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Harriot, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Harriot, Thomas hârˈēət [key], 1560–1621, English mathematician and astronomer. He was tutor to Sir Walter Raleigh, who sent him in 1585 to Virginia as surveyor with Sir Richard Grenville. Retur...

Reid, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Reid, Thomas, 1710–96, Scottish philosopher. He taught at King's College, Aberdeen, and at the Univ. of Glasgow. He is known as the founder of the common-sense school of philosophy, also known as th...

Betterton, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Betterton, Thomas bĕtˈərtən [key], 1635?–1710, English actor and manager. He joined Sir William D'Avenant's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields theater in 1661 and became the leading actor of the Re...

Willis, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Willis, Thomas, 1621–75, English physician and anatomist. He became professor at Oxford in 1660 and in 1666 established a practice in London. An authority on the brain and the nervous system, he dis...

Thomas More, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Thomas More, Saint: see More, Sir Thomas. ...

Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley

(Encyclopedia)Raffles, Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley, 1781–1826, British East Indian administrator. He was one of the founders of Britain's empire in East Asia. Beginning his career (1795) as a clerk in the British...

Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 1503–42, English poet and statesman

(Encyclopedia)Wyatt, Sir Thomas, 1503–42, English poet and statesman, father of Sir Thomas Wyatt. He served in various capacities under Henry VIII and was knighted in 1536. It is generally agreed he had been the ...

Cavendish, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Cavendish, Thomas, 1560–92, English navigator. He commanded a ship in the flotilla under Sir Richard Grenville sent (1585) by Sir Walter Raleigh to establish the first colony in Virginia. In 1586, i...

Galahad, Sir

(Encyclopedia)Galahad, Sir gălˈəhădˌ [key], hero of Arthurian legend. He was the son of Launcelot and Elaine, the daughter of King Pelles. Because he was the noblest and purest of the knights of Christendom, h...

Coryate, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Coryate or Coryat, Thomas both: kôrˈēət [key], 1577?–1617, English traveler. Grotesque in appearance, he became part of the household of Henry, the oldest son of James I, where he was a sort of ...