leghorn, breed of chicken that originated in Italy and the only Mediterranean breed of importance today. Of the 12 varieties, the single-comb White Leghorn is more popular than all the other leghorns combined; the leading egg producer of the world, it lays white eggs and is kept in large numbers in

Legio Maria, Christian new religious movement and African independent church (AIC). Legio Maria was founded in 1963 by two Roman Catholics of the Luo ethnic group in Kenya: Simeo Ondeto (died 1992), a catechist (religious teacher), and Gaundencia Aoko. Both claimed to have undergone prophetic

legion, a military organization, originally the largest permanent organization in the armies of ancient Rome. The term legion also denotes the military system by which imperial Rome conquered and ruled the ancient world. The expanding early Roman Republic found the Greek phalanx formation too

Iron Guard, Romanian fascist organization that constituted a major social and political force between 1930 and 1941. In 1927 Corneliu Zelea Codreanu founded the Legion of the Archangel Michael, which later became known as the Legion or Legionary Movement; it was committed to the “Christian and

Aubrey Plaza: Emily the Criminal and The White Lotus: …a big-time TV role in Legion (2017–19), which appeared on the American premium television channel FX. The show was based on a Marvel Comics character and set in a psychiatric hospital. Plaza played Lenore (Lenny) Busker, a young woman with substance abuse issues. In 2020 she starred in the comedy-drama…

Condor Legion, a unit of the German air force, or Luftwaffe, detailed by Hermann Göring for special duty with General Francisco Franco’s Nationalist forces in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). It was sent to Franco on the condition that it stay under German command. The Legion consisted of four

French Foreign Legion, an elite military force originally consisting of foreign volunteers in the pay of France but now comprising volunteer soldiers from any nation, including France, for service in France and abroad. Created as a temporary expedient in a French army that otherwise barred

United Kingdom: The conquest: …best-documented campaign is that of Legion II under its legate Vespasian starting from Chichester, where the Atrebatic kingdom was restored; the Isle of Wight was taken and the hill forts of Dorset reduced. Legion IX advanced into Lincolnshire, and Legion XIV probably across the Midlands toward Leicester. Colchester was the…

United Kingdom: The conquest: Legion IX advanced into Lincolnshire, and Legion XIV probably across the Midlands toward Leicester. Colchester was the chief base, but the fortresses of individual legions at this stage have not yet been identified.

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: The Legion of Honor was established in 1924 to commemorate Californians who died while serving in World War I. The building is noted for its Beaux-Arts architecture and Lincoln Park location, with a vista of the city, as well as its prized permanent collections. It has…

Legion of Honour, premier order of the French republic, created by Napoleon Bonaparte, then first consul, on May 19, 1802, as a general military and civil order of merit conferred without regard to birth or religion provided that anyone admitted swears to uphold liberty and equality. Napoleon’s

United Kingdom: The conquest: …IX advanced into Lincolnshire, and Legion XIV probably across the Midlands toward Leicester. Colchester was the chief base, but the fortresses of individual legions at this stage have not yet been identified.

United Kingdom: The conquest: …strengthened by the addition of Legion XX, released for this purpose by the foundation of a veteran settlement (colonia) at Camulodunum in the year 49. The colonia would form a strategic reserve as well as setting the Britons an example of Roman urban organization and life. A provincial centre for…

Daniel Defoe: Mature life and works.: …with his famous document “Legion’s Memorial,” which reminded the Commons in outspoken terms that “Englishmen are no more to be slaves to Parliaments than to a King.” It was effective: the Kentishmen were released, and Defoe was feted by the citizens of London. It had been a courageous gesture…

Per Olov Enquist: …great effectiveness in Legionärerna (1968; The Legionnaires, 1973), a study of the extradition of Baltic soldiers from Sweden to the Soviet Union after the end of World War II. A year later the book was awarded the Nordic Council Literature Prize.

ant: Notable ant behaviors: Army ants, of the subfamily Dorylinae, are nomadic and notorious for the destruction of plant and animal life in their path. The army ants of tropical America (Eciton), for example, travel in columns, eating insects and other invertebrates along the way. Periodically, the colony rests…

