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Giesebrecht, Wilhelm von

(Encyclopedia)Giesebrecht, Wilhelm von vĭlˈhĕlm fən gēˈzəbrĕkht [key], 1814–89, German historian. A gifted student of Ranke, he later taught at the Univ. of Königsberg. His Geschichte der deutschen Kaise...

Fitzpatrick, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Fitzpatrick, Benjamin, 1802–69, governor of Alabama (1841–45), b. Greene co., Ga. As a youth, he moved to Alabama (then still part of Mississippi Territory), where after two terms as governor, he ...

Cursor Mundi

(Encyclopedia)Cursor Mundi kûrˈsôr mŭnˈdī [key], a long religious epic in Middle English relating the history of the world as recorded in the Old and New Testaments. This anonymous poem (written c.1300) is a ...

New Red Sandstone

(Encyclopedia)New Red Sandstone, name for the thick red layer of the Triassic formation in Great Britain (see Triassic period). It is many thousands of feet thick and is composed chiefly of red sandstones, clays, a...

Varchi, Benedetto

(Encyclopedia)Varchi, Benedetto bānādĕtˈtō värˈkē [key], 1502?–1565, Italian poet and historian. A protégé of Filippo Strozzi and Cosimo de' Medici, he was commissioned to write the history of Florence....

Adams, Charles Francis, 1866–1954, U.S. Secretary of the Navy

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Charles Francis, 1866–1954, U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1929–33), b. Quincy, Mass.; grandson of Charles Francis Adams (1807–86). He practiced law for a brief period in Boston but for most...

Beth-zur

(Encyclopedia)Beth-zur bĕth-zûrˈ [key], town, ancient Palestine, N of Hebron, on the Jerusalem road. It is the modern Khirbat Tubaygah, the West Bank. Excavations (1924, 1931, 1957) have revealed settlements fro...

Melville, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Melville, Sir James, 1535–1617, Scottish diplomat. He was a page to Mary Queen of Scots in France and, after her return to Scotland, was employed as Mary's representative at the court of Elizabeth I...

König Rother

(Encyclopedia)König Rother könˈĭk rōtˈər [key], earliest heroic minstrel epic from the precourtly period of Middle High German literature. Written in Bavaria in popular verse style by an unknown Rhenish poet...

Hone, Philip

(Encyclopedia)Hone, Philip, 1780–1851, American diarist and politician, b. New York City. With his brother he built up a successful auctioneering business, which he later abandoned for politics. He was mayor of N...