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Talk Talk - Communication terms
Category: General technical and industrial
Date & country: 28/05/2010, UK
Words: 18630
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Lerner, Alan JayUS lyricist. He collaborated with Frederick Loewe on musicals including
Brigadoon (1947),
Paint Your Wagon (1951),
My Fair Lady (1956), and
Camelot (1960); and on the film
Gigi (1958). Most of his musicals became successful films.
Gigi
Lepenski Vir
Prehistoric settlement site in the valley of the River Danube, where it runs through the Iron Gates gorge, in Serbia on the Romanian border. One of Europe's oldest farming settlements, dating from the 6th millennium BC, it is possibly the earliest and best preserved late Mesolithic to Neolithic (Middle to New Stone Age) site in the Balkans. The...
Leonardo da Vinci
Italian painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, and scientist. One of the greatest figures of the Italian Renaissance, he was active in Florence, Milan, and, from 1516, France. As state engineer and court painter to the Duke of Milan, he painted the Last Supper mural (c. 1495; Sta Maria delle Grazie, Milan)...
Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich
Click images to enlargeRussian revolutionary, first leader of the USSR, and communist theoretician. Active in the 1905 Revolution, Lenin had to leave Russia when it failed, settling in Switzerland in 1914. He returned to Russia after the February revolution of 1917 (see Russian Revolution). He led the Bolshevik revolution...
Lely, Peter
Dutch painter. He was active in England from 1641, painting fashionable portraits in the style of van Dyck. His subjects included Charles I, Cromwell, and Charles II. He painted a series of admirals, Flagmen (National Maritime Museum, London), and one of The Windsor Beauties (Hampton Court, Richmond), fashionab...
Leinster
Southeastern historic province of the Republic of Ireland, comprising the counties of Carlow, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow; area 19,630 sq km/7,580 sq mi; population (2002) 2,105,600. The MacMurroughs were kings of Leinster until the mid-12th century. Their descend...
Leigh-Mallory, Trafford Leigh
British air chief marshal in World War II. He took part in the Battle of Britain and was commander-in-chief of Allied air forces during the invasion of France. He ensured complete Allied air superiority during the invasion and his plan to destroy German road and rail links was crucial in isolating most of the German defence forces. KCB 1943
Leicestershire
County of central England (since April 1997 Leicester City and Rutland have been separate unitary authorities). Area 2,084 sq km/804 sq mi Towns and cities Loughborough, Melton Mowbray, Market Harborough (administrative headquarters at Glenfield, Leicester) Physical rivers Soar and Wreake; Ch...
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm
German mathematician, philosopher, and diplomat. Independently of, but concurrently with, English scientist Isaac Newton, he developed the branch of mathematics known as calculus and was one of the founders of symbolic logic. Free from all concepts of space and number, his logic was the prototype of ...
legionnaires' disease
Pneumonia-like disease, so called because it was first identified when it broke out at a convention of the American Legion in Philadelphia in 1976. Legionnaires' disease is caused by the bacterium Legionella pneumophila, which breeds in warm water (for example, in the cooling towers of air-conditioning systems). It is...
left-handedness
Using the left hand more skilfully and in preference to the right hand for most actions. It occurs in about 9% of the population, predominantly males. It is caused by dominance of the right side of the brain. Studies of twins suggest that there are genetic factors involved, but the precise causes for left-handedness (as for the predominant ...
Lee, Laurie
English writer. His autobiographical Cider with Rosie (1959) is a classic evocation of childhood; subsequent volumes are As I Walked Out One Summer Morning (1969), and A Moment of War (1991), in which he describes the horrors of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. His travel writing includes &...
Leda
In Greek mythology, wife of Tyndareus of Sparta and mother of Clytemnestra. Zeus, transformed as a swan, was the father of her daughter Helen of Troy and, in some traditions, the brothers Castor and Pollux (Greek Polydeuces). In other variants, Castor was fathered by Tyndareus or, according to Homer, both brothers were his sons. Leda's offsprin...
leasehold
In law, land or property held by a tenant (lessee) for a specified period (unlike freehold, outright ownership), usually at a rent from the landlord (lessor)
Leakey, Mary Douglas
English archaeologist and anthropologist. In 1948 she discovered, on Rusinga Island, Lake Victoria, East Africa, the prehistoric ape skull known as Proconsul, about 20 million years old; and human footprints at Laetoli, to the south, about 3.75 million years old
Leakey, Richard Erskine Frere
Kenyan palaeoanthropologist and politician. In 1972 he discovered at Lake Turkana, Kenya, an apelike skull estimated to be about 2.9 million years old; it had some human characteristics and a brain capacity of 800 cu cm/49 cu in. In 1984 his team found an almost complete skeleton of Homo erectus some 1.6 million years old...
