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Langland, William

(Encyclopedia)Langland, William, c.1332–c.1400, putative author of Piers Plowman. He was born probably at Ledbury near the Welsh marshes and may have gone to school at Great Malvern Priory. Although he took minor...

Lee, Fitzhugh

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835–1905, Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, b. “Clermont,” Fairfax co., Va.; nephew of Robert E. Lee. He campaigned against the Comanche in Texas and later w...

Pascal, Blaise

(Encyclopedia)Pascal, Blaise blĕz päskälˈ [key], 1623–62, French scientist and religious philosopher. Studying under the direction of his father, a civil servant, Pascal showed great precocity, especially in ...

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady

(Encyclopedia)Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 1815–1902, American reformer, a leader of the woman-suffrage movement, b. Johnstown, N.Y. She was educated at the Troy Female Seminary (now Emma Willard School) in Troy, N.Y...

Tocqueville, Alexis de

(Encyclopedia)Tocqueville, Alexis de älĕksēs də tôkvēlˈ [key], 1805–59, French politician and writer. A nobleman, he was prominent in politics, particularly just before and just after the Revolution of 184...

suicide

(Encyclopedia)suicide [Lat.,=self-killing], the deliberate taking of one's own life. Suicide may be compulsory, prescribed by custom or enjoined by the authorities, usually as an alternative to death at the hands o...

De Mézières y Clugny, Athanase

(Encyclopedia)De Mézières y Clugny, Athanase ätänäzˈ də māzyĕrˈ ē klünēˈ [key], c.1715–1779, explorer and Indian agent in Spanish Louisiana, b. Paris. He went to Louisiana c.1733. When France ceded ...

Cromwell, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Cromwell, Richard, 1626–1712, lord protector of England; third son of Oliver Cromwell. He was the eldest surviving son at the death of his father (Sept. 3, 1658), who had nominated him as his succes...

David, Gerard

(Encyclopedia)David or Davit, Gerard both: gāˈrärt däˈvēt [key], c.1460–1523, Flemish painter, b. Oudewater, Holland. By 1484 he had established himself in Bruges, where he remained until his death. Depende...

Cynewulf

(Encyclopedia)Cynewulf kĭnˈəwo͝olfˌ, ko͝onˈ– [key], fl. early 9th cent.?, Old English religious poet of Northumbria or Mercia. Four poems have been ascribed to him on the evidence of his signatures in rune...