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Bothe, Walther Wilhelm Georg

(Encyclopedia)Bothe, Walther Wilhelm Georg, 1891–1957, German physicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Berlin, 1923. Bothe was a researcher at the Reich Physical and Technical Institute (1913–30) and a professor at Heidelberg...

Southey, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Southey, Robert souˈᵺē, sŭᵺˈē [key], 1774–1843, English author. Primarily a poet, he was numbered among the so-called Lake poets. While at Oxford he formed (1794) a friendship with Coleridg...

Excalibur

(Encyclopedia)Excalibur ĕkskălˈĭbər [key], in Arthurian legend, sword given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. At Arthur's death Sir Bedivere threw Excalibur into the lake; a hand rose from the water, cau...

Balmerino, Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Baron

(Encyclopedia)Balmerino, Arthur Elphinstone, 6th Baron ĕlˈfĭnstən, bălˌmĕrˈĭnō [key], 1688–1746, Scottish nobleman. He resigned a command in the English army to join the Jacobite rising of 1715, escapin...

Merlin

(Encyclopedia)Merlin, in Arthurian legend, magician, seer, and teacher at the court of King Vortigern and later at the court of King Arthur. He was a bard and culture hero in early Celtic folklore. In Arthurian leg...

Lee of Fareham, Arthur Hamilton Lee, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Lee of Fareham, Arthur Hamilton Lee, 1st Viscount fârˈəm [key], 1868–1947, British politician. He was (1900–1918) a Conservative member of the House of Commons. During World War I, Lee was mili...

Guinevere

(Encyclopedia)Guinevere gwĭnˈəvĭrˌ, gwĕnˈ– [key], in Arthurian legend, wife of King Arthur. Her illicit and tragic love for Sir Launcelot, which foreshadowed the downfall of Arthur's kingdom, ends with her...

Hepburn, Audrey

(Encyclopedia)Hepburn, Audrey, 1929–93, British film actress, b. Brussels as Audrey Kathleen Ruston. The daughter of an English banker and a Dutch baroness, she and her mother lived in the Netherlands during the ...

Diddley, Bo

(Encyclopedia)Diddley, Bo, 1928–2008, African-American singer, guitarist, and songwriter who was one of the founders of rock and roll, b. near McComb, Miss., as Otha Ellas Bates. He and his cousin, Gussie McDanie...

chaparral

(Encyclopedia)chaparral chăpərălˈ [key], type of plant community in which shrubs are dominant. It occurs usually in regions having from 10 to 20 in. (25–50 cm) of rainfall annually and with a Mediterranean-ty...