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Kent, George Edward Alexander Edmund, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Kent, George Edward Alexander Edmund, duke of, 1902–42, fourth son of George V of Great Britain. He traveled extensively as “salesman of the empire.” A member of the Royal Air Force after 1940, ...

Grafton, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Grafton, Richard, d. c.1572, London publisher and printer. In 1539 with Edward Whitchurch he printed the Great Bible in black letter (see type). He printed the first edition of the Book of Common Pray...

Robert I, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Robert I or Robert the Bruce, 1274–1329, king of Scotland (1306–29). He belonged to the illustrious Bruce family and was the grandson of that Robert the Bruce who in 1290 was an unsuccessful claim...

Davidson, Jo

(Encyclopedia)Davidson, Jo, 1883–1952, American sculptor, b. New York City. He studied at the Art Students League and the École des Beaux-Arts, Paris. He is known especially for his portrait busts, which display...

prehistory

(Encyclopedia)prehistory, period of human evolution before writing was invented and records kept. The term was coined by Daniel Wilson in 1851. It is followed by protohistory, the period for which we have some reco...

Beer, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Beer, Thomas, 1889–1940, American author, b. Council Bluffs, Iowa, grad. Yale, 1911, and studied law at Columbia, 1911–13. He is best remembered for his biographies of Stephen Crane (1923) and Mar...

McCarthy, Mary Therese

(Encyclopedia)McCarthy, Mary Therese, 1912–89, American writer, b. Seattle, grad. Vassar, 1933. As drama critic for the Partisan Review (1937–45), she gained a reputation for wit, intellect, and acerbity. Her n...

Hale, George Ellery

(Encyclopedia)Hale, George Ellery, 1868–1938, American astronomer, b. Chicago, grad. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1890. He founded and directed three great observatories (Yerkes, Mt. Wilson, and Palomar...

Huerta, Victoriano

(Encyclopedia)Huerta, Victoriano vēktōryäˈnō [key], 1854–1916, Mexican general and president (1913–14). He served under Porfirio Díaz. After the revolution of Francisco I. Madero (1911) he aided the new p...

Roses, Wars of the

(Encyclopedia)Roses, Wars of the, traditional name given to the intermittent struggle (1455–85) for the throne of England between the noble houses of York (whose badge was a white rose) and Lancaster (later assoc...