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Shepard, Sam

(Encyclopedia)Shepard, Sam, 1943–2017, one of the major American playwrights and actors of his era, b. Fort Sheridan, Ill., as Samuel Shepard Rogers 3d. A product of the 1960s counterculture and an important figu...

Channing, William Ellery

(Encyclopedia)Channing, William Ellery, 1780–1842, American Unitarian minister and author, b. Newport, R.I. At 23 he was ordained minister of the Federal St. Congregational Church in Boston, where he served until...

Fletcher, Giles

(Encyclopedia)Fletcher, Giles, the elder, 1548?–1611, English writer and diplomat. He became a member of Parliament and later treasurer of St. Paul's. An envoy to Russia in 1588, he published an account of his ex...

guava

(Encyclopedia)guava gwäˈvə [key], small evergreen tree or shrub of the genus Psidium of the family Myrtaceae (myrtle family), native to tropical America and grown elsewhere for its ornamental flowers and edible ...

Oates, Titus

(Encyclopedia)Oates, Titus, 1649–1705, English conspirator. An Anglican priest whose whole career was marked with intrigue and scandal, he joined forces with one Israel Tonge to invent the story of the Popish Plo...

Cavendish, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Cavendish, Henry, 1731–1810, English physicist and chemist, b. Nice. He was the son of Lord Charles Cavendish and grandson of the 2d duke of Devonshire. He was a recluse, and most of his writings we...

Limbourg brothers

(Encyclopedia)Limbourg brothers lăNbo͞orˈ [key], fl. 1380–1416, family of Franco-Flemish manuscript illuminators. The Limbourg brothers, Pol, Jan, and Herman, were trained as goldsmiths. They succeeded Jacquem...

Richelieu, Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu, Armand Emmanuel du Plessis, duc de ärmäNˈ ĕmänüĕlˈ dü plĕsēˈ dük də rēshəlyöˈ [key], 1766–1822, French statesman. An émigré from the French Revolution, he served Russi...

pepper

(Encyclopedia)pepper, name for the fruits of several unrelated Old and New World plants used as spices or vegetables or in medicine. True pepper is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida,...

Mitchell, Joni

(Encyclopedia)Mitchell, Joni, 1943–, Canadian-American songwriter, singer, guitarist, poet, and painter, b. MacLeod (now Fort Macleod), Alta., as Roberta Joan Ander...

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