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Morse, John Torrey

(Encyclopedia)Morse, John Torrey, 1840–1937, American lawyer and biographer, b. Boston. Admitted to the bar in 1862, he practiced law in Boston until 1880, when he turned all his attention to writing. With Henry ...

John the Fearless

(Encyclopedia)John the Fearless, 1371–1419, duke of Burgundy (1404–19); son of Philip the Bold. He fought against the Turks at Nikopol in 1396 and was a prisoner for a year until he was ransomed. He continued h...

Northampton, Henry Howard, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Northampton, Henry Howard, earl of nôrthămpˈtən [key], 1540–1614, English courtier; son of the poet, Henry Howard, earl of Surrey; member of the powerful Howard family. His public career under E...

Frobisher, Sir Martin

(Encyclopedia)Frobisher, Sir Martin frōˈbĭshər [key], 1535?–1594, English mariner. He went to sea as a boy, and spent much of his youth in the African trade. He later gained the friendship of Sir Humphrey Gil...

Randolph, John

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, John, 1773–1833, American legislator, known as John Randolph of Roanoke, b. Prince George co., Va. He briefly studied law under his cousin Edmund Randolph. He served in the U.S. House of R...

Murger, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Murger, Henry äNrēˈ mürzhĕrˈ [key], 1822–61, French poet and novelist. His Scènes de la vie de Bohème (1845–49; tr., 1905, 1930), like many of his works, is a romantic and sentimental acco...

Cotton, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Cotton, Henry (Thomas Henry Cotton), 1907–87, British golfer, b. Cheshire, England. Although he played as a professional at the age of 17, Cotton did not achieve international recognition until he w...

Wallace, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Wallace, Sir William, 1272?–1305, Scottish soldier and national hero. The first historical record of Wallace's activities concerns the burning of Lanark by Wallace and 30 men in May, 1297, and the s...

Napier, John

(Encyclopedia)Napier, John nāˈpēr, nəpērˈ [key], 1550–1617, Scottish mathematician and theologian. He invented logarithms and wrote Mirifici logarithmorum canonis descriptio (1614), containing the first log...

Ledyard, John

(Encyclopedia)Ledyard, John lĕdˈyərd [key], 1751–89, American adventurer, b. Groton, Conn. He studied at Dartmouth for year, but left college to ship as a sailor. In 1776 he joined Capt. James Cook's last expe...