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Black English

(Encyclopedia)Black English, distinctive dialect spoken at times by as many as 80% to 90% of African Americans; also called ebonics [from ebony and phonics]. Long considered merely substandard English, it is in fac...

Leacock, Stephen Butler

(Encyclopedia)Leacock, Stephen Butler, 1869–1944, Canadian economist and humorist, b. England, grad. Univ. of Toronto (B.A., 1891), Univ. of Chicago (Ph.D., 1903). Head of the department of political science and ...

Warton, Thomas, the elder, c.1688–1745, English poet

(Encyclopedia)Warton, Thomas, the elder, c.1688–1745, English poet, father of Joseph and Thomas Warton. He was professor of poetry at Oxford from 1718 to 1728. His collected poems, edited by Joseph Warton, and pu...

James, Thomas, English navigator and explorer

(Encyclopedia)James, Thomas, 1593?–1635?, English navigator and explorer (1631) of James Bay. Financed by Bristol merchants, he sailed in command of the Henrietta Maria in the spring of 1631 to find the Northwest...

Morton, John, English prelate and statesman

(Encyclopedia)Morton, John, 1420?–1500, English prelate and statesman, archbishop of Canterbury (1486–1500). He studied law at Oxford and practiced in the London ecclesiastical courts. A supporter of the Lancas...

Bacon, Francis, English philosopher and statesman

(Encyclopedia)Bacon, Francis, 1561–1626, English philosopher, essayist, and statesman, b. London, educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and at Gray's Inn. He was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord keeper to Qu...

Ormonde, James Butler, 5th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Ormonde, James Butler, 5th earl of, 1420–61, Irish nobleman. He was knighted in his youth by Henry VI of England and was created earl of Wiltshire in 1449. He succeeded to the earldom of Ormonde in ...

Ormonde, Thomas Butler, 10th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Ormonde, Thomas Butler, 10th earl of, 1532–1614, Irish nobleman. Brought up at the English court, he was the first of his family to embrace Protestantism. He succeeded to the earldom of Ormonde in 1...

Cadalso, José de

(Encyclopedia)Cadalso, José de hōsāˈ dā käᵺälˈsō [key], 1741–82, Spanish poet, critic, and satirist. Cadalso's rhapsodic prose autobiography, Noches lúgubres (1798), probably suggested by Edward Young...

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