Vivaldi, Antonio. 1678-1741. Venetian violinist, Baroque composer. Standard concerto pattern; more than 500 concertos. Four Seasons 1725.

Vivian. Wanton. Captured Merlin in Arthurian legend.

Vizier. 14-20C. Ottoman top minister of state.

Vlachs. 2C-. Latin inhabitants of Dacia.

Vladimir I, St. 956-1015. First Christian Russian ruler. Ordered people to convert.

Vo Nguyen Giap. 1912-. Viet Minh commander 1946-54, 1966-75. Minister of Defence 1954-. Tet Offensive. Defeated Japanese 1942-5, French 1946-54, US 66-76.

Volkssturm. 1944. German home defence force.

Volsci. -338BC. Italian peoples conquered by Rome.

Volstead Act. 1919-33. Enforced US Prohibition.

Volta, Alessandro. 1745-1827. Italian physicist: electric battery 1800.

Voltaire, François. 1694-1778. French philosopher vs tyranny, bigotry, cruelty. Challenged accepted beliefs. Quotations became revolutionary slogans. Lettres Philosophique 1734. Candide 1758.

V-1, V-2. 1944. WWII German missiles vs Britain, Belgium. V=Vergeltung(Revenge). 8,000 V-1s. 1300 V-2s. Basis for future space research.

Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. 1922-. US satirical novelist, social critic. Player Piano 1952. Slaughterhouse Five 1969.

Voodoo. Carribean religious cult of ritual and magic. Synthesis of African rites and French Roman Catholicism.

Vorticism. 1900-20. Art movement of mechanical forms and angles. Lewis. Gaudier-Brzeska.

Vosges, Place de. 1605-12. Paris’ oldest square.

Voting Rights Act. 1965. US eliminates tests that disqualified black voters.

Vries, Hugo de. 1848-1935. Dutch botanist. Heredity and mutation. Mutation Theory 1910.

Vuillard, Édouard. 1868-1940. French Nabis Intimist artist. Interiors. Woman Sweeping 1892.

Vulcan. Roman god of destruction, fire, weapons. = Hephaestos.

Vulgate. 405. Official Latin translation of Bible by St Jerome. First printed 1455.

Vyshinsky, Andrei. 1883-1954. Russian statesman, prosecutor for Purge trials.

Wade-Davis Bill. 1864. Strict terms for US Reconstruction vetoed by Lincoln.

Wager of Battle. Trial by Combat. 8C-1817. Norse custom in England. Accused challenges accuser to combat-acquitted if he refuses.

Wagner, Richard. 1813-83. German Romantic opera composer/librettist. Leitmotif. Unified drama and music in long and complex operas. Tannhäuser 1845. Lohengrin 1850. Nibelung Ring 1853-76. Tristan and Isolde 1857-9. Parsifal 1882.

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