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Diane de Poitiers

(Encyclopedia)Diane de Poitiers pwätyāˈ [key], 1499–1566, duchess of Valentinois, mistress of King Henry II of France. Noted for her beauty, Diane, who was much older than Henry, retained her influence over hi...

Cameron, David William Duncan

(Encyclopedia)Cameron, David William Duncan kămˈərən [key], 1966–, British political leader, b. London. Educated at Eton and Oxford, he worked for the Conservative party's research department beginning in 198...

Sinai

(Encyclopedia)Sinai sīˈnī [key], triangular peninsula, c.23,000 sq mi (59,570 sq km), NE Egypt. It is c.230 mi (370 km) long and 150 mi (240 km) wide and extends north into a broad isthmus linking Africa and Asi...

Stanislaus II

(Encyclopedia)Stanislaus II, 1732–98, last king of Poland (1764–95). He was born Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski. His mother was a member of the powerful Czartoryski family, which furthered Stanislaus's career....

Leslie, John

(Encyclopedia)Leslie or Lesley, John, 1527–96, Scottish bishop, historian, and statesman. After studying in France, he returned (c.1554) to Scotland, where he opposed the Reformation. He became ecclesiastical adv...

Lovecraft, H. P.

(Encyclopedia)Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips Lovecraft), 1890–1937, American writer, b. Providence, R.I. A master of Gothic horror, fantasy, and science fiction of a most rococo variety, he is particularly not...

music hall

(Encyclopedia)music hall. In England, the Licensing Act of 1737 confined the production of legitimate plays to the two royal theaters—Drury Lane and Covent Garden; the demands for entertainment of the rising lowe...

Grenville, Sir Richard

(Encyclopedia)Grenville, Sir Richard, 1542?–1591, English naval hero. His cousin, Sir Walter Raleigh, gave him command of the fleet of seven vessels carrying the first colonists to Roanoke Island in 1585. In 1591...

Julian, Percy Lavon

(Encyclopedia)Julian, Percy Lavon, 1899–1975, African-American chemist, inventor, and businessman, b. Montgomery, Ala., grad. DePauw Univ. (A.B., 1920), Harvard (M.A., 1923), and the Univ. of Vienna (Ph.D., 1931)...

Jeffords, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Jeffords, Thomas, 1832–1914, American pioneer, b. Chautauqua co., N.Y. He went to Arizona in 1862 as a U.S. army scout and messenger and later became a stage driver. In 1866–67, he controlled mail...