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Urquhart, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Urquhart or Urchard, Sir Thomas both: ûrˈkərt [key], 1611–60, Scottish translator and author. A royalist, he was knighted (1641) by Charles I and fought in the civil wars. He wrote treatises on m...

Corbett, James John

(Encyclopedia)Corbett, James John kôrˈbət [key], 1866–1933, American boxer, b. San Francisco. “Gentleman Jim” Corbett won (1892) the heavyweight boxing championship from John L. Sullivan at New Orleans and...

Thomas, Cyrus

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Cyrus, 1825–1910, American anthropologist and entomologist, b. Kingsport, Tenn. He was a lawyer, then a minister (1865–69) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. He was associated with the U....

Truxtun, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Truxtun, Thomas, 1755–1822, American naval officer, b. near Hempstead, L.I., N.Y. In the American Revolution he won a name as a privateer, seizing many British prizes. Later he was a sea captain in ...

Otway, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Otway, Thomas, 1652–85, English dramatist, educated at Winchester and at Oxford. After failing as an actor, Otway wrote his first play, Alcibiades, produced in 1675. Later plays include the rhymed h...

Cavendish, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Cavendish, Thomas, 1560–92, English navigator. He commanded a ship in the flotilla under Sir Richard Grenville sent (1585) by Sir Walter Raleigh to establish the first colony in Virginia. In 1586, i...

Marape, James

(Encyclopedia)Marape, James, 1971–, Papua New Guinea political leader. First elected to parliament in 2007 as a member of the National Alliance party, he served as education minister (2008–11) under Prime Minis...

Bruce, James

(Encyclopedia)Bruce, James, 1730–94, Scottish explorer in Africa. He explored Roman ruins in N Africa (1755) from Tunis to Tripoli and visited Crete, Rhodes, and Asia Minor. In 1768 he traveled down the Red Sea a...

Tout, Thomas Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Tout, Thomas Frederick tout [key], 1855–1929, English historian. Educated at Oxford, he taught at the Univ. of Manchester from 1890 to 1925. Considered an outstanding authority on medieval history, ...

D'Urfey, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)D'Urfey, Thomas dûrˈfē [key], 1653–1723, English songwriter and dramatist. His comedies for the stage were forerunners of the ballad opera. In 1699–1700 Wit and Mirth; or, Pills to Purge Melanc...