Lewis,
(Percy) English writer and artist. He pioneered Vorticism, which, with its feeling of movement, sought to reflect the age of industry. He had a hard and aggressive style in both his writing and his painting. His literary works include the novel The Apes of God (1930); th...
Levellers
Democratic party in the English Civil War. The Levellers found wide support among Cromwell's New Model Army and the yeoman farmers, artisans, and small traders, and proved a powerful political force from 1647 to 1649. Their programme included the establishment of a republic, government by a parliament of one house elected by all men over 21, el...
Lethe
In Greek mythology, a river of the underworld whose waters when drunk, usually by the shades (dead), brought forgetfulness of the past. The first appearance of Lethe in literature occurred in Aristophanes' dramatization Frogs in the 5th century BC
Lesvos
Greek island in the Aegean Sea, near the coast of Turkey; area 2,154 sq km/831 sq mi; population (2001) 190,600. The capital is Mytilene. Industries include olives, wine, and grain. The island was called Lesbos in ancient times and was an Aeolian settlement, home of the poets Alcaeus and Sappho. It was conquered by the Turks from Genoa ...
Lesbos
Alternative spelling of Lesvos, an island in the Aegean Sea
lesbianism
Homosexuality (sexual attraction to one's own sex) between women, so called from the Greek island of Lesbos (now Lesvos), the home of Sappho the poet and her followers to whom the behaviour was attributed
Lermontov, Mikhail Yurevich
Russian Romantic poet and novelist. In 1837 he was sent into active military service in the Caucasus for writing a revolutionary poem on the death of Pushkin, which criticized court values, and for participating in a duel. Among his works are the psychological novel A Hero of Our Time (1840) and a volume of poems October...
leprosy
Chronic, progressive disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, closely related to that of tuberculosis. The infection attacks the skin and nerves. Leprosy is endemic in 28 countries, and confined almost entirely to the tropics. It is controlled with drugs. Worldwide, there were 400,000 new cases of leprosy in 2004, a ...
Lepanto, Battle of
Sea battle on 7 October 1571 between the Ottoman Empire and `Holy League` forces from Spain, Venice, Genoa, and the Papal States jointly commanded by the Spanish soldier Don John of Austria. The battle took place in the Mediterranean Gulf of Corinth off Lepanto (the Greek port of Naupaktos), then in Turkish possession. It was not decisive...
Leonidas
(king) King of Sparta. He was killed in 480 BC while defending the pass of Thermopylae with 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, and 400 Thebans against a huge Persian army
Leo
(III) Byzantine emperor and soldier. He seized the throne in 717, successfully defended Constantinople against the Saracens 717–18, and attempted to suppress the use of images in church worship (see iconoclast)
Lenya, Lotte
Austrian actor and singer. She was married five times, twice to the composer Kurt Weill, first in 1926, with whom she emigrated to the USA in 1935. She appeared in several of the Brecht–Weill operas, notably Die Dreigroschenoper/The Threepenny Opera (1928). Her plain looks and untrained singing voice brought added realis...
Lent
In the Christian church, the 40-day period of fasting that precedes Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday (the day after Shrove Tuesday), but omitting Sundays
lens
Click images to enlargeIn optics, a piece of a transparent material, such as glass, with two polished surfaces – one concave or convex, and the other plane, concave, or convex – that modifies rays of light. A convex lens brings rays of light together; a concave lens makes the rays diverge. Lenses are essenti...
Le Nôtre, André
French landscape gardener, often considered the greatest designer of formal gardens and parks of the baroque period. He created the gardens at Versailles 1662–90 and the Tuileries, Paris. His grandiose scheme for Versailles complemented Le Vau's original design for the palace facade, extending its formal symmetry into the surrounding count...
