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Carlisle, Frederick Howard, 5th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Carlisle, Frederick Howard, 5th earl of, 1748–1825, British statesman. A member of the distinguished Howard family, he went to the American colonies on an unsuccessful peace mission (1778) and serve...

Ryle, Sir Martin

(Encyclopedia)Ryle, Sir Martin, 1918–84, British radio astronomer, B.S. Oxford, 1939. Ryle was a researcher and professor at Cambridge from 1945 until his retirement in 1982. Knighted in 1966, he was Britain's As...

Te Kanawa, Dame Kiri

(Encyclopedia)Te Kanawa, Dame Kiri tā käˈnəwə [key], 1944–, New Zealand opera and concert singer. From the early 1970s until her last public performance (2016), she was one of the most acclaimed and popular ...

Hurt, John

(Encyclopedia)Hurt, John (Sir John Vincent Hurt), 1940–2017, English actor, b. Chesterfield, Derbyshire, grad. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1962). Known for his sympathetic portrayal of unusual, often unappeali...

Petty, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Petty, Sir William, 1623–87, English statistician and physician. He was a founder of the Royal Society and was physician general to the army of Ireland in 1652. Petty's survey of the Irish estates a...

Louis XVI, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Louis XVI, 1754–93, king of France (1774–92), third son of the dauphin (Louis) and Marie Josèphe of Saxony, grandson and successor of King Louis XV. In 1770 he married the Austrian archduchess Ma...

North Kingstown

(Encyclopedia)North Kingstown kĭngˈstən, kĭngzˈtounˌ [key], town (1990 pop. 23,786), Washington co., S central R.I., on Narragansett Bay; inc. 1674 as Kings Towne, divided 1723 into North Kingstown and South ...

Robert III, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Robert III, 1340?–1406, king of Scotland (1390–1406), eldest son and successor of Robert II. Known before his accession as John, earl of Carrick, he ruled for his father until 1389, when, having b...

Skye

(Encyclopedia)Skye skī [key], island (1991 pop. 8,868), 670 sq mi (1,735 sq km), largest and most northerly island of the Inner Hebrides, Highland, NW Scotland. It has an irregular coastline, and many of its lochs...

Nattier, Jean-Marc

(Encyclopedia)Nattier, Jean-Marc zhäN-märk nätyāˈ [key], 1685–1766, French painter; son of the painter Marc Nattier and the miniaturist Marie Courtois. His early works include historical and mythological pai...