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Randolph, Thomas, English poet and dramatist

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, Thomas, 1605–35, English poet and dramatist. After graduating from Cambridge in 1632, he went to London where he became a disciple of Ben Jonson. His best-known poems are “A Gratulatory ...

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...

Marche, region and former province, France

(Encyclopedia)Marche märsh [key], region and former province, central France, on the NW margin of the Massif Central. It is coextensive with Creuse dept., much of the Haute-Vienne dept., and parts of Vienne, Indre...

Morava, river, Czech Republic and Slovakia

(Encyclopedia)Morava môrˈävä [key], Ger. March, river, c.240 mi (390 km) long, rising in the Sudetes, N Czech Republic, and flowing generally S past Olomouc into the Danube River, W of Bratislava. It is navigab...

General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

(Encyclopedia)General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), former specialized agency of the United Nations. It was established in 1948 as an interim measure pending the creation of the International Trade Organiz...

composition, in ancient and medieval law

(Encyclopedia)composition, in ancient and medieval law, a sum of money paid by a guilty party as satisfaction to the family of the person who was injured or killed. Failure to make the payment might justify retalia...

Hanover, former kingdom and province, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Hanover hănˈōvər [key], Ger. Hannover, former independent kingdom and former province of Germany; Lower Saxony, NW Germany. Very irregular in outline, Hanover stretched from the Dutch border and t...

United Nations Economic and Social Council

(Encyclopedia)United Nations Economic and Social Council: see Economic and Social Council. ...

Uranus , in Greek religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Uranus, in Greek religion and mythology, the heaven, first ruler of the universe, son of Gaea (the earth). He was the father of Gaea's children, the Titans, the Cyclopes, and the Hundred-handed Ones (...

Ardennes, region, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France

(Encyclopedia)Ardennes, wooded plateau, from 1,600 to 2,300 ft (488–701 m) high, in SE Belgium, N Luxembourg, and Ardennes dept., N France, E and S of the Meuse River. The plateau is cut into wild crags and ravin...