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Oakley, Annie

(Encyclopedia)Oakley, Annie, 1860–1926, American theatrical performer, b. Darke co., Ohio. Her original name was Phoebe Anne Oakley Mozee. From childhood on she was a “dead shot” with a rifle. She defeated in...

Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 1503–42, English poet and statesman

(Encyclopedia)Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 1503–42, English poet and statesman, father of Sir Thomas Wyatt. He served in various capacities under Henry VIII and was knighted in 1536. It is generally agreed he had been the ...

Blenheim Park

(Encyclopedia)Blenheim Park, estate, Oxfordshire, central England, near Woodstock. The stately Blenheim Palace was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh and stands on spacious grounds that included entensive formal gardens...

Mancini, Laura, duchesse de Mercœur

(Encyclopedia)Mancini, Laura, duchesse de Mercœur märēˈ än, bo͞oyôN [key], 1649–1714, was famous for her vivacity and wit. She became the center of a literary circle in Paris and was the patroness of La Fo...

impressment

(Encyclopedia)impressment, forcible enrollment of recruits for military duty. Before the establishment of conscription, many countries supplemented their militia and mercenary troops by impressment. In England, imp...

Lee, Rowland

(Encyclopedia)Lee or Legh, Rowland both: lē [key], d. 1543, English bishop. Educated at Cambridge, he received preferments under the patronage of Cardinal Wolsey, who employed him in the suppression of the monaste...

Krausz, Ferenc

(Encyclopedia)Ferenc Krausz, 1962– , b. Mór, Hungary, Hungarian physicist, studied at Eötvös Loránd University and Technical University of Budapest in Hungary ...

Barton, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Barton, Elizabeth, 1506?–1534, English prophet, called the Maid of Kent or the Nun of Kent. She was a domestic servant who, after a period of illness, began (c.1525) to go into trances and to utter ...

Karan, Donna

(Encyclopedia)Karan, Donna, 1948–, American fashion designer, b. Forest Hills, N.Y., as Donna Faske. Daughter of a tailor and a garment saleswoman, she started to design clothes as a teenager and studied at New Y...

Francis II, duke of Brittany

(Encyclopedia)Francis II, 1435–88, duke of Brittany. He succeeded (1458) his uncle Arthur III. In his struggle with the French crown for the independence of his duchy, Francis entered (1465) the League of the Pub...