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D'Avenant, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)D'Avenant or Davenant, Sir William dăvˈənənt [key], 1606–68, English poet, playwright, and theatrical producer. His life and work bridge the gap between the Elizabethan and Restoration ages. His...

Price, Sterling

(Encyclopedia)Price, Sterling, 1809–67, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Prince Edward co., Va. After moving to Missouri, he practiced law and entered politics. He served in Congress (1844–46),...

Newcastle, William Cavendish, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Newcastle, William Cavendish, duke of, 1593?–1676, English soldier and politician. Of great wealth, Cavendish became (1638) governor of the prince of Wales and a privy councilor. During the civil wa...

Bourguiba, Habib

(Encyclopedia)Bourguiba, Habib häˈbēb bo͝orgēˈbə [key], 1903–2000, Tunisian statesman, president of Tunisia (1957–87), b. Monastir. Early active in the Destour party, he was at first an advocate of close...

Bongo, Omar

(Encyclopedia)Bongo, Omar (El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba) bôngˈgō [key], 1935–2009, Gabonese political leader, president of Gabon (1967–2009), b. Albert-Bernard Bongo. He entered the civil service (1958), becam...

masque

(Encyclopedia)masque, courtly form of dramatic spectacle, popular in England in the first half of the 17th cent. The masque developed from the early 16th-century disguising, or mummery, in which disguised guests be...

Frank, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Frank, Jacob, c.1726–1791, Polish Jewish sectarian and adventurer, b. Podolia as Jacob Ben Judah Leib. He founded the Frankists, a heretical Jewish sect that was an anti-Talmudic outgrowth of the my...

Davis, Henry Winter

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Henry Winter, 1817–65, American political leader, b. Annapolis, Md. He was elected (1854) to the House of Representatives on the Know-Nothing ticket and was twice reelected (1856, 1858) with ...

Rush, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Rush, Richard, 1780–1859, Amercian statesman and diplomat, b. Philadelphia; son of Benjamin Rush. He studied law and became (1811) attorney general of Pennsylvania, resigning the same year to become...

Winton, Tim

(Encyclopedia)Winton, Tim (Timothy John Winton), 1960–, Australian writer, generally regarded as the preeminent Australian novelist of his generation. Most of his books have been set in his coastal Western Austra...