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Fort Chipewyan

(Encyclopedia)Fort Chipewyan chĭpəwīˈən [key], trading post, NE Alta., Canada, at the west end of Lake Athabasca. The old Fort Chipewyan, on the south shore, was built for the North West Company at the urging ...

Merman, Ethel

(Encyclopedia)Merman, Ethel, 1908–84, American musical comedy star, b. Astoria, N.Y., originally named Ethel Zimmerman. Merman's theater debut was in George and Ira Gershwin's Girl Crazy (1930). Noted for her bra...

Laurance, John

(Encyclopedia)Laurance, John lôrˈəns [key], 1750–1810, American Revolutionary officer, b. near Falmouth, Cornwall, England; son-in-law of Alexander MacDougall. A lawyer, he was (1777–82) judge advocate gener...

Krüdener, Juliana, Baroness von

(Encyclopedia)Krüdener, Juliana, Baroness von fən krüdˈənər [key], 1764–1824, Russian novelist and mystic. Born a Livonian aristocrat, she married a Russian diplomat. She left her husband (1801) for the ple...

Bras d'Or Lake

(Encyclopedia)Bras d'Or Lake brä dôr [key], arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.360 sq mi (930 sq km), indenting deeply into Cape Breton Island, N.S., SE Canada, and occupying much of the interior. A narrow channel link...

Ulpian

(Encyclopedia)Ulpian (Dometius Ulpianus) ŭlˈpēən [key], d. 228, Roman jurist. He was a member of the council of the jurist Papinian. As Praetorian prefect from 222, he enjoyed the favor of the emperor Alexander...

Theopompus

(Encyclopedia)Theopompus thēˌōpŏmˈpəs [key], fl. 4th cent. b.c., Greek historian and rhetorician, b. Chios. He studied with the orator Isocrates and became a friend of both Philip and Alexander of Macedon. Hi...

Baliol, John de, d. 1269, founder of Balliol College, Oxford

(Encyclopedia)Baliol, John de, d. 1269, nobleman with lands in both England and Scotland; founder of Balliol College, Oxford. The name is also spelled Balliol. In 1249 he became a member of the Scottish council of ...

Julius II

(Encyclopedia)Julius II, 1443–1513, pope (1503–13), an Italian named Giuliano della Rovere, b. Savona; successor of Pius III. His uncle Sixtus IV gave him many offices and created him cardinal. Innocent VIII, s...

Donner Party

(Encyclopedia)Donner Party, group of emigrants to California who in the winter of 1846–47 met with one of the most famous tragedies in Western history. The California-bound families were mostly from Illinois and ...