Leningrad
Former name (1924–91) of the Russian city St Petersburg
Lemnos
Greek island in the north of the Aegean Sea; area 476 sq km/184 sq mi; population (2001) 18,100. Towns include Kastron and Mudros. The island is of volcanic origin, rising to 430 m/1,411 ft. Industries include mulberries and other fruit, tobacco, and sheep
Leitrim
County of the Republic of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, bounded on the northwest by Donegal Bay; county town Carrick-on-Shannon; area 1,530 sq km/591 sq mi; population (2002) 25,800. Carrick-on-Shannon, Mohill, and Manorhamilton are the most important towns. The rivers Shannon, Bonet, Drowes, and Duff run thr...
Leipzig
Major commercial and industrial city in west Saxony, Germany, on the Weisse Elster (a tributary of the River Elbe), 145 km/90 mi southwest of Berlin; population (2003 est) 485,100. Industries include printing, publishing, and the production of textiles, furs, leather goods, paper, machine tools, and musical instruments. It hosts numerous tr...
Leigh, Vivien
Indian-born English actor. She won Academy Awards for her performances as Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind (1939) and as Blanche du Bois in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951). She was married to Laurence Olivier 1940–60, and starred with him in the...
Leicester
Industrial city and administrative centre of Leicester City unitary authority in central England, on the River Soar, 45 km/28 mi northeast of Birmingham; population (2001) 330,600. Major industries include engineering, food processing, electronics, chemicals, and clothing manufacture. History The first settlement here grew up around the Rom...
Le Havre
Industrial port in the département of Seine-Maritime in Normandy, northwest France, on the north side of the estuary of the River Seine, 90 km/56 mi from Rouen; population (1999 est) 190,600. It is the second-largest port in France (the largest in terms of export tonnage and container-ship traffic) and th...
Lehár, Franz
Hungarian composer. He wrote many operettas, among them The Merry Widow (1905), The Count of Luxembourg (1909), Gypsy Love (1910), and The Land of Smiles (1929). He also composed songs, marches, and a violin concerto
legend
Traditional or undocumented genre of story about famous people, commonly religious in character and frequently posing problems of authenticity. Legends are typically narrative, in the form of verse or prose novella, although more complex forms, such as drama or ballad, are possible. It is typical for legends to avoid a strict documentary account in...
legacy
In law, a gift of personal property made by a testator in a will and transferred on the testator's death to the legatee. Specific legacies are definite named objects; a general legacy is a sum of money or item not specially identified; a residuary legacy is all the remainder of the deceased's personal estate after debts have been pa...
left wing
In politics, the socialist parties. The term originated in the French national assembly of 1789, where the nobles sat in the place of honour to the right of the president, and the commons sat to the left. This arrangement has become customary in European parliaments, where the progressives sit on the left and the conservatives on the right. It is a...
Leeds
Industrial city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England, 40 km/25 mi southwest of York, on the River Aire; population (2001) 443,250; metropolitan area 715,400. Industries include engineering, printing, chemicals, glass, woollens, clothing, plastics, paper, metal goods, and leather goods. Notable buildings include the Town H...
Lee, Robert E(dward)
US military strategist and Confederate general in the American Civil War. As military adviser to Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy, and as commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, he made several raids into Northern territory, but was defeated at Gettysburg and surrendered in 1865 at A...
Le Corbusier
Swiss-born French architect. He was an early and influential exponent of the Modern Movement and one of the most innovative of 20th-century architects. His distinct brand of Functionalism first appears in his town-planning proposals of the early 1920s, which advocate `vertical garden cities` with zoning of living and working a...
Le Carré, John
English writer of thrillers. His low-key and realistic accounts of complex espionage, many of which were filmed, include The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963, filmed 1965); the trilogy Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974, filmed 1979), The Honourable Schoolboy (1977), Smiley&#...
Leavis, F(rank) R(aymond)
English literary critic. With his wife Q(ueenie) D(orothy) Leavis (1906–1981), he cofounded and edited the influential literary review Scrutiny (1932–53). He championed the work of D H Lawrence and James Joyce and in 1962 attacked C P Snow's theory of `the two cultures` (the natural alienation of the arts ...
