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Cockburn, Sir Alexander James Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Cockburn, Sir Alexander James Edmund, 1802–80, British jurist. He was called to the bar in 1829, and a volume of reports on election cases (1832) brought him into national prominence as a trial lawy...

Albany, Alexander Stuart, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Albany, Alexander Stuart or Stewart, duke of: see Stuart, Alexander, duke of Albany. ...

Stuart, Alexander, duke of Albany

(Encyclopedia)Stuart or Stewart, Alexander, duke of Albany, 1454?–1485, Scottish nobleman; second son of James II of Scotland. He was captured (1463) by the English while he was at sea en route to the Low Countri...

Stuart, Alexander, earl of Buchan

(Encyclopedia)Stuart or Stewart, Alexander, earl of Buchan bŭkhˈan, bŭkˈ– [key], 1343?–1405?, Scottish nobleman; fourth son of Robert II. He held various offices under the crown and was made lord of Badenoc...

Stirling, William Alexander, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Stirling, William Alexander, earl of, 1567?–1640, Scottish poet. He was tutor of Prince Henry of Scotland and went to England on the accession of James I. The holder of various government offices, h...

Alexander, Harold Rupert Leofric George, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis

(Encyclopedia)Alexander, Harold Rupert Leofric George, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis lĕfˈrĭk [key], 1891–1969, British field marshal. His long military career began with service in World War I, followed by a per...

Abscam

(Encyclopedia)Abscam, U.S. scandal resulting from an investigation begun in 1978 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI created a front (Abdul Enterprises, Ltd., hence, Abscam) for its agents, who, posing ...

Reed, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Reed, Walter, 1851–1902, American army surgeon, b. Gloucester co., Va. In 1900 he was sent to Havana as head of an army commission to investigate an outbreak of yellow fever among American soldiers....

Swanson, Gloria

(Encyclopedia)Swanson, Gloria, 1899–1983, American movie actress, b. Chicago. Swanson began her film career in 1913, displaying an elegant comedic style in a series of films for director Cecil B. DeMille. Finance...

bamboo

(Encyclopedia)bamboo, plant of the family Poaceae (grass family), chiefly of warm or tropical regions, where it is sometimes an extremely important component of the vegetation. It is most abundant in the monsoon ar...