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Haggard, Merle Ronald

(Encyclopedia)Haggard, Merle Ronald, 1937–2016, popular and influential American country singer-songwriter, b. Oildale, Calif. The outlaw poet of country music, he grew up in poverty and turned to petty crime as ...

Meiningen Players

(Encyclopedia)Meiningen Players, German theatrical company that toured Europe from 1874 to 1890. The group, inspiring theatrical reforms wherever it performed, was a major influence in the movement toward modern th...

Curtin, John

(Encyclopedia)Curtin, John, 1885–1945, Australian political leader. A labor union secretary, he edited (1917–28) a labor weekly and was later a member of the lower house—from 1928 to 1941, except for three ye...

Clare, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Clare or Clara, Saint, 1193?–1253, Italian nun of Assisi, devoted from her youth to St. Francis, to whom she took a vow of poverty. She led a life of great austerity. She organized her companions in...

Clark, Francis Edward

(Encyclopedia)Clark, Francis Edward, 1851–1927, American Congregational clergyman, founder of Christian Endeavor. He was born of American parents in Aylmer, Que., and was graduated from Dartmouth College in 1873....

Gates, John Warne

(Encyclopedia)Gates, John Warne, 1855–1911, American financier and promoter, known as Bet-a-Million Gates, b. near Chicago. He discovered a market for wire fencing on the Western plains, began the manufacture of ...

Dullin, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Dullin, Charles shärl dülăNˈ [key], 1885–1949, French actor, producer, and director. Dullin was an outstanding member of Copeau's Théâtre du Vieux Colombier. He organized and toured with his o...

Mossi

(Encyclopedia)Mossi mŏsˈē [key], African people, numbering about 2.5 million, mostly in Burkina Faso. From c.a.d. 1000 the Mossi were organized into several kingdoms, one of which has continued to the present da...

Naruszewicz, Adam Stanislaw

(Encyclopedia)Naruszewicz, Adam Stanislaw äˈdäm stänēsˈläf näro͞oshĕˈvēch [key], 1733–96, Polish historian. A Jesuit, he became, after the suppression of his order, bishop of Smolensk (1788) and of Lu...

Barclay, John

(Encyclopedia)Barclay, John, 1734–98, minister of the Church of Scotland and founder of the Bereans or Barclayites. His Without Faith, without God (1769) and other works were unacceptable to his presbytery, and h...