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Gibeon

(Encyclopedia)Gibeon gĭbˈēən [key], ancient town, 5 mi (8 km) NNW of Jerusalem. The Book of Joshua relates that its inhabitants established a treaty with the invading Israelites, resulting in their servitude to...

Merab

(Encyclopedia)Merab mĭrˈăb [key], in the Bible, daughter of Saul and husband of Adriel. In Second Samuel, the sons of Adriel are, depending on the translation, either born to or brought up by Michal, Saul's youn...

Uncle Sam

(Encyclopedia)Uncle Sam, name used to designate the U.S. government. The origins of the term are unclear. The term was believed to have arisen in the War of 1812, when it seems to have been used at first derisively...

Richelieu

(Encyclopedia)Richelieu rĭshˈəlo͞o [key], river, c.75 mi (120 km) long, issuing from the north end of Lake Champlain, near the N.Y.–Que. border, and flowing N across S Que. to the St. Lawrence River at Sorel....

Eisenach

(Encyclopedia)Eisenach īˈzənäkh [key], city, Thuringia, central Germany. It is an industrial center and ...

Deane, Silas

(Encyclopedia)Deane, Silas, 1737–89, political leader and diplomat in the American Revolution, b. Groton, Conn. A lawyer and merchant at Wethersfield, Conn., he was elected (1772) to the state assembly and became...

Korngold, Erich Wolfgang

(Encyclopedia)Korngold, Erich Wolfgang, 1897–1957, American composer of film and concert music and opera, b. Brünn, Austria-Hungary (now Brno, Czech Republic). He began composing ballet music and operas in his t...

Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph ürbăNˈ zhäN zhôzĕfˈ ləvĕryāˈ [key], 1811–77, French astronomer who made calculations that led to the discovery of the planet Neptune. In considering the per...

Hurt, John

(Encyclopedia)Hurt, John (Sir John Vincent Hurt), 1940–2017, English actor, b. Chesterfield, Derbyshire, grad. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1962). Known for his sympathetic portrayal of unusual, often unappeali...

Grasmere

(Encyclopedia)Grasmere, village, Cumbria, NW England, in the Lake District, near Lake Grasmere. Dove Cottage was the home of William Wordsworth from 1799 to 1808; the Wordsworth museum is also there, and the Jerwoo...