Iron Guard, Romanian fascist organization that constituted a major social and political force between 1930 and 1941. In 1927 Corneliu Zelea Codreanu founded the Legion of the Archangel Michael, which later became known as the Legion or Legionary Movement; it was committed to the “Christian and

Legionnaire disease: …pneumonia caused by the bacillus Legionella pneumophila. The name of the disease (and of the bacterium) derives from a 1976 state convention of the American Legion, a U.S. military veterans’ organization, at a Philadelphia hotel where 182 Legionnaires contracted the disease, 29 of them fatally. The largest known outbreak of…

Legionnaire disease, form of pneumonia caused by the bacillus Legionella pneumophila. The name of the disease (and of the bacterium) derives from a 1976 state convention of the American Legion, a U.S. military veterans’ organization, at a Philadelphia hotel where 182 Legionnaires contracted the

Legionnaire disease, form of pneumonia caused by the bacillus Legionella pneumophila. The name of the disease (and of the bacterium) derives from a 1976 state convention of the American Legion, a U.S. military veterans’ organization, at a Philadelphia hotel where 182 Legionnaires contracted the

Per Olov Enquist: …great effectiveness in Legionärerna (1968; The Legionnaires, 1973), a study of the extradition of Baltic soldiers from Sweden to the Soviet Union after the end of World War II. A year later the book was awarded the Nordic Council Literature Prize.

Roman legal procedure: …overlapping stages of development: the legis actiones, which dates from the 5th-century bce law code known as the Twelve Tables until the late 2nd century; the formulary system, from the 2nd century bce until the end of the Classical period (3rd century ce); and the cognitio extraordinaria, in operation during…

legislation, the preparing and enacting of laws by local, state, or national legislatures. In other contexts it is sometimes used to apply to municipal ordinances and to the rules and regulations of administrative agencies passed in the exercise of delegated legislative functions. Legislation

legislative apportionment, process by which representation is distributed among the constituencies of a representative assembly. This use of the term apportionment is limited almost exclusively to the United States. In most other countries, particularly the United Kingdom and the countries of the

Legislative Assembly, national parliament of France during part of the Revolutionary period and again during the Second Republic. The first was created in September 1791 and was in session from Oct. 1, 1791, to Sept. 20, 1792, when it was replaced by the National Convention, marking the formal

Legislative Assembly: During the Second Republic it lasted from May 28, 1849, to Dec. 2, 1851, when Napoleon III dissolved it; the republic itself ended less than one year later.

India: State and local governments: …have a Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), popularly elected for terms of up to five years, while a small (and declining) number of states also have an upper house, the Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council), roughly comparable to the Rajya Sabha, with memberships that may not be more than one-third the…

India: Constitutional reforms: …bicameral legislature consisting of a Legislative Assembly (lower house) and a Council of State (upper house). The Legislative Assembly, with 145 members, was to have a majority of 104 elected, while 33 of the Council of State’s 60 members were also to be elected. Enfranchisement continued to be based on…

Australian Capital Territory: Government: The 17-member Legislative Assembly is elected by proportional preferential voting in three electorates for a three-year term. Although major national political parties (Labor and Liberal) have contested each election, representatives of other local groups usually have held the balance of power in each assembly. The executive branch…

Winnipeg: The provincial Legislative Building (1920) is a Neoclassical structure with the well-known Golden Boy (a bronze statue of a youth carrying a torch in his right hand and a sheaf of wheat over his left arm) on top of its dome. The city’s Centennial Centre includes the…

history of Europe: Russia: …for the members of the Legislative Commission (1767–68). If Catherine still hoped that enlightened reforms, even the abolition of serfdom, were possible after the Commission’s muddle, the revolt of Yemelyan Pugachov (1773–75) brought her back to the fundamental questions of security. His challenge to the autocracy was countered by military…

Corps Législatif, the legislature in France from 1795 to 1814. In the period of the Directory (q.v.) it was the name of the bicameral legislature made up of the Council of Five Hundred and the Council of Ancients. Under Napoleon’s consulate, legislative powers were nominally divided among three

