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Passy, Frédéric

(Encyclopedia)Passy, Frédéric frādārēkˈ päsēˈ [key], 1822–1912, French economist, winner (1901, with J. H. Dunant) of the first Nobel Peace Prize. He studied law but abandoned it for journalism and the s...

Foucault, Michel

(Encyclopedia)Foucault, Michel, 1926–84, French philosopher and historian. He was professor at the Collège de France (1970–84). He is renowned for historical studies that reveal the sometimes morally disturbin...

Houdini, Harry

(Encyclopedia)Houdini, Harry ho͞odēˈnē [key], 1874–1926, American magician and writer, b. Budapest, Hungary, as Erik Weisz, later modified to Ehrich Weiss; his stage name honors the French magician Houdin. By...

Díaz del Castillo, Bernal

(Encyclopedia)Díaz del Castillo, Bernal bārnälˈ dēˈäth dĕl kästēˈlyō [key], c.1492–1581, Spanish conquistador and chronicler. He had served in the New World under various commanders—Pedro Arias de ...

Crome, John

(Encyclopedia)Crome, John, 1768–1821, English landscape painter, b. Norwich. Crome was the principal painter of the Norwich school. He is often called Old Crome to distinguish him from his son who painted in the ...

Fitzhugh, George

(Encyclopedia)Fitzhugh, George, 1806–81, American author and editor, b. Prince William co., Va. Although he had little formal education he was admitted to the bar, but he devoted little time to the practice of la...

Mooney, Thomas J.

(Encyclopedia)Mooney, Thomas J., 1883–1942, American labor agitator, b. Chicago. He was an active leader in several violent labor struggles in California before 1916 and was convicted as a participant in the bomb...

Norumbega

(Encyclopedia)Norumbega nôrəmbĕgˈə [key], name vaguely used, especially on European maps of the 16th and 17th cent., to indicate a region, a river, or a city on the east coast of North America. Fabulous tales ...

Lévis, François Gaston, duc de

(Encyclopedia)Lévis, François Gaston, duc de fräNswäˈ gästôNˈ dük də lāvēsˈ [key], 1720–87, French soldier. Entering the army in 1735, he distinguished himself in the War of the Austrian Succession. ...

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