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Pliny the Elder

(Encyclopedia)Pliny the Elder (Caius Plinius Secundus) plĭˈnē [key], c.a.d. 23–a.d. 79, Roman naturalist, b. Cisalpine Gaul. He was a friend and fellow military officer of Vespasian, becoming eventually an arm...

Bacon, Sir Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Bacon, Sir Nicholas, 1509–79, English jurist. Called to the bar in 1533, he was made attorney of the court of wards and liveries in 1546 and, although a staunch Protestant, held this office through ...

Lamb, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Lamb, Charles, 1775–1834, English essayist, b. London. He went to school at Christ's Hospital, where his lifelong friendship with Coleridge began. Lamb was a clerk at the India House from 1792 to 18...

Palsgrave, John

(Encyclopedia)Palsgrave, John pălzˈgrāv, pôlzˈ– [key], d. 1554, English scholar, educated at Oxford and at the Univ. of Paris. Palsgrave was tutor to Henry VIII's daughter Mary (later Mary I), who used her i...

Ewell, Richard Stoddert

(Encyclopedia)Ewell, Richard Stoddert, 1817–72, Confederate general, b. Georgetown, D.C., grad. West Point, 1840. Ewell rose rapidly in the Confederate army, becoming a major general by Oct., 1861. In 1862 he fou...

John the Baptist, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John the Baptist, Saint, d. c.a.d. 28–a.d. 30, Jewish prophet, considered by Christians to be the forerunner of Jesus. He was the son of Zacharias and Elizabeth, who was also a kinswoman of Mary, th...

Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of klârˈəndən [key], 1609–74, English statesman and historian. Elected (1640) to the Short and Long parliaments, he was at first associated with the opposition t...

Doane, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)Doane, George Washington, 1799–1859, Episcopal bishop of New Jersey (1832–59), b. Trenton, N.J. He acted as rector of St. Mary's Church, Burlington, N.J., and there he established a school for gir...

Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse

(Encyclopedia)Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse zhän bāküˈ kôNtĕsˈ dü bärēˈ, do͞obărˈē [key], 1743–93, mistress of King Louis XV of France. A courtesan of illegitimate birth, she was the mistress of...

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