Semiramis
3 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Semiramis. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a queen of Assyria, whose history is enveloped in fable. As the story goes, she was a daughter of the fish goddess Derceto of Ascalon, in Syria, by a Syrian youth. Being exposed by her mother, she was miraculously fed by doves till discovered by the chief of the royal shepherds, who adopted her. Attracted by by her beauty, Onnes, governor of Nineveh, married her. She accompanied him to the siege of Bactria, where, by her advice, she assisted the king's operations. She became endeared to Ninus, the founder of Nineveh (about 2182 b. c.), but Onnes refused to yield her, and being threatened by Ninus, hanged himself. Ninus resigned the crown of Semiramis, and had her proclaimed Queen of Assyria. She built Babylon, and rendered it the mightiest city in the world. She was distinguished as a warrior, and conquered many of the adjacent countries. Having been completely defeated on the Indus, she was either killed or compelled to abdicate by her son Ninyas, after reigning 42 years. According to popular legend, she disappeared or was changed into a dove, and was worshiped as a divinity. Her whole history resembles an Oriental tale, and even her existence has been questioned. She is probably a mythological being corresponding to Astarte, or the Greek Aphrodite.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A celebrated queen of Assyria , who married the governor of Nineveh, and at his death she became the wife of King Ninus . She caused many improvements to be effected in her kingdom, as well as distinguishing herself as a warrior. She is supposed to have lived B. C. 1965. Seneca, L. Annaeus. He was distinguished by his talents at an early period of his life. He became preceptor to Nero, in which capacity he gained general approbation. The tyrant, however, determined to put him to death, and he chose to have his veins opened in a hot bath, but, death not ensuing, he swallowed poison, and was eventually suffocated by the soldiers who were in attendance. This occurred in his fifty-third year, and in the sixtyfifth of the Christian era. His works, which were numerous, were chiefly on moral subjects. Sepias (St. George). A promontory in the southeast of Thessaly, in the district Magnesia, on which a great part of the fleet of Xerxes was wrecked.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
se-mir'a-mis, an Assyrian princess. The Syrian form of the name means "loving doves." In history, Semiramis was the wife of Ninus, the founder of Nineveh. According to an Assyrian myth, she was the daughter of an Assyrian goddess and possessed surpassing wisdom and beauty. Tradition, the source of information of the Greek historians, credited her with the government of Assyria after her husband's death and with the completion of the walls of Babylon, hanging gardens , the temple of Bel, and the bridge over the Euphrates. She is said also to have led the armies of Assyria in Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya, and India. Although her portrait appears on Assyrian monuments, being, in fact, the only female face seen there, the cuneiform inscriptions say nothing of the deeds popularly ascribed to her. She lived possibly 811-782 B. C. Margaret, the warlike queen of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden from 1353-1412, has been called the Semiramis of the North. The name was coveted also by Catherine II of Russia.