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Ismene

(Encyclopedia)Ismene ĭsmēˈnē [key], in Greek legend, daughter of Oedipus and sister of Antigone. ...

cryptogam

(Encyclopedia)cryptogam, in botany, term used to denote a plant that produces spores, as in algae, fungi, mosses, and ferns, but not seeds. The term cryptogam, from the Greek kryptos, meaning “hidden,” and gamo...

Napier, Sir Charles James

(Encyclopedia)Napier, Sir Charles James nāˈpēr, nəpērˈ [key], 1782–1853, British general; brother of Sir William Napier. He served with distinction in the Napoleonic Wars. Stationed (1822–30) on the Greek...

Mamun, al-

(Encyclopedia)Mamun, al- (Abu al-Abbas Abd Allah al-Mamun) mämo͞onˈ [key], 786–833, 7th Abbasid caliph (813–33); son of Harun ar-Rashid. He succeeded his brother al-Amin after a bitter civil war, but was una...

Lucania

(Encyclopedia)Lucania lo͞okāˈnēə [key], ancient region of S Italy. It was bounded on the east by the Gulf of Tarentum (now Taranto) and by Apulia, on the north by Samnium and Campania, on the west by the Tyrrh...

Linear Scripts

(Encyclopedia)Linear Scripts, forms of Minoan writing. The earliest Minoan writing consisted of pictographs, called Cretan hieroglyphs, which date from about 2000 b.c. The first linear script, Linear A, dates from ...

Agamemnon

(Encyclopedia)Agamemnon ăˌgəmĕmˈnŏn [key], in Greek mythology, leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War; king of Mycenae (or Argos). He and Menelaus were sons of Atreus and suffered the curse laid upon Pe...

Armstrong, John, 1758–1843, American army officer

(Encyclopedia)Armstrong, John, 1758–1843, American army officer, U.S. Secretary of War (1813–14), b. Carlisle, Pa.; son of John Armstrong, “hero of Kittanning.” In the American Revolution he was on the staf...

Wolfe, James

(Encyclopedia)Wolfe, James, 1727–59, British soldier. After a distinguished record in European campaigns, he was made (1758) second in command to Jeffery Amherst in the last of the French and Indian Wars. Through...

Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar

(Encyclopedia)Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar săksˈ–wīˈmär, zäksˈə-vīˈmär [key], 1604–39, Protestant general in the Thirty Years War, duke of Weimar. Under Ernst von Mansfeld and the margrave of Baden, Bernh...