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Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, 1st earl of, 1593–1641, English statesman. Regularly elected to Parliament from 1614 on, he became one of the critics of George Villiers, 1st duke of Buckingham, and of ...

Hartigan, Grace

(Encyclopedia)Hartigan, Grace, 1922–2008, American painter, b. Newark, N.J. Hartigan moved to Manhattan in 1945 and began painting semiabstract canvases after her introduction to the works of the abstract express...

Gilbert, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Gilbert, Alan, 1967–, American conductor and violinist, b. New York City, studied Harvard (B.A., 1989), Juilliard (M.A, 1994), and Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia. After serving as assistant...

Söderblom, Nathan

(Encyclopedia)Söderblom, Nathan näˈtän söˈdərblo͞omˌ [key], 1866–1931, Swedish churchman, primate of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, archbishop of Uppsala. He was professor of the history of religion and ...

Rugby, town, England

(Encyclopedia)Rugby, town (1991 pop. 59,039), Warwickshire, central England. An important railroad junction and engineering center, Rugby is the seat of one of England's most esteemed public schools. Rugby School w...

Gaveston, Piers

(Encyclopedia)Gaveston, Piers pērz găvˈəstən [key], d. 1312, favorite of Edward II of England. Son of a Gascon knight at the court of Edward I, he was a boyhood playmate of the future Edward II and acquired gr...

Isabella

(Encyclopedia)Isabella, 1296–1358, queen consort of Edward II of England, daughter of Philip IV of France. She married Edward in 1308. Neglected and mistreated by her husband, Isabella nourished hatred for the ro...

Windsor, Wallis Warfield, duchess of

(Encyclopedia)Windsor, Wallis Warfield, duchess of wĭnˈzər [key],1896–1986, American-born wife of Edward, duke of Windsor, who, as Edward VIII, abdicated the British throne in order to marry her. In 1916 she ...

Tracy, Spencer

(Encyclopedia)Tracy, Spencer, 1900–1967, American film actor, b. Milwaukee, Wis. He began his career as an actor in summer stock and went into film work in 1930. His fine character portrayals won him Academy Awar...

Serkin, Rudolf

(Encyclopedia)Serkin, Rudolf, 1903–91, Austrian-American pianist, b. Bohemia. Serkin gave joint recitals with Adolf Busch (his father-in-law from 1935) and made his U.S. debut (1933) with the Busch chamber player...

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