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Oñate, Juan de

(Encyclopedia)Oñate, Juan de hwän dā ōnyäˈtā [key], fl. 1595–1614, Spanish explorer in the American Southwest, possibly b. New Spain. In 1598 he led an expedition north from New Spain, took possession of N...

Berkeley, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Berkeley, Sir William, 1606–77, colonial governor of Virginia. Appointed governor in 1641, he arrived in Virginia in 1642. Berkeley defeated the Native Americans and the Dutch, extended explorations...

O'Brien, William Smith

(Encyclopedia)O'Brien, William Smith, 1803–64, Irish revolutionary. He entered Parliament from Ireland in 1828 and worked for Catholic Emancipation, Irish poor relief, and state support of the Irish Catholic cler...

Lovat, Simon Fraser, 11th Baron

(Encyclopedia)Lovat, Simon Fraser, 11th Baron lŭvˈət [key], 1675?–1747, Scottish nobleman and Jacobite conspirator. The nephew of the 9th baron, he and his father contested the passing of the title to his cous...

Caldera Rodríguez, Rafael Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Caldera Rodríguez, Rafael Antonio räfäĕlˈ käldāˈrä rôᵺrēˈgās [key], 1916–2009, president of Venezuela (1969–74, 1994–99). A lawyer and professor of sociology, he was first elected...

Weinberger, Caspar Willard

(Encyclopedia)Weinberger, Caspar Willard wīnˈbûrgər [key], 1917–2006, U.S. government official, U.S. secretary of defense (1981–87), b. San Francisco, grad. Harvard (1938), Harvard Law School (1941). After ...

Pilgrimage of Grace

(Encyclopedia)Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536, rising of Roman Catholics in N England. It was a protest against the government's abolition of papal supremacy (1534) and confiscation (1536) of the smaller monastic propert...

Sitting Bull

(Encyclopedia)Sitting Bull, c.1831–1890, Native American chief and spiritual leader, Sioux leader in the battle of the Little Bighorn. He rose to prominence in the Sioux warfare against the whites and the resista...

Laffite, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Laffite, Jean zhäN läfētˈ [key], c.1780–1826?, leader of a band of privateers and smugglers. The name is often spelled Lafitte. He and his men began operating (1810) off the Baratarian coast S o...

Maintenon, Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de

(Encyclopedia)Maintenon, Françoise d'Aubigné, marquise de fräNswäzˈ dōbēnyāˈ märkēzˈ də măNtənôNˈ [key], 1635–1719, second wife of the French king Louis XIV. Her grandfather was Théodore Agrippa...

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