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Brittany

(Encyclopedia)Brittany brĭtˈənē [key], Breton Breiz, Fr. Bretagne, region and former province, NW France. It is a peninsula between the English Channel (N) and the Bay of Biscay (S) and comprises four departmen...

Rulers of England and Great Britain (table)

(Encyclopedia)Rulers of England and Great Britain(including dates of reign) Saxons and Danes House of Normandy House of Blois House of Plantagenet House of Lancaster House of York House of Tudor Ho...

Chaucer, Geoffrey

(Encyclopedia)Chaucer, Geoffrey jĕfˈrē chôˈsər [key], c.1340–1400, English poet, one of the most important figures in English literature. To Chaucer's final period, in which he achieved his fullest artist...

horror

(Encyclopedia)horror or horror story, literary genre in which an eerie, tense, often suspenseful atmosphere typically builds to the discovery of something repugnant, such as cannibalism, incest, or the killing of c...

Bourbon

(Encyclopedia)Bourbon bo͞orbôNˈ [key], European royal family, originally of France; a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty (see Capetians). One branch of the Bourbons occupies the modern Spanish throne, and othe...

Reagan, Ronald Wilson

(Encyclopedia)Reagan, Ronald Wilson rāˈgən [key], 1911–2004, 40th president of the United States (1981–89), b. Tampico, Ill. In 1932, after graduation from Eureka College, he became a radio announcer and spo...

Texas

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Texas tĕkˈsəs [key], largest state in the coterminous United States. It is located in the south-central part of the country and is bounded by Oklahoma, across the Red River except in the Tex...

Ku Klux Klan

(Encyclopedia)Ku Klux Klan ko͞oˌ klŭks klăn [key], designation mainly given to two distinct secret societies that played a part in American history, although other less important groups have also used the name....

Dutch and Flemish literature

(Encyclopedia)Dutch and Flemish literature, literary works written in the standard language of the Low Countries since the Middle Ages. It is conventional to use the term Dutch when referring to the language spoken...

Charles I, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Charles I, 1600–1649, king of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1625–49), second son of James I and Anne of Denmark. There were no decisive victories in the civil war until Charles was defeated at...