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Thorndike, Dame Sybil

(Encyclopedia)Thorndike, Dame Sybil (Agnes Sybil Thorndike), 1882–1976, English actress. Thorndike made her debut with the Ben Greet Players and toured the United States with them (1904–7). She worked with the ...

Ville-sous-La-Ferté

(Encyclopedia)Ville-sous-La-Ferté vēl-so͞o-lä-fĕrtāˈ [key], village (1993 est. pop. 1,455), NE France. It is famous for its nearby abbey (now a prison) of Clairvaux, founded (1115) by St. Bernard of Clairvau...

Malachy, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Malachy, Saint mălˈəkē [key], 1095–1148, Irish churchman, reformer of the church in Ireland. His Irish name was Máel Máedoc ua Morgair. He was assistant to Cellach (Celsus), bishop of Armagh, ...

Bongo, Omar

(Encyclopedia)Bongo, Omar (El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba) bôngˈgō [key], 1935–2009, Gabonese political leader, president of Gabon (1967–2009), b. Albert-Bernard Bongo. He entered the civil service (1958), becam...

comedy

(Encyclopedia)comedy, literary work that aims primarily to provoke laughter. Unlike tragedy, which seeks to engage profound emotions and sympathies, comedy strives to entertain chiefly through criticism and ridicul...

De Long, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)De Long, George Washington də lôngˈ [key], 1844–81, American arctic explorer, b. New York City, grad. Annapolis, 1865. In 1873 he was assigned to the Juniata, which was sent to the arctic to sear...

Doughty, Sir Arthur George

(Encyclopedia)Doughty, Sir Arthur George douˈtē [key], 1860–1936, Canadian historian and archivist, b. England. As archivist (1904–35) of the dominion, he largely created the archives of the nation. He wrote ...

Darwin, Sir George Howard

(Encyclopedia)Darwin, Sir George Howard, 1845–1912, English astronomer and mathematician; 2d son of Charles Darwin. He was Plumian professor (from 1883) of astronomy and experimental philosophy at Cambridge, and ...

Cotton, George Edward Lynch

(Encyclopedia)Cotton, George Edward Lynch, 1813–66, English clergyman and educator, grad. Trinity College, Cambridge, 1836. From 1837 until 1852 he was an assistant master at Rugby and is the “young master” i...

Custis, George Washington Parke

(Encyclopedia)Custis, George Washington Parke, 1781–1857, American dramatist, b. Mt. Airy, Md., educated at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton). The grandson of Martha Washington, he grew up at Mt. Vernon a...