Uganda: Political and administrative development: In 1921 a Legislative Council was instituted, but its membership was so small (four official and two nonofficial members) that it made little impact on the protectorate. The Indian community, which played an important part in the commercial life of the region, resented the fact that it was…

Brunei: Growing significance and journey toward independence: …in 1962 a partly elected Legislative Council with limited authority was installed. The conversion to a representative government was interrupted later that year by a revolt, which was suppressed with the help of British forces; the sultan then called a state of emergency and suspended most provisions of the constitution.…

India: State and local governments: …house, the Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council), roughly comparable to the Rajya Sabha, with memberships that may not be more than one-third the size of the assemblies. In these councils, one-sixth of the members are nominated by the governor, and the remainder are elected by various categories of specially qualified…

Hong Kong: Constitutional framework: Legislative authority rests with a Legislative Council (LegCo), whose 70 members (increased from 60 for the 2012 legislative elections) serve a four-year term; the chief executive, however, can dissolve the council before the end of a term.

New South Wales: Constitutional framework: The upper house, or Legislative Council, has 42 members who (since 1978) are directly elected at large by preferential voting and proportional representation. The members are elected to serve during two sessions of Parliament and thus serve for a maximum of eight years in their first term. The cabinet…

legislative investigative powers, powers of a lawmaking body to conduct investigations. In most countries this power is exercised primarily to provide a check on the executive branch of government. The U.S. Congress, however, has exercised broad investigative powers, beginning in 1792 with an

legislation: Aids to legislation: For example, under the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, important committees of Congress were provided with professional staffs to do research.

Augusto Boal: …he developed what he called Legislative Theatre, which was similar to Forum Theatre but was directly focused on policies and laws that could solve problems. In addition to his work to promulgate the Theatre of the Oppressed, Boal taught theatre and directed conventional plays throughout his life. His autobiography, Hamlet…

checks and balances: Congress exercised a so-called legislative veto. Clauses in certain laws qualified the authority of the executive branch to act by making specified acts subject to disapproval by the majority vote of one or both houses. In 1983, in a case concerning the deportation of an alien, the U.S. Supreme…

Dmitry Grigoryevich Levitsky: …belonged to, depicted her as Legislator in the Temple of the Goddess of Justice (1783). Under Levitsky’s brush, the weighty subject matter was transformed into a splendid imperial display, portraying Catherine more as a personification of empresshood than a living person. As usual, for Levitsky the portrait was merely a…

legislature, lawmaking branch of a government. Before the advent of legislatures, the law was dictated by monarchs. Early European legislatures include the English Parliament and the Icelandic Althing (founded c. 930). Legislatures may be unicameral or bicameral (see bicameral system). Their powers

property law: Protection of the family against intentional disinheritance: … (known by the English term legitim or in French as réserve héreditaire). Wills remain important in the civil-law systems, however, both because the disposable share of the estate may amount to a large monetary sum and because the statutory share of the heirs tends to be viewed in monetary terms.…

illegitimacy, status of children begotten and born outside of wedlock. Many statutes either state, or are interpreted to mean, that usually a child born under a void marriage is not illegitimate if his parents clearly believed that they were legally married. Similarly, annulment of a marriage

legitimacy, popular acceptance of a government, political regime, or system of governance. The word legitimacy can be interpreted in either a normative way or a “positive” (see positivism) way. The first meaning refers to political philosophy and deals with questions such as: What are the right

illegitimacy: …by a legal action called legitimation, granting him all the rights of legitimate children—except that property or money already given to a naturally legitimate child cannot be transferred to a legitimated one who would otherwise have been entitled to part of it. In some places, legitimation automatically occurs if the…

Germany: Evolution of parties and ideologies: The defenders of legitimism, who came mostly from the landed nobility, the court aristocracy, the officer corps, the upper bureaucracy, and the established church, therefore began to advance new arguments based on conservative assumptions about the nature of man and society. The relationship between the individual and government,…

Legitimist, in 19th-century France, any of the royalists who from 1830 onward supported the claims of the representative of the senior line of the house of Bourbon to be the legitimate king of France. They were opposed not only to republicans but also to the other monarchist factions: to the

