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Bedford, Gunning, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Bedford, Gunning, Jr., 1747–1812, American political leader, b. Philadelphia. Settling in Delaware, Bedford became a member of the local legislature, attorney general (1784–89), and a delegate to ...

Confederation, Articles of

(Encyclopedia)Confederation, Articles of, in U.S. history, ratified in 1781 and superseded by the Constitution of the United States in 1789. The imperative need for unity among the new states created by the America...

Eliott, George Augustus, 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar

(Encyclopedia)Eliott, George Augustus, 1st Baron Heathfield of Gibraltar, 1717–90, British general. Appointed (1775) governor of Gibraltar, he was forced to defend it against a combined Spanish and French siege t...

Pittsburgh, University of

(Encyclopedia)Pittsburgh, University of, main campus at Pittsburgh; private with some state support; coeducational; chartered and opened as an academy 1787, called Western Univ. of Pennsylvania 1819–1908. It oper...

Peters, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Peters, Richard, 1744–1828, American jurist, b. Philadelphia. After serving as secretary of the board of war (1776–81), he was briefly in the Continental Congress (1782–83) and then in the state...

Northwest Territory

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Northwest Territory Northwest Territory, first possession of the United States, comprising the region known as the Old Northwest, S and W of the Great Lakes, NW of the Ohio River, and E of the...

Loménie de Brienne, Étienne Charles

(Encyclopedia)Loménie de Brienne, Étienne Charles ātyĕnˈ shärl lōmānēˈ də brēĕnˈ [key], 1727–94, French statesman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was archbishop of Toulouse (1763–88) an...

Rask, Rasmus Christian

(Encyclopedia)Rask, Rasmus Christian räsˈmo͝os krĭsˈtyän räsk [key], 1787–1832, Danish philologist. Rask was a major linguistic pioneer. He published one of the first usable Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic gramm...

Merchants of the Staple

(Encyclopedia)Merchants of the Staple or Merchant Staplers, English trading company that controlled the export of English raw wool. The first wool staple (i.e., a place designated by royal ordinance as a special ce...

Young, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Young, Arthur, 1741–1820, English agriculturist. His writings hastened the progress of scientific farming. He traveled widely, always observing techniques of farming. In 1784, Young founded the peri...