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Récamier, Juliette

(Encyclopedia)Récamier, Juliette zhülyĕtˈ rākämyāˈ [key], 1777–1849, celebrated French beauty and social figure, née Jeanne Françoise Julie Adelaïde Bernard. At 15 she married Jacques Récamier, a weal...

Rittenhouse, David

(Encyclopedia)Rittenhouse, David, 1732–96, American astronomer and instrument maker, b. near Germantown, Pa., self-educated. A clockmaker by trade, he developed great skill in the making of mathematical instrumen...

Bancroft, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Bancroft, Edward, 1744–1821, spy in the American Revolution, b. Westfield, Mass. He studied medicine and natural history, producing a book (1769) on Guiana's flora and fauna, a defense of the coloni...

Wyatt, James

(Encyclopedia)Wyatt, James, 1746–1813, English architect. He worked in many styles but is best known as one of the originators of the Gothic revival. Appointed surveyor at Westminster Abbey in 1776, he did cathed...

Sparks, Jared

(Encyclopedia)Sparks, Jared, 1789–1866, American historian and educator, b. Willington, Conn. He studied theology, mathematics, and natural philosophy at Harvard (1817–19). He was pastor of a Unitarian church i...

Cape May

(Encyclopedia)Cape May, city (2020 pop. 3,374), Cape May co., S N.J., on Cape May peninsula and the Atlantic Ocean; settled in the 1600s, inc. 1857. One of the nation...

bluestocking

(Encyclopedia)bluestocking, derisive term originally applied to certain 18th-century women with pronounced literary interests. During the 1750s, Elizabeth Vesey held evening parties, at which the entertainment cons...

Berlin Philharmonic

(Encyclopedia)Berlin Philharmonic, orchestra, Berlin, Germany, founded 1882 by musicans who had left an ensemble led by Benjamin Bilse. The orchestra performs in the modernist Philharmonie concert hall (1963). Amon...

King Philip's War

(Encyclopedia)King Philip's War, 1675–76, the most devastating war between the colonists and the Native Americans in New England. The war is named for King Philip, the son of Massasoit and chief of the Wampanoag....

McReynolds, James Clark

(Encyclopedia)McReynolds, James Clark məkrĕnˈəldz [key], 1862–1946, U.S. Attorney General (1913–14) and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1914–41), b. Elkton, Ky. He received his law degree fro...