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Pius VI

(Encyclopedia)Pius VI, 1717–99, pope (1775–99), an Italian named G. Angelo Braschi, b. Cesena; successor of Clement XIV. He was created cardinal in 1774. Early in his reign he was faced with the attempts of Hol...

Albemarle Sound

(Encyclopedia)Albemarle Sound, large inland body of generally fresh water, c.55 mi (90 km) long, from 3 to 14 mi (4.8–22 km) wide, NE N.C. Shallow and tideless, the sound is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a...

Evans, Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Evans, Oliver, 1755–1819, American inventor, b. near Newport, Del. He joined his brothers in a flour-milling business in Wilmington, and after studying similar earlier devices, he developed, install...

Stanley, Ralph Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Stanley, Ralph Edmond, 1927–2016, American bluegrass singer and banjo player, b. Dickenson co., Va. He and his brother, Carter Glen Stanley, 1925–66, were sons of a country-singer father and banjo...

Prior, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Prior, Matthew, 1664–1721, English poet and diplomat, b. Wimborne, Dorset. With his appointment as secretary to the embassy at The Hague during the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Ryswick (169...

South Bend

(Encyclopedia)South Bend, city (1990 pop. 105,511), seat of St. Joseph co., N Ind., on the great south bend of the St. Joseph River, in a farming and mint-growing region; inc. as a city 1865. An industrial city, it...

Monnier, Henri

(Encyclopedia)Monnier, Henri äNrēˈ mônyāˈ [key], 1799–1877, French lithographer and writer. His work became popular (c.1825) when he illustrated La Fontaine's Fables with pen drawings. He wrote and illustra...

Empedocles

(Encyclopedia)Empedocles ĕmpĕdˈəklēz [key], c.495–c.435 b.c., Greek philosopher, b. Acragas (present Agrigento), Sicily. Leader of the democratic faction in his native city, he was offered the crown, which h...

Gothic language

(Encyclopedia)Gothic language, dead language belonging to the now extinct East Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Gothic has special value fo...

FitzGerald, Edward

(Encyclopedia)FitzGerald, Edward, 1809–83, English man of letters. A dilettante and scholar, FitzGerald spent most of his life living in seclusion in Suffolk. His masterpiece, a translation of The Rubaiyat of Oma...