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metaphysical poets

(Encyclopedia)metaphysical poets, name given to a group of English lyric poets of the 17th cent. The term was first used by Samuel Johnson (1744). The hallmark of their poetry is the metaphysical conceit (a figure ...

Minnesota, University of

(Encyclopedia)Minnesota, University of, main campus at Minneapolis–St. Paul; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1851 and 1868, opened as a university 1869. Other campuses are at Duluth (1947...

Nana Sahib

(Encyclopedia)Nana Sahib näˈnä säˈhĭb [key], b. c.1821, leader in the Indian Mutiny, his real name was Dhundu Pant. The adopted son of the last peshwa (hereditary prime minister) of the Marathas, his request ...

Raymond VI, count of Toulouse

(Encyclopedia)Raymond VI, 1156–1222, count of Toulouse (c.1194–1222). His tolerant attitude toward the Albigenses resulted in his repeated excommunication, although he temporarily made peace with the church in ...

Victor Emmanuel I

(Encyclopedia)Victor Emmanuel I, 1759–1824, king of Sardinia (1802–21). His brother and predecessor, Charles Emmanuel IV, lost (1798) all his territories except the island of Sardinia to France in the French Re...

Cooperative Extension Service

(Encyclopedia)Cooperative Extension Service, in the United States, former agency of the Dept. of Agriculture, est. 1914 by the Smith-Lever Act. Designed to provide Americans with the understanding and skills essent...

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service

(Encyclopedia)Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, agency within the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, created (1995) as a result of the reorganization act passed (1994) by Congress. The agency co...

Gibault, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Gibault, Pierre pyĕr zhēbōˈ [key], 1737–1804, Roman Catholic missionary priest in America, patriot in the American Revolution, b. Montreal. He was sent (1768) to the Illinois country. When Kaska...

Alfonso III, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona

(Encyclopedia)Alfonso III, 1265–91, king of Aragón and count of Barcelona (1285–91), son and successor of Peter III. He was forced to grant wide privileges to the cortes of the Aragonese nobles. At first he su...

Ferdinand II, king of the Two Sicilies

(Encyclopedia)Ferdinand II, 1810–59, king of the Two Sicilies (1830–59), son and successor of Francis I. Although initially he sought to improve the wretched conditions of his kingdom, he soon relapsed into the...