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Richardson, John

(Encyclopedia)Richardson, John, 1796–1852, first Canadian novelist to write in English. He fought in the War of 1812 and later served with the British army in England, Spain, and Barbados. His most famous works a...

Powell, William

(Encyclopedia)Powell, William, 1892–1984, American movie actor, b. Pittsburgh. Powell made his stage debut in 1912. He played the dapper villain in such early films as Sherlock Holmes (1921), Romola (1924), and B...

Sacheverell, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Sacheverell, Henry səshĕˈvərəl [key], 1674?–1724, English clergyman, the center of a religio-political incident in the reign of Queen Anne. In two sermons (1709) Dr. Sacheverell attacked the Wh...

Biddle, Francis Beverley

(Encyclopedia)Biddle, Francis Beverley, 1886–1968, U.S. Attorney General (1941–45), b. Paris, France, of American parents. Secretary to Associate Justice O. W. Holmes (1912), he became a successful corporation ...

Pittsfield

(Encyclopedia)Pittsfield, city (1990 pop. 48,622), seat of Berkshire co., W Mass., between mountain ranges, on branches of the Housatonic River; inc. as a town 1761, as a city 1889. The city is the metropolis of th...

Vardaman, James Kimble

(Encyclopedia)Vardaman, James Kimble, 1861–1930, U.S. political leader, b. near Edna, Jackson co., Tex. Admitted to the Mississippi bar in 1881, he practiced law and was a newspaper editor before entering politic...

Hall, Samuel Read

(Encyclopedia)Hall, Samuel Read, 1795–1877, American educator and clergyman, b. Croydon, N.H. After teaching in Rumford, Maine, and Fitchburg, Mass., he founded (1823) at Concord, Vt., a training school for teach...

Gillette, William

(Encyclopedia)Gillette, William jəlĕtˈ [key], 1853–1937, American actor and dramatist, b. Hartford, Conn. His New York debut in Mark Twain's Gilded Age (1877) was shortly followed by his own first play, The Pr...

manor house

(Encyclopedia)manor house, dwelling house of the feudal lord of a manor, occupied by him only on occasional visits if he held many manors. Although not built specifically for fortification as castles were, many man...

Bukharin, Nikolai Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Bukharin, Nikolai Ivanovich nyĭkəlīˈ ēväˈnəvĭch bo͞okhäˈrēn [key], 1888–1938, Russian Communist leader and theoretician. A member of the Bolshevik wing of the Social Democratic party, h...