Lear, Edward
English artist and humorist. His Book of Nonsense (1846) popularized the limerick (a five-line humorous verse). His Nonsense Songs, Botany and Alphabets (1871), includes two of his best-known poems, `The Owl and the Pussycat` and `The Jumbl...
leaven
Element inducing fermentation. The term is applied to the yeast added to dough in bread-making; it is used figuratively to describe any pervasive influence, usually in a good sense, although in the Old Testament it symbolized corruption, and unleavened bread was used in sacrifice
Leakey, Louis Seymour Bazett
Kenyan archaeologist, anthropologist, and palaeontologist. With his wife Mary Leakey, he discovered fossils of extinct animals in the Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania, as well as many remains of an early human type. Leakey's conviction that human origins lie in Africa was opposed to contemporary opinion
Leach, Bernard Howell
English potter. His simple designs of stoneware and raku ware, inspired by a period of study in Japan from 1909 to 1920, pioneered a revival of studio pottery in Britain. In 1920 he established the Leach Pottery, a communally-run workshop at St Ives, Cornwall, with the Japanese potter Shoji Hamada (1894–1978). Having wor...
lemon
Sharp-tasting yellow citrus fruit of the small, evergreen, semitropical lemon tree. It may have originated in northwestern India, and was introduced into Europe by the Spanish Moors in the 12th or 13th century. It is now grown in Italy, Spain, California, Florida, South Africa, and Australia, and...
lentil
Annual Old World plant belonging to the pea family. The plant, which resembles vetch, grows 15–45 cm/6–18 in high and has white, blue, or purplish flowers. The seeds, contained in pods about 1.6 cm/0.6 in long, are widely used as food. (Lens culinaris, family Leguminosae.) The most common varieties are the greyi...
lettuce
Annual plant whose large edible leaves are commonly used in salads. There are many varieties, including the cabbage lettuce, with round or loose heads, the Cos lettuce, with long, upright heads, and the Iceberg lettuce, with tight heads of crisp leaves. They are all believed to have been derived from the wild species L. serriola....
Levi, Primo
Italian novelist. He joined the antifascist resistance during World War II, was captured, and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz. He wrote of these experiences in Se questo è un uomo/If This Is a Man (1947). His other books, all based on his experience of the war, include Period Tables (1975) ...
lens, gravitational
Object in space which, by its gravitational field, bends light in a similar way to a spectacle lens. As a result of this, one object, such as a quasar, can appear as multiple images. A gravitational lens also produces a magnifying effect. Numerous examples are now known of such multiple imaging. Images of quasars and galaxies are also stretched int...
Lenz's law
In physics, a law stating that the direction of an electromagnetically induced current (generated by moving a magnet near a wire or a wire in a magnetic field) will be such as to oppose the motion producing it. It is named after the Russian physicist Heinrich Friedrich Lenz, who announced it in 1833
lever
Simple machine consisting of a rigid rod pivoted at a fixed point called the fulcrum, used for shifting or raising a heavy load or applying force. Levers are classified into orders according to where the effort is applied, and the load-moving force developed, in relation to the position of the fu...
Lena
One of the largest rivers of the Russian Federation, in eastern Siberia; length 4,400 km/2,734 mi; total drainage area 490,000 sq km/189,189 sq mi. The Lena rises in the Baikal Mountains, west of Lake Baikal, and flows northeast to Yakutsk, then north into the Laptev Sea (an inlet of the Arctic Ocean), where it forms a large delta 4...
León
(city, Spain) Capital of León province in Castilla-León, northwest Spain, situated on a plateau 821 m/2,694 ft high at the confluence of the Torio and Bernesga rivers; population (2001 est) 137,400. Linen, chemicals, pottery, and leather are manufactured. León was bu...
Lewis
Largest and most northerly island in the Outer Hebrides, Western Isles; area 2,220 sq km/857 sq mi; population (2001) 19,900. Its main town is Stornoway. It is separated from northwest Scotland by the Minch. The island is 80 km/50 mi long from north to south, and its greatest breadth is 45 km/28 mi. There are many lochs and peat...
Leyden
Alternative form of Leiden, a city in the Netherlands
learning theory
In psychology, any theory or body of theories about how behaviour in animals and human beings is acquired or modified by experience. Two main theories are classical and operant conditioning
Leigh, Mike
English dramatist and film-maker. He directs his own plays, which evolve through improvisation before they are scripted. His films, often sharp social satires, include Life Is Sweet (1991) and Secrets and Lies (1996; Cannes Palme D'Or). Vera Drake (2004), starring Imelda Staunton ...
