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king snake

(Encyclopedia)king snake, name for a number of species of the genus Lampropeltis, nonvenomous, egg-laying, constricting snakes of North America which show much variation in color and markings. The common king snake...

King, Rufus

(Encyclopedia)King, Rufus, 1755–1827, American political leader, b. Scarboro, Maine (then a district of Massachusetts). He served briefly in the American Revolution and practiced law in Massachusetts before servi...

Worcester, Thomas Percy, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Worcester, Thomas Percy, earl of wo͝osˈtər [key], c.1344–1403, English nobleman; brother of Henry Percy, 1st earl of Northumberland. He served with considerable success in the wars in France and ...

King, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)King, Stephen, 1947–, American writer, b. Portland, Maine. Influenced by the 19th-century Gothic tradition, especially the works of Poe, King's fiction reveals the macabre and horrific potential of ...

Charles XIV, king of Sweden and Norway

(Encyclopedia)Charles XIV (Charles John; Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte) zhäN bäptēstˈ zhül bĕrnädôtˈ [key], 1763–1844, king of Sweden and Norway (1818–44), French Revolutionary general. Bernadotte ros...

Peterborough, Charles Mordaunt, 3d earl of

(Encyclopedia)Peterborough, Charles Mordaunt, 3d earl of, 1658–1735, English general and diplomat. He supported the Glorious Revolution of 1688, and William III made him a privy councillor, first lord of the trea...

Vergil, Polydore

(Encyclopedia)Vergil or Virgil, Polydore, 1470?-1555?, historian and humanist, b. Urbino, Italy. He studied at Bologna and Padua, served as secretary to the duke of Urbino, was chamberlain to Pope Alexander VI, and...

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