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Smith, Horatio

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Horatio or Horace, 1779–1849, and James Smith, 1775–1839, English parodists, brothers. They wrote the famous Rejected Addresses (1812) which burlesqued such contemporary poets as Wordsworth...

Medici, Gian Gastone de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Gian Gastone de' dā mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1671–1737, grand duke of Tuscany (1723–37); son and successor of Cosimo III de' Medici. Gian Gastone was the last male member ...

Sikeston

(Encyclopedia)Sikeston sīksˈtən [key], city (1990 pop. 17,641), New Madrid and Scott counties, SE Mo., in the Mississippi plain; inc. 1874. It is the shipping, marketing, and processing center of a cotton, wheat...

Newcastle-under-Lyme

(Encyclopedia)Newcastle-under-Lyme, city (1991 pop. 73,208) and district, Staffordshire, W central England, on the Lyme River. Construction materials, apparel, computers, electric motors, and machinery are manufact...

Melrose, town, Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Melrose, town (1991 pop. 2,221), Scottish Borders, S Scotland, on the Tweed River. It is the site of one of the finest ruins in Scotland—Melrose Abbey, owned by the nation and founded for Cistercian...

Crépy, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Crépy, Treaty of krāpēˈ [key], 1544, concluded by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and King Francis I of France at Crépy-en-Laonnois (formerly spelled Crespy), Aisne dept., N France. The emperor reno...

Markham, Sir Clements Robert

(Encyclopedia)Markham, Sir Clements Robert märˈkəm [key], 1830–1916, English geographer and writer. While in the navy he served on a British expedition (1850–51) to the Arctic to search for the explorer Sir ...

philately

(Encyclopedia)philately fĭlătˈəlē [key], collection and study of postage stamps and of materials relating to their history and use. Collecting stamps began soon after the first postage stamp was issued in 1840...

Étampes, Anne de Pisseleu, duchesse d'

(Encyclopedia)Étampes, Anne de Pisseleu, duchesse d' än də pēslöˈ düshĕsˈ dātäNpˈ [key], 1508–1580?, official mistress of Francis I of France from 1526. Intelligent as well as beautiful, she patronize...

Du Bellay, Guillaume

(Encyclopedia)Du Bellay, Guillaume gēyōmˈ dü bĕlāˈ [key], 1491–1543, French diplomat under King Francis I; brother of Jean Du Bellay. He was employed in negotiations regarding the Treaty of Cambrai (1529) ...