Legitimist, in 19th-century France, any of the royalists who from 1830 onward supported the claims of the representative of the senior line of the house of Bourbon to be the legitimate king of France. They were opposed not only to republicans but also to the other monarchist factions: to the

Quadrilateral: Peschiera, Verona, and Legnago, lying between Lombardy and Venetia; the former two were on the Mincio and the latter two on the Adige. The real value of the Quadrilateral, which gave Austria such a firm hold on Lombardy, lay in the great natural strength of Mantua and in…

Pierina Legnani was an Italian ballerina whose virtuoso technique inspired Russian dancers to develop their now-characteristic technical brilliance. After appearing in Milan, Paris, London, and Madrid, Legnani went in 1893 to the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, where she danced Cinderella and

Legnano, city, Lombardia (Lombardy) regione, northern Italy, on the Olona River. An unimportant Roman settlement called Leunianum, it became the site of a fortified castle of the bishops of Milan in the 11th century and in 1176 was the scene of a decisive defeat of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick

Alexander III: Life: …defeat by the Lombards at Legnano (1176) paved the way for the Peace of Venice (1177), which closed this phase of the struggle.

Legnica, city, Dolnośląskie województwo (province), southwestern Poland. It lies along the Kaczawa River in the western lowlands of Silesia (Śląsk). A 12th-century Silesian stronghold, Legnica became the capital of an autonomous principality in 1248. At the Battle of Liegnitz, or Legnica, on April

On April 9, 1241, at the Battle of Legnica, Mongol raiders in Poland routed a European army containing Christian knights from the military orders of the Teutonic Knights, the Hospitallers, and the Templars. The raiders had been sent to Poland as a diversion from the Mongolian invasion of Europe

LEGO, plastic building-block toys that rose to massive popularity in the mid-20th century. It has been one of the most successful game brands in marketing history. LEGO blocks originated in the Billund, Denmark, workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen, who began making wooden toys in 1932. Two years

Will Arnett: Education and career: …The Second Part (2019), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017). He hosts the Lego building competition show Lego Masters (2020– ).

Jørgen Vig Knudstorp: …chairman (2017– ) of the LEGO Group. He was credited with turning around the Danish toy maker.

Will Arnett: Education and career: …Movie (2014) and its sequel, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017). He hosts the Lego building competition show Lego Masters (2020– ).

Will Arnett: Education and career: …and television franchise, including in The Lego Movie (2014) and its sequel, The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019), and The Lego Batman Movie (2017). He hosts the Lego building competition show Lego Masters (2020– ).

Fred Armisen: Portlandia and other work: … (2010), The Dictator (2012), and The Lego Ninjago Movie (2017). In 2018 he released the Netflix comedy special Fred Armisen: Standup for Drummers.

autism: Diagnosis and treatment: LEGO therapy is an example of an intervention that leverages an individual’s strengths in systematization to build social skills, such as turn taking and communication. Early intervention, including promoting language, developing social skills, and regulating behavior, allow for significant improvement in many children.

Southeast Asian arts: Dramatic and nondramatic forms: The Balinese legong, danced by a pair of preadolescent girls, may have only the most tenuous dramatic content. Its interest lies in the girls’ unison rapid foot movements and fluttering movements of eyes and hands. Dramatic dance is seen at its best in full dance-dramas and in…

Venus’s looking glass, (Legousia, or Specularia, speculum-veneris), species of annual herb of the bellflower family (Campanulaceae), native to sandy, sunny parts of the Mediterranean region. It is grown as a garden ornamental for its blue, violet, or white, wide-open, bell-shaped flowers. The long

The Thomas Crown Affair: Production notes and credits:

Simon Legree, fictional character, the principal villain in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Giovanni Legrenzi was an Italian composer, one of the greatest of the Venetian Baroque. His trio sonatas are among the best chamber music of the period before Arcangelo Corelli. Little is known about Legrenzi’s early years. He studied with his father, a violinist and minor composer, and he was

Alphonse Legros was a French-born British painter, etcher, and sculptor, now remembered chiefly for his graphics on macabre and fantastic themes. An excellent draftsman, he taught in London, revitalizing British drawing and printmaking during a period of low ebb. Legros first attracted attention at

ZZ Top: …“Sharp Dressed Man,” and “Legs,” Eliminator went on to sell more than 10 million copies. Afterburner (1985) yielded the additional hits “Rough Boy” and “Sleeping Bag.”

