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corn laws

(Encyclopedia)corn laws, regulations restricting the export and import of grain, particularly in England. As early as 1361 export was forbidden in order to keep English grain cheap. Subsequent laws, numerous and co...

Deane, Silas

(Encyclopedia)Deane, Silas, 1737–89, political leader and diplomat in the American Revolution, b. Groton, Conn. A lawyer and merchant at Wethersfield, Conn., he was elected (1772) to the state assembly and became...

Chase, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Chase, Samuel, 1741–1811, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1796–1811), b. Somerset co., Md. A la...

Cheever, John

(Encyclopedia)Cheever, John, 1912–82, American author, b. Quincy, Mass. His expulsion from Thayer Academy was the subject of his first short story, published by the New Republic when he was 17. Many of his subseq...

Rohan, Henri, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Rohan, Henri, duc de äNrēˈ dük də rôäNˈ [key], 1579–1638, French Protestant general; son-in-law of the duc de Sully. A leader of the Huguenots, Rohan took up arms against the French governme...

Pennsylvania, University of

(Encyclopedia)Pennsylvania, University of, in Philadelphia; private with some state support; coeducational. It dates to 1740 and plans for a charity school, and the first predecessor opened in 1751 as an academy, l...

Royal Academy of Arts

(Encyclopedia)Royal Academy of Arts, London, the national academy of art of England, founded in 1768 by George III at the instigation of Sir William Chambers and Benjamin West. Sir Joshua Reynolds was the Academy's...

Bene Israel

(Encyclopedia)Bene Israel or Beni Israel both: bāˈnē [key] [Heb.,=sons of Israel], Jewish community of India, living mostly in and near Mumbai (formerly Bombay). Many thousands of others have settled in Israel s...

Beach, Moses Yale

(Encyclopedia)Beach, Moses Yale, 1800–1868, American journalist, b. Wallingford, Conn. As a young man he invented a rag-cutting machine and a gunpowder engine. In 1838 he bought the New York Sun from his brother-...

Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Steuben, Friedrich Wilhelm, Baron von styo͞oˈbən, Ger. frēˈdrĭkh vĭlˈhĕlm bärōnˈ fən shtoiˈbən [key], 1730–94, Prussian army officer, general in the American Revolution, b. Magdeburg....