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knight

(Encyclopedia)knight, in ancient and medieval history, a noble who did military service as a mounted warrior. As the feudal system disintegrated, knight service was with growing frequency commuted into cash pay...

Atreus

(Encyclopedia)Atreus āˈtrēəs [key], in Greek mythology, the son of Pelops and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. He vied with his brother Thyestes for the throne of Mycenae. When Thyestes seduced Atreus' wif...

Hippolyte

(Encyclopedia)Hippolyte hĭpŏlˈĭtē [key], in Greek mythology, an Amazon queen. One of the 12 labors of Hercules was to take the golden girdle of Ares from her. To accomplish his task Hercules captured Hippolyte...

Shoemaker, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Shoemaker, Bill (William Lee Shoemaker), 1931–2003, American jockey, b. Fabens, Tex. A schoolboy wrestler and Golden Gloves boxer, he became a jockey and won his first race at age 18. The former all...

Phaëthon

(Encyclopedia)Phaëthon fāˈətən [key], in Greek mythology, son of Helios and the nymph Clymene. He tried to drive his father's golden chariot, but he could not control its great steeds. As the chariot plunged t...

Bernard of Cluny

(Encyclopedia)Bernard of Cluny môrlāˈ [key], fl. 1150, French Cluniac monk, of English parentage. He wrote De contemptu mundi [on contempt for the world], a poem in 3,000 hexameters. On it Horatio Parker based h...

Berners, John Bourchier, 2d Baron

(Encyclopedia)Berners, John Bourchier, 2d Baron bouˈchər, bûrˈnərz [key], 1467–1533, English diplomat and man of letters. A member of Parliament from 1495 to 1529, he later became chancellor of the exchequer...

Acheson, Dean Gooderham

(Encyclopedia)Acheson, Dean Gooderham ăchˈĭsən [key], 1893–1971, U.S. secretary of state (1949–53), b. Middletown, Conn., grad. Yale, Harvard Law School. He was (1919–21) private secretary to Louis Brande...

Le Gallienne, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Le Gallienne, Richard, 1866–1947, English man of letters. As literary critic and contributor to the Yellow Book, he was associated with the fin-de-siècle aesthetes of the 1890s before becoming a re...

Grahame, Kenneth

(Encyclopedia)Grahame, Kenneth grāˈəm [key], 1859–1931, English author. He was a secretary in the Bank of England from 1908 until 1918. His works, noted for their humor and charm, include The Golden Age (1895)...