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Tyne and Wear

(Encyclopedia)Tyne and Wear, former metropolitan county, NE England. Created in the 1974 local government reorganization, the county embraced the Newcastle upon Tyne conurbation and comprised five metropolitan dist...

Oldcastle, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Oldcastle, Sir John, 1378?–1417, English leader of Lollardry. He married the heiress of Lord Cobham in 1408 and was known as “the good Lord Cobham.” Under the rule of Henry IV he performed valua...

Nerval, Gérard de

(Encyclopedia)Nerval, Gérard de zhārärˈ də nĕrvälˈ [key], 1808–55, French writer, an early romantic. His real name was Gérard Labrunie. His writings include translations of Faust (1828) and other German ...

Wakefield, estate, United States

(Encyclopedia)Wakefield, family estate of George Washington, on the Potomac River, E Va.; part of the George Washington Birthplace National Monument (see National Parks and Monuments, tablenational parks and monume...

Braine, John Gerard

(Encyclopedia)Braine, John Gerard, 1922–86, English novelist, b. Bradford, Yorkshire. With his first novel, Room at the Top (1957), Braine established himself as one of England's angry young men. This novel bitte...

Sodom

(Encyclopedia)Sodom sŏdˈōmə [key], in the Bible, the principal of the Cities of the Plain (the others being Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar, which was spared) destroyed by fire from heaven because of their w...

Syria

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Syria sērˈēə [key], officially Syrian Arab Republic, republic (2015 est. pop. 18,735,000), 71,467 sq mi (185,100 sq km), W Asia. It borders on Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea in the west,...

Angola

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Angola ăng-gōˈlə [key], officially Republic of Angola (2020 est. pop. 32,870,000), including the exclave of Cabinda, 481,351 sq mi (1,246,700 sq km), SW Africa...

Leh

(Encyclopedia)Leh lā [key], town (2011 pop. 30,870), Ladakh, E Kashmir, N India. It is the headquarters of Ladakh union territory and of the Leh district in Indian-controlled Kashmir. It lies at an altitude of c.1...

Mackay, Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Mackay, Hugh məkīˈ [key], 1640?–1692, Scottish soldier. After service with several continental armies, he joined the Dutch forces in 1673, took his regiment to England (1685) to help suppress the...

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