William Kennedy: …humour in his next novel, Legs (1975), about Jack (“Legs”) Diamond, an Irish-American gangster who was killed in Albany in 1931. Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game (1978), also set in Albany, chronicles the life of a small-time streetwise hustler who sidesteps the powerful local political machine. Ironweed (1983), which brought Kennedy…

Eva Hesse: , Ringaround Arosie and Legs of a Walking Ball, both 1965), probably inspired by the out-of-use machinery in her studio.

lycée: …and technological upper-secondary school (LEGT; lycée d’enseignement général et technologique); this is the successor to the traditional academic upper-secondary school. Students entering the LEGT choose one of three basic streams (humanities, science, or technology) their first year and then concentrate on somewhat more specialized fields of learning (e.g., literary-philosophical, or…

Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo was a businessman and politician who, during the first of his two terms as president of Peru (1908–12; 1919–30), settled the country’s age-old boundary disputes with Bolivia and Brazil. Leguía was a member of one of the more distinguished families of the Peruvian

legume, fruit of plants in the pea family (Fabaceae). Most legumes are dehiscent fruits that release their seeds by splitting open along two seams, though some, such as peanuts (Arachis hypogaea) and carobs (Ceratonia siliqua), do not naturally open. The fruits come in a variety of sizes and

Fabaceae, pea family of flowering plants (angiosperms), within the order Fabales. Fabaceae, which is the third largest family among the angiosperms after Orchidaceae (orchid family) and Asteraceae (aster family), consists of more than 700 genera and about 20,000 species of trees, shrubs, vines, and

Fabales, order of dicotyledonous flowering plants in the Rosid I group among the core eudicots. The order comprises 4 families (Fabaceae, Polygalaceae, Quillajaceae, and Surianaceae), 754 genera, and more than 20,000 species. However, more than 95 percent of the genera and species belong to

Fabaceae, pea family of flowering plants (angiosperms), within the order Fabales. Fabaceae, which is the third largest family among the angiosperms after Orchidaceae (orchid family) and Asteraceae (aster family), consists of more than 700 genera and about 20,000 species of trees, shrubs, vines, and

Zsigmond Móricz: …even idyllic, love as in Légy jó mindhalálig (1920; “Be Good Until Death”), often considered the finest book about children written in Hungarian, and in Pillangó (1925; “Butterfly”). He also wrote monumental historical novels, Erdély (1922–35; “Transylvania”) and Rózsa Sándor (1940–42). He was a master of Hungarian, his style absorbing…

Leh, town, Ladakh union territory, northern India. The town is located in the valley of the upper Indus River at an elevation of 11,550 feet (3,520 meters), surrounded by the towering peaks of the Ladakh Range (a southeastern extension of the Karakoram Range). Leh is in one of the most remote areas

Ben Affleck: Film directing: …drama, which was based on Dennis Lehane’s novel about two Boston detectives’ search for a missing girl, was a critical success. He mined similar terrain for his next effort behind the camera, The Town (2010), casting himself as the head of a crew of Boston bank robbers. Affleck later directed…

Franz Lehár was a Hungarian composer of operettas who achieved worldwide success with Die lustige Witwe (The Merry Widow). He studied at the Prague Conservatory. Encouraged by Antonín Dvořák to follow a musical career, Lehár traveled in Austria as a bandmaster from 1890. In 1896 he produced his

Ahmed Vefik Paşa: …and in 1876 he published Lehƈe-i Osmanî (“Language of the Ottomans”), a concise dictionary that emphasized pure Turkish and formed a basis for the works of other Turkish scholars.

