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Shute, Nevil

(Encyclopedia)Shute, Nevil (Nevil Shute Norway), 1899–1960, English novelist, b. Ealing, Middlesex, grad. Oxford, 1922. After serving in World War I, he was manager of a construction company until 1938. He fought...

Maskelyne, Nevil

(Encyclopedia)Maskelyne, Nevil ms´kln [key], 1732–1811, English astronomer. Maskelyne received his education at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge. Appointed astronomer royal at the Royal Ob...

Schiehallion

(Encyclopedia)Schiehallion shhl´yn [key], mountain, 3,547 ft (1,081 m) high, Perth and Kinross, central Scotland, near Loch Rannoch. In 1774, Nevil Maskelyne experimented there to determine the density of th...

Dummer, Jeremiah

(Encyclopedia)Dummer, Jeremiah, c.1680–1739, colonial agent for Massachusetts and Connecticut, b. Boston; son of Jeremiah Dummer (1645–1718). He saw little opportunity for business in Boston and settled in Engl...

Australian literature

(Encyclopedia)Australian literature, the literature of Australia. Because the vast majority of early Australian settlers were transported prisoners, the beginnings of Australian literature were oral rather than wri...

Royal Greenwich Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Royal Greenwich Observatory, astronomical observatory established in 1675 by Charles II of England at Greenwich and known as the Royal Observatory. It moved during 1948–57 to Herstmonceux Castle, Su...

Shakespeare's Plays

(Encyclopedia)Shakespeare's Plays(arranged by approximate date of composition)PlayApproximate date of compositionDate of first publicationSourcesMajor charactersGenreHenry VI, Part II15901594 Edward Hall, Union o...

magic

(Encyclopedia)magic, in entertainment, the seeming manipulation and supernatural control of the natural world for the amusement and amazement of an audience. Entertainment magic can be divided into four main catego...

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