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Hood, Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Hood, Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount, 1724–1816, British admiral. Entering the navy in 1741, he served with distinction in the Seven Years War. In 1781 he was sent to the West Indies as second in command...

Graves, Thomas Graves, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Graves, Thomas Graves, Baron, 1725?–1802, British admiral. During the American Revolution his fleet was routed (1781) by the comte de Grasse at the mouth of Chesapeake Bay, a defeat that led directl...

Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de

(Encyclopedia)Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de pyĕr ōgüstăNˈ karôNˈ də bōmärshāˈ [key], 1732–99, French dramatist. Originally a watchmaker, he rose to wealth and position among the nobility. His...

Rooke, Sir George

(Encyclopedia)Rooke, Sir George ro͝ok [key], 1650–1709, English admiral. In the War of the Grand Alliance he defeated a French fleet under the comte de Tourville in the battle of La Hogue (1692) and by good judg...

Fersen, Count Hans Axel

(Encyclopedia)Fersen, Count Hans Axel, 1755–1810, Swedish soldier and diplomat; son of Count Fredrik Axel Fersen. He entered (1779) the French service, was aide-de-camp of comte de Rochambeau in the American Revo...

Montmorency, Henri, duc de, the elder, 1534–1614, constable of France

(Encyclopedia)Montmorency, Henri, duc de dük də môNmôräNsēˈ [key], the elder, 1534–1614, constable of France; younger son of Anne de Montmorency. He was known as Henri, comte de Damville, before 1579. He ...

Salamanca, city, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Salamanca, city (1990 pop. 162,037), capital of Salamanca prov., W central Spain, in Castile and León, on the Tormes River, c.2,600 ft (790 m) above sea level. Food-processing and tourism are its mos...

Marie Louise

(Encyclopedia)Marie Louise, 1791–1847, empress of the French (1810–15) as consort of Napoleon I and duchess of Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla (1816–47), daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (later Empero...

Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse

(Encyclopedia)Du Barry, Jeanne Bécu, comtesse zhän bāküˈ kôNtĕsˈ dü bärēˈ, do͞obărˈē [key], 1743–93, mistress of King Louis XV of France. A courtesan of illegitimate birth, she was the mistress of...

Clavière, Étienne

(Encyclopedia)Clavière, Étienne ātyĕnˈ klävyĕrˈ [key], 1735–93, French financier. A merchant and banker of Geneva, he participated (1782) in the popular revolution at Geneva and was forced to leave when t...