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Parry, Sir William Edward

(Encyclopedia)Parry, Sir William Edward păˈrē [key], 1790–1855, British arctic explorer and rear admiral. He entered the navy at 13 and made his first voyage to the Arctic under Sir John Ross in 1818 in search...

Israëls, Jozef

(Encyclopedia)Israëls, Jozef yōˈzəf ēsˈräĕls [key], 1824–1911, Dutch genre painter. In Amsterdam he painted somber and moving scenes from the life of the Dutch fishermen and peasantry, for which he soon b...

Alexius V

(Encyclopedia)Alexius V (Alexius Ducas Mourtzouphlos) do͞oˈkəsmo͝ortˈso͞oflŏs [key], d. 1204, Byzantine emperor (1204), son-in-law of Alexius III. The head of the Byzantine national party, he overthrew emper...

Norristown

(Encyclopedia)Norristown, borough (1990 pop. 30,749), seat of Montgomery co., SE Pa., on the Schuylkill River; settled c.1712, laid out 1784, inc. 1812. Among its manufactures are textiles, medical equipment, machi...

William II, king of Sicily

(Encyclopedia)William II (William the Good), c.1153–1189, king of Sicily (1166–89), son and successor of William I. He married (1177) Joan, daughter of Henry II of England. As an ally of Pope Alexander III and ...

Wistar, Caspar

(Encyclopedia)Wistar, Caspar wĭsˈtər [key], 1761–1818, American physician, b. Philadelphia, M.D. Univ. of Edinburgh, 1786; grandson of Caspar Wistar (1696–1752), early Pennsylvania glassmaker. He taught (178...

Brewster, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Brewster, Sir David, 1781–1868, Scottish physicist and natural philosopher. He is noted especially for his research into the polarization of light (the invention of the kaleidoscope was one result o...

Lamb, John

(Encyclopedia)Lamb, John, 1735–1800, American Revolutionary leader, b. New York City. Prior to the Revolution he was a leader of the Sons of Liberty in New York and helped form the New York committee of correspon...

Hilliard, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Hilliard, Nicholas, 1537–1619, English miniature painter, son of a goldsmith. Trained first as a jeweler, he was court painter to Elizabeth and to James I. The first true miniaturist in England, Hil...

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