Lee Kuan Yew
Singaporean politician, prime minister 1959–90. Lee founded the anticommunist Socialist People's Action Party in 1954 and entered the Singapore legislative assembly in 1955. He was elected the country's first prime minister in 1959, and took Singapore out of the Malaysian federation in 1965. He remained in power until his resignation i...
leitmotif
In music, a recurring theme or motive used to illustrate a character or idea. The term is strongly associated with Richard Wagner, who frequently employed this technique with great sophistication in his music dramas; it is also strongly prevalent in music for film
Leblanc, Nicolas
French chemist who in the 1780s developed a process for making soda ash (sodium carbonate, Na2CO3) from common salt (sodium chloride, NaCl). Soda ash was widely used industrially in making glass, paper, soap, and various chemicals. In the Leblanc process, salt was first converted into sodium sulphate by...
Le Guin, Ursula K(roeber)
US writer of science fiction and fantasy. Her novels include The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), which questions sex roles; the Earthsea series (1968–91); The Dispossessed (1974), which compares an anarchist and a capitalist society; and Always Coming Home (1...
Lebanon
(country) Country in western Asia, bounded north and east by Syria, south by Israel, and west by the Mediterranean Sea. Government Lebanon is a multiparty parliamentary democracy in which high-ranking offices in the government are...
Lesotho
Landlocked country in southern Africa, an enclave within South Africa. Government Lesotho is an independent hereditary monarchy within the Commonwealth, with a multiparty parliamentary political executive. Its 1966 constitution was suspended in 1970 and a new constitution adopted in 1993, under which a parliamentary system operates. It provides for...
Leopold I
(of Belgium) King of the Belgians from 1831. He was elected to the throne on the creation of an independent Belgium. Through his marriage, when prince of Saxe-Coburg, to Princess Charlotte Augusta, he was the uncle of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and had considerable influence over her
Leopold II
(of Belgium) King of the Belgians from 1865, son of Leopold I. He financed the US journalist Henry Stanley's explorations in Africa, which resulted in the foundation of the Congo Free State (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), from which he extracted a huge fortune by ruthless exploitat...
Leopold III
King of the Belgians 1934–51. Against the prime minister's advice he surrendered to the German army in World War II in 1940. Post-war charges against his conduct led to a regency by his brother Charles and his eventual abdication in 1951 in favour of his son Baudouin. A commission to investigate his actions in World War II found no fau...
Leo
(I) Pope from 440. He helped to establish the Christian liturgy. Leo summoned the Chalcedon Council where his Dogmatical Letter was accepted as the voice of St Peter. Acting as ambassador for the emperor Valentinian III (425–455), Leo saved Rome from devastation by the Huns by buying off ...
Leo III
Pope from 795. After the withdrawal of the Byzantine emperors, the popes had become the real rulers of Rome. Leo III was forced to flee because of a conspiracy in Rome and took refuge at the court of the Frankish king Charlemagne. He returned to Rome in 799 and crowned Charlemagne emperor on Christmas Day 800, establishing the secular sovereignty o...
Leo X, Giovanni de' Medici
Pope from 1513. The son of Lorenzo the Magnificent of Florence, he was created a cardinal at 13. He bestowed on Henry VIII of England the title of Defender of the Faith. A patron of the arts, he sponsored the rebuilding of St Peter's Church, Rome. He raised funds for this by selling indulgences (remissions of punishment for sin), a sale that le...
leucotomy
Brain operation to sever the connections between the frontal lobe and underlying structures. It was widely used in the 1940s and 1950s to treat severe psychotic or depressive illness. Though it achieved some success, it left patients dull and apathetic; there was also a considerable risk of epilepsy. It was largely replaced by the use of psycho...
Le Chatelier's principle
Principle that if a change in conditions is imposed on a system in equilibrium, the system will react to counteract that change and restore the equilibrium. First stated in 1884 by French chemist Henri le Chatelier (1850–1936), it has been found to apply widely outside the field of chemistry
Legnano, Battle of
Defeat of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa by members of the Lombard League in 1176 at Legnano, northwest of Milan. It was a major setback to the emperor's plans for imperial domination over Italy and showed for the first time the power of infantry against feudal cavalry
leather
Material prepared from the hides and skins of animals, by tanning with vegetable tannins and chromium salts. Leather is a durable and water-resistant material, and is used for bags, shoes, clothing, and upholstery. There are three main stages in the process of converting animal skin into leather: cleaning, tanning, and dressing. Tanning is ...
