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Philoctetes

(Encyclopedia)Philoctetes fĭlŏktēˈtēz [key], in Greek mythology, son of Poias. He acquired, by gift, the bow and arrow of Hercules by lighting the pyre on which the hero was consumed alive. On his way to the T...

Cavendish, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Cavendish, Thomas, 1560–92, English navigator. He commanded a ship in the flotilla under Sir Richard Grenville sent (1585) by Sir Walter Raleigh to establish the first colony in Virginia. In 1586, i...

Van Curler, Arent

(Encyclopedia)Van Curler or Van Corlaer, Arent ärˈənt văn kûrˈlər, vän kôrˈlär [key], 1619–67, Dutch colonist in New Netherland. He came (1637) to the colony to assist in the management of Rensselaersw...

Wandering Jew, in legend

(Encyclopedia)Wandering Jew, in literary and popular legend, a Jew who mocked or mistreated Jesus while he was on his way to the cross and who was condemned therefore to a life of wandering on earth until Judgment ...

Valdés Leal, Juan de

(Encyclopedia)Valdés Leal, Juan de lāälˈ [key], 1622–90, Spanish baroque painter and etcher, active mainly in Seville and Córdoba. He is especially famous for grimly moralizing subjects, as in Allegory of Va...

Smith, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Michael, 1932–2000, British-born Canadian biochemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Manchester, 1956. Smith was a researcher at the Univ. of British Columbia from 1961 until his death in 2000. He shared the...

Bonvalot, Pierre Gabriel Édouard

(Encyclopedia)Bonvalot, Pierre Gabriel Édouard pyĕr gäbrēĕlˈ ādwärˈ bôNvälōˈ [key], 1853–1933, French explorer and author. In 1880–82 he visited central Asia, explored Kohistan, and returned to Fra...

Wright, Mickey

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Mickey (Mary Kathryn Wright), 1935–2020, American golfer, b. San Diego. After winning the 1954 World Amateur Championship, she turned professional and joined (1955) the Ladies Professional G...

Sierra, Justo

(Encyclopedia)Sierra, Justo ho͞oˈstō syĕˈrä [key], 1848–1912, Mexican educator and historian. He entered the literary life as a romantic poet but later devoted himself wholeheartedly to founding schools, le...

Contreras

(Encyclopedia)Contreras kōntrāˈräs [key], village, central Mexico, near Mexico City, site of an important battle (Aug. 19–20, 1847) of the Mexican War. Gen. Winfield Scott, continuing his advance after the ba...