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Hampshire swine

(Encyclopedia)Hampshire swine, breed of swine that originated in S England and was introduced to the United States in the early 1800s. Major improvement of the breed took place in the state of Kentucky. Hampshire s...

Wentworth, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Wentworth, Sir John, 1737–1820, colonial governor of New Hampshire, b. Portsmouth, N.H. On the forced resignation of his uncle, Benning Wentworth, he was commissioned (Aug., 1766) to succeed him bot...

Randolph, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, Edward, c.1632–1703, English colonial agent in America. In 1676 he carried royal instructions to Massachusetts Bay that required the colony to send representatives to England to satisfy co...

Mason City

(Encyclopedia)Mason City, city (1990 pop. 29,040), seat of Cerro Gordo co., N central Iowa; inc. 1874. It is the rail, trade, and industrial center of a large agricultural area. There is food processing and meatpac...

Mason, John, c.1600–1672, American colonial military commander

(Encyclopedia)Mason, John, c.1600–1672, American colonial military commander, b. England. He was an army officer before emigrating (c.1630) to Massachusetts and then (1635) to Windsor, Conn. When the Pequot threa...

Penn, William, founder of Pennsylvania

(Encyclopedia)Penn, William, 1644–1718, English Quaker, founder of Pennsylvania, b. London, England; son of Sir William Penn. Penn became involved in the affairs of the American colonies when in 1675 he was ap...

Pierce, Franklin

(Encyclopedia)Pierce, Franklin, 1804–69, 14th President of the United States (1853–57), b. Hillsboro, N.H., grad. Bowdoin College, 1824. Admitted to the bar in 1827, he entered politics as a Jacksonian Democrat...

Lycurgus, founder of the Spartan constitution

(Encyclopedia)Lycurgus līkûrˈgəs [key], traditional name of the founder of the Spartan constitution. The earliest mention of him is in Herodotus. Nothing is known of his life—when he lived or if he was a real...

John, three epistles of the New Testament

(Encyclopedia)John, three letters of the New Testament. Traditionally, they are ascribed to John son of Zebedee, the disciple of Jesus. All three letters probably date to the end of the 1st cent. a.d., and may have...

Mason-Dixon Line

(Encyclopedia)Mason-Dixon Line, boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland (running between lat. 39°43′26.3″N and lat. 39°43′17.6″N), surveyed by the English team of Charles Mason, a mathematician and ast...