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Biddle, Nicholas, American naval officer

(Encyclopedia)Biddle, Nicholas, 1750–78, American naval officer, b. Philadelphia. Biddle left the British navy in 1773. In the American Revolution he became captain in the patriot navy and daringly raided British...

Yates, Richard, American political leader

(Encyclopedia)Yates, Richard, 1815–73, American political leader, b. Warsaw, Ky. He studied law and became a lawyer and Whig politician in Jacksonville, Ill. A state legislator (1842–46, 1848–50) and U.S. Con...

Yates, Richard, American fiction writer

(Encyclopedia)Yates, Richard, 1926–92, American fiction writer, b. Yonkers, N.Y. A subtle and painstaking literary craftsman who has often been considered a “writers' writer,” Yates frequently chronicles the ...

Smith, James, American political leader

(Encyclopedia)Smith, James, c.1719–1806, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Ireland. He settled in Pennsylvania in his youth and practiced law at York. He s...

Lavater, Johann Kaspar

(Encyclopedia)Lavater, Johann Kaspar yōˈhän käsˈpär läˈvätər, läväˈtər [key], 1741–1801, Swiss theologian and mystic. He wrote several books on metaphysics, but he is chiefly remembered for his work...

Tiele, Cornelis Petrus

(Encyclopedia)Tiele, Cornelis Petrus kôrnāˈlĭs pāˈtrəs tēˈlə [key], 1830–1902, Dutch theologian and author of a number of valuable works on the history of religion. Important is his Outlines of the Hist...

Ghazali, al-

(Encyclopedia)Ghazali, al- ăl-găzäˈlē [key], 1058–1111, Islamic theologian, philosopher, and mystic. He was born at Tus in Khorasan, of Persian origin. He is considered the greatest theologian in Islam. Al-G...

Williams, Rowan Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Rowan Douglas, 1950–, archbishop of Canterbury (2002–12), b. Swansea, Wales; grad. Christ's College, Cambridge (B.A., 1971; M.A., 1975), Wadham College, Oxford (D.Phil., 1975). Ordained ...

Menasha

(Encyclopedia)Menasha mənăshˈə [key], city (1990 pop. 14,711), Winnebago co., E Wis., on Lake Winnebago and the Fox River, adjacent to its twin city of Neenah; settled 1840s, inc. 1874. Menasha's large paper-ma...

Didymus of Alexandria

(Encyclopedia)Didymus of Alexandria, d. c.396, Greek grammarian and theologian, also called Didymus the Blind. His treatise On the Holy Ghost was translated by St. Jerome, who studied briefly with him. Although Did...