Carlos Lehder is a Colombian-German drug smuggler, a leader in the powerful Medellín drug cartel, who was credited with revolutionizing the transportation network for delivering cocaine to the United States by vastly increasing the volume of smuggled drugs. It was estimated that Lehder’s network

Bremerhaven: …in competition in 1845; and Lehe, a borough dating from medieval times that attained town status in 1920. The union of Lehe and Geestemünde in 1924 formed the town of Wesermünde, which in turn absorbed Bremerhaven in 1939 under Prussian jurisdiction. This unified city, restored to Bremen in 1947, was…

Lehi, city, Utah county, northern Utah, U.S. First called Evansville and then Dry Creek, upon its incorporation the city was renamed Lehi, after a patriarch in the Book of Mormon. Located on the northern shore of Utah Lake, the city is an agricultural centre (alfalfa, sugar beets) and a suburb of

Stern Gang, Zionist extremist organization in Palestine, founded in 1940 by Avraham Stern (1907–42) after a split in the right-wing underground movement Irgun Zvai Leumi. Extremely anti-British, the group repeatedly attacked British personnel in Palestine and even invited aid from the Axis powers.

Book of Mormon: …bce, led by a prophet, Lehi. They multiplied and eventually split into two groups. One group, the Lamanites, forgot their beliefs, became heathens, and were the ancestors of the American Indians. The other group, the Nephites, developed culturally and built great cities but were eventually destroyed by the Lamanites about…

Lehigh, county, eastern Pennsylvania, U.S., consisting of a hilly region in the Appalachian Ridge and Valley physiographic province bordered by the Lehigh River to the east and Blue Mountain to the north. Other waterways include Leaser Lake and Jordan, Little Lehigh, and Saucon creeks. The

Allentown: …Lehigh and opening of the Lehigh Canal (1829) brought new economic opportunities to the town; an iron industry was started in 1847, a cement plant in 1850, and a rolling mill in 1860. Allentown’s location amid rich mineral deposits (iron ore, zinc, limestone) and fertile farmland enhanced its development as…

Allentown: Situated on the Lehigh River, Allentown, with Bethlehem and Easton, forms an industrial complex. William Allen, mayor of Philadelphia and later chief justice of Pennsylvania, laid out the town (1762), naming it Northampton. It was incorporated as the borough of Northampton in 1811 and was later (1838) officially…

Lehigh University, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S. The university includes colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business and Economics, Education, and Engineering and Applied Science. In addition to undergraduate studies, Lehigh offers a range of

Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, American railroad whose growth was based on hauling coal from the anthracite mines of northeastern Pennsylvania. Originally founded in 1846 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill, and Susquehanna Railroad Company, it changed its name to Lehigh Valley in 1853. It

Carbon: Lehighton was laid out on the site of Gnadenhutten, a Moravian settlement dating from 1746 that was destroyed during the French and Indian War. Anthracite coal was discovered in the region as early as 1791, but it was not mined commercially until the early 19th…

bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers: …collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers that occurred on September 15, 2008. It was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history at that time, and it was among the most significant events of the financial crisis of 2007–08.

bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers that occurred on September 15, 2008. It was the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history at that time, and it was among the most significant events of the financial crisis of 2007–08. Lehman Brothers was founded in 1850 by

Lehman Caves, large, spectacular cavern at Great Basin National Park in eastern Nevada, U.S. The cave lies 5 miles (8 km) west of Baker at the base of the eastern slope of Wheeler Peak (13,063 feet [3,982 metres]) in the Snake Range. It is made of light gray and white limestone that is honeycombed

Sam Mendes: …he returned to Broadway with The Lehman Trilogy. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the production was halted and did not resume until 2021. The Lehman Trilogy later won a Tony for best play, and Mendes received the award for best director of a play.

Bohemian glass: Early in the 17th century, Caspar Lehmann, gem cutter to Emperor Rudolf II in Prague, adapted to glass the technique of gem engraving with copper and bronze wheels. Although intaglio (Tiefschnitt, “deep cut”) and high relief (Hochschnitt, “high cut”) engraving on glass were known to the ancients, Lehmann was the…

Georges Seurat: …1878, in the class of Henri Lehmann, a disciple of J.-A.-D. Ingres, who painted portraits and conventional nudes. In the school library Seurat discovered a book that was to inspire him for the rest of his life: the Essai sur les signes inconditionnels de l’art (1827; “Essay on the Unmistakable…