the first years of sound films, foretells a reconquest of the true moving-picture style, especially in use of improvisation and of montage—the art of editing, or cutting, to achieve certain associations…

Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe, large oil painting by French artist Édouard Manet that was completed in 1863. It was rejected by the Paris Salon and exhibited in 1863 in the Salon des Refusés. Long before his association with the Impressionists, Manet was a controversial figure in the French art world.

Thomas Wentworth, earl of Cleveland was a prominent Royalist during the English Civil Wars. The eldest son of Henry Wentworth (whom he succeeded as 4th Baron Wentworth and Lord le Despenser in infancy), he was created earl of Cleveland in 1626 by Charles I. Adhering to the king’s cause in the

Le Duan was a Vietnamese communist politician. Le Duan was a founding member of the Indochina Communist Party in 1930. Twice imprisoned by the French, he joined the Viet Minh, Ho Chi Minh’s anti-French communist-led front, and attained an influential position on the Central Committee of Ho’s new

Le Duc Tho was a Vietnamese politician who, acting as an adviser to North Vietnam, negotiated a cease-fire agreement with U.S. official Henry Kissinger during the Vietnam War. The two men were jointly awarded the 1973 Nobel Prize for Peace, but Tho declined it. Le Duc Tho was one of the founders of

Le Duan was a Vietnamese communist politician. Le Duan was a founding member of the Indochina Communist Party in 1930. Twice imprisoned by the French, he joined the Viet Minh, Ho Chi Minh’s anti-French communist-led front, and attained an influential position on the Central Committee of Ho’s new

Georges Braque: International acclaim of Georges Braque: …of figure paintings—first-rate examples are Le Duo and The Painter and His Model—and in 1937 he won the Carnegie Prize. During World War II he produced a collection of small, generally flat, decorative pieces of sculpture in a style recalling again ancient Greece and centring on vaguely mythological themes.

Later Le Dynasty, (1428–1788), the greatest and longest lasting dynasty of traditional Vietnam. Its predecessor, the Earlier Le, was founded by Le Hoan and lasted from 980 to 1009. The Later Le was established when its founder, Le Loi, began a resistance movement against the Chinese armies then

Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of ghost stories and mystery novels, celebrated for his ability to evoke the ominous atmosphere of a haunted house. Le Fanu belonged to an old Dublin Huguenot family and was related on his mother’s side to Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Educated at Trinity College,

Sheridan Le Fanu was an Irish writer of ghost stories and mystery novels, celebrated for his ability to evoke the ominous atmosphere of a haunted house. Le Fanu belonged to an old Dublin Huguenot family and was related on his mother’s side to Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Educated at Trinity College,

Albert Gleizes: In 1909 Gleizes met painter Henri Le Fauconnier, whose Cubist portrait of the poet Pierre Jean Jouve had a profound effect on the direction Gleizes would take with his own painting. Gleizes’s full-length portrait of Arcos painted the next year shows Le Fauconnier’s influence and Gleizes’s first experimentation with Cubism…

Jackson, city, capital of Mississippi, U.S. It lies along the Pearl River, in the west-central part of the state, about 180 miles (290 km) north of New Orleans. Jackson is also the coseat (with nearby Raymond) of Hinds county. Settled (1792) by Louis LeFleur, a French-Canadian trader, and known as

Eva Le Gallienne was an actress, director, and producer, one of the outstanding figures of the 20th-century American stage. The daughter of the British poet Richard Le Gallienne, Eva Le Gallienne felt a vocation for the theatre from the age of seven, when she saw Sarah Bernhardt perform. She made

Celtic literature: Prose: …and religious lessons, such as Toussaint Le Garrec and Abbé J. Le Bayon, who revived several great mystery plays—Nicolazig, Boeh er goed (“The Voice of the Blood”), Ar hent en Hadour (“In the Steps of the Sower”), and Ar en hent de Vethleem (“On the Way to Bethlehem”).

John: Accession to the throne: …a year later, in the Treaty of Le Goulet, that John was recognized as successor in all Richard’s French possessions, in return for financial and territorial concessions to Philip.

Cartesianism: Cartesian mechanism: … (1614–87) and was popularized by Antoine Le Grand (1629–99), a French Franciscan, who wrote an exposition of the Cartesians’ ingenious account of light and colour. According to popular versions of this account, light consists of tiny spinning globes of highly elastic subtle matter that fly through the air in straight…

Gustave Le Gray was a French artist noted for his promotion and aesthetic handling of the paper negative in France. Le Gray, a former student of the painter Paul Delaroche, began to experiment with photography in 1847. He was among the first of the French painters to recognize the aesthetic

Gustave Le Gray was a French artist noted for his promotion and aesthetic handling of the paper negative in France. Le Gray, a former student of the painter Paul Delaroche, began to experiment with photography in 1847. He was among the first of the French painters to recognize the aesthetic

Roman Catholicism: The nature of the church: In 1965 the Dominican theologian Marie-Joseph Le Guillou defined the church in these terms:

Ursula K. Le Guin was an American writer best known for tales of science fiction and fantasy imbued with concern for character development and language. Le Guin, the daughter of distinguished anthropologist A.L. Kroeber and writer Theodora Kroeber, attended Radcliffe College (B.A., 1951) and

Le Havre, seaport and city, Seine-Maritime département, Normandy région, northwestern France. It is on the English Channel coast and on the right bank of the Seine estuary, 134 miles (216 km) west-northwest of Paris and 53 miles (85 km) west of Rouen by road. Le Havre was only a fishing village

Later Le Dynasty: …Earlier Le, was founded by Le Hoan and lasted from 980 to 1009.

Claude Le Jeune was a French composer of the late Renaissance, known for his psalm settings and for his significant contributions to musique mesurée, a style reflecting the long and short syllables of Classical prosody. His works are noted for their skillful integration of lively rhythms with

El-Kef, town in northwestern Tunisia, about 110 miles (175 km) southwest of Tunis. El-Kef is situated at an elevation of 2,559 feet (780 metres) on the slopes of the Haut (high) Tell, 22 miles (35 km) from the Algerian border. It occupies the site of an ancient Carthaginian town and later Roman

Le Loi was a Vietnamese general and emperor who won back independence for Vietnam from China in 1428, founded the Later Le dynasty, and became the most honoured Vietnamese hero of the medieval period. A wealthy upper-class landowner, Le Loi despised the Vietnamese aristocrats who collaborated with

Ivan Albright was an American painter noted for his meticulously detailed, exaggeratedly realistic depictions of decay and corruption. Albright was educated at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, and the University of Illinois, Urbana, before World War I. After the war he trained at the

Robert Le Maçon was the chancellor of France, a leading adviser of Charles VII of France, and a supporter of Joan of Arc. After being ennobled in 1401, Le Maçon was a counselor to Louis II, duke of Anjou and titular king of Naples, from 1407. Appointed chancellor (1414) to Queen Isabella, wife of