LEA
In the UK, abbreviation for local education authority, the body of local government responsible for the state schools and further education establishments in a district
Leics
Abbreviation for Leicestershire, an English county
legal tender
Currency that must be accepted in payment of debt. Cheques and postal orders are not included. In most countries, limits are set on the amount of coinage, particularly of small denominations, that must legally be accepted
Levi-Montalcini, Rita
Italian neurologist who was awarded a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1986 with her co-worker, US biochemist Stanley Cohen, for their discovery of factors that promote the growth of nerve and epidermal cells. This nerve-growth factor controls how many cells make up the adult nervous system
Le Mans
Industrial city and administrative centre of the Sarthe département in western France; population (1999) 146,100, conurbation 194,800. It has a motor-racing circuit where the annual endurance 24-hour race (established 1923) for sports cars and their prototypes is held at the Sarthe circuit. It is linked to Paris ...
ley
Area of temporary grassland, sown to produce grazing and hay or silage for a period of one to ten years before being ploughed and cropped. Short-term leys are often incorporated in systems of crop rotation
lesion
Any change in a body tissue that is a manifestation of disease or injury
Lewes, Battle of
Battle in 1264 caused by the baronial opposition to the English King Henry III, led by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester (1208–65). The king was defeated and captured at the battle. The barons objected to Henry's patronage of French nobles in the English court, his weak foreign policy, and his support for the papacy against the Holy Rom...
Lennon, John Winston
UK rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist; a founder member of the Beatles. He lived in the USA from 1971. Both before the band's break-up in 1970 and in his solo career, he collaborated intermittently with his wife Yoko Ono (1933– ). `Give Peace a Chance`, a hit in 1969, became an anthem of the peace movement. His s...
legal aid
Public assistance with legal costs. In Britain it is given only to those below certain thresholds of income and unable to meet the costs. There are separate provisions for civil and criminal cases. Since 1989 legal aid is administered by the Legal Aid Board
lend-lease
In US history, an act of Congress passed in March 1941 that gave the president power to order `any defense article for the government of any country whose defense the president deemed vital to the defense of the USA`. During World War II, the USA negotiated many lend-lease agreements, notably with Britain and the USSR. The aim of such...
levee
Naturally formed raised bank along the side of a river channel. When a river overflows its banks, the rate of flow is less than that in the channel, and silt is deposited on the banks. With each successive flood the levee increases in height so that eventually the river may be above the surface of th...
leaching
Process by which substances are washed through or out of the soil. Fertilizers leached out of the soil drain into rivers, lakes, and ponds and cause water pollution. In tropical areas, leaching of the soil after the destruction of forests removes scarce nutrients and can lead to a dramatic loss of soil fertility. The leaching of soluble minerals in...
Leyden, Lucas van
Dutch painter; see Lucas van Leyden
legume
Plant of the family Leguminosae, which has a pod containing dry seeds. The family includes peas, beans, lentils, clover, and alfalfa (lucerne). Legumes are important in agriculture because of their specialized roots, which have nodules containing bacteria capable of fixing nitrogen from the air (see nitrogen fixation) and increasing the fertility o...
Lee Teng-hui
Taiwanese right-wing politician, vice-president 1984–88, president 1988–2000, and Kuomintang (see Guomindang) party leader 1988–2001. The country's first island-born leader, he was viewed as a reforming technocrat. He was directly elected president in March 1996, defying Chinese opposition to the democratic contest. H...
Leonard, Sugar Ray
US boxer. In 1988 he became the first man to have won world titles at five officially recognized weights. In 1976 he was Olympic light-welterweight champion; he won his first professional title in 1979 when he beat Wilfred Benitez for the World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight title. He later won titles at junior middleweight (World Boxing...
leveraged buyout
In business, the purchase of the equity of a company largely financed by borrowing. The debt is secured against the assets of the company being acquired. It is so called because the ratio of a company's long-term debt to its equity is known as its `leverage`
Lenglen, Suzanne
French tennis player, Wimbledon singles and doubles champion 1919–23 and 1925, and Olympic champion 1921. She became professional in 1926. She also popularized sports clothes designed by Jean Patou
Lebowa
Former black homeland assigned to the North Sotho people in former northern Transvaal Province, South Africa, now in Northern Transvaal. It consisted of five separate areas of territory. It achieved self-governing status in 1972
