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Heralds' College

(Encyclopedia)Heralds' College, body first chartered in 1483 by Richard III of England. It has been reorganized several times. Its purpose is to assign new coats of arms and to trace lineages to determine heraldic ...

Wilde, Oscar

(Encyclopedia)Wilde, Oscar (Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde), 1854–1900, Irish author and wit, b. Dublin. He is most famous for his sophisticated, brilliantly witty plays, which were the first since the come...

Merton, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Merton, Thomas, 1915–68, American religious writer and poet, b. France. He grew up in France, England, and the United States and studied at Cambridge and at Columbia (B.A., 1938; M.A., 1939). Conver...

Collins, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Collins, Michael, 1890–1922, Irish revolutionary leader. He spent the years from 1907 to 1916 in England, during which period he joined the Fenian movement. He took part in the Easter Rebellion in D...

Hampshire

(Encyclopedia)Hampshire, county, 1,503 sq mi (3,893 sq km), S central England. Winchester is the county town. The county is divided into the administrative districts ...

Scripps, Edward Wyllis

(Encyclopedia)Scripps, Edward Wyllis, 1854–1926, American newspaper publisher, b. Rushville, Ill. He began (1873) his career on the staff of the Detroit Evening News, a paper founded and edited by his half-brothe...

Uist, North, and South Uist

(Encyclopedia)Uist, North yo͞oˈĭst, o͞oˈ– [key], and South Uist, islands, two of the Outer Hebrides, Western Isles council area, NW Scotland. North Uist (1985 est. pop. 3,300), is 18 mi (29 km) long and 13 m...

Fuller, R. Buckminster

(Encyclopedia)Fuller, R. Buckminster (Richard Buckminster Fuller), 1895–1983, American architect and engineer, b. Milton, Mass. Fuller devoted his life to the invention of revolutionary technological designs aime...

Rommel, Erwin

(Encyclopedia)Rommel, Erwin ĕrˈvēn rômˈəl [key], 1891–1944, German field marshal. He entered the army in 1910 and rose slowly through the ranks. In 1939, Adolf Hitler made him a general. Rommel brilliantly ...

Marx Brothers

(Encyclopedia)Marx Brothers, team of American movie comedians. The members were Julius (1890?–1977), known as Groucho; Arthur (1888?–1964), originally Adolph and known as Harpo; Leonard (1887?–1961), known as...