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Pontefract

(Encyclopedia)Pontefract pŏnˈtĭfrăkt, pŭmˈfrĭt [key], town (1991 pop. 28,621), Wakefield metropolitan district, N England. It is an industrial city; furniture, iron products, and textiles are made. Pomfret c...

Cadorna, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Cadorna, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē kädôrˈnä [key], 1850–1928, Italian field marshal. His father, Raffaele Cadorna, was a general in the wars of the Risorgimento and took Rome in 1870. Luigi Cadorna, a ...

Castilla, Ramón

(Encyclopedia)Castilla, Ramón rämōnˈ kästēˈyä [key], 1797–1867, president of Peru (1845–51, 1855–62). He fought under Antonio José de Sucre in the revolution against Spain (1821–24) in Peru and too...

Bayard, Pierre Terrail, seigneur de

(Encyclopedia)Bayard, Pierre Terrail, seigneur de bāˈərd; pyĕr tĕrīˈyə sānyörˈ də bäyärˈ [key], c.1474–1524, French military hero, called le chevalier sans peur et sans reproche [the knight without...

Tarquinii

(Encyclopedia)Tarquinii tärkwĭnˈēī [key], ancient city of Etruria, central Italy, NW of Rome. The head of the Etruscan League, it was defeated in wars with Rome in the 4th cent. b.c. In the 3d cent. b.c. it lo...

Vansittart, Nicholas, 1st Baron Bexley

(Encyclopedia)Vansittart, Nicholas, 1st Baron Bexley vănˈsĭtärt [key], 1766–1851, British politician. He entered Parliament in 1796, was joint secretary of the treasury (1801–4, 1806–7) and briefly secret...

Walton, Izaak

(Encyclopedia)Walton, Izaak, 1593–1683, English writer. He wrote one of the most famous books in the English language, The Compleat Angler; or, the Contemplative Man's Recreation. The first edition appeared in 16...

Thornton, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Thornton, Matthew, 1714–1803, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Ireland. Taken to America as a child, he studied medicine and in 1740 began p...

Zacatecas, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Zacatecas, city (1990 pop. 100,051), capital of Zacatecas state, N central Mexico. With an altitude of more than 8,000 ft (2,438 m), it is situated in a deep ravine surrounded by arid hills. The clima...

Bernstorff, Andreas Peter

(Encyclopedia)Bernstorff, Andreas Peter ändrāˈäs pāˈtər bĕrnsˈtôrf [key], 1735–97, Danish politician; nephew of Johann Hartwig Ernst Bernstorff. Made (1773) foreign minister after Struensee's fall from ...