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Macdonald, George

(Encyclopedia)Macdonald, George, 1824–1905, Scottish author. Ordained a Congregational minister, he eventually abandoned his vocation to become a writer and freelance preacher. His first published works were seve...

Kenneth II

(Encyclopedia)Kenneth II, d. 995, Scottish king (971–995). The son of Malcolm I (reigned 943–54), he became king of the united Picts and Scots in 971 and immediately led a savage raid on the British in Northumb...

Mercer, Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Mercer, Hugh mûrˈsər [key], c.1725–1777, American Revolutionary general, b. Aberdeen, Scotland. A physician, he was a surgeon in the forces of Charles Edward Stuart (the Young Pretender) and afte...

Sumter, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Sumter, Thomas, 1734–1832, American Revolutionary officer, b. near Charlottesville, Va. He served with Edward Braddock (1755) and John Forbes (1758) in their expeditions against Fort Duquesne in the...

Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Edmund, 921–46, king of Wessex (939–46), half-brother and successor of Athelstan. Immediately after his accession he had to face an invasion of Irish vikings led by Olaf Guthfrithson. He was force...

William II, king of England

(Encyclopedia)William II or William Rufus ro͞oˈfus [key], d. 1100, king of England (1087–1100), son and successor of William I. He was called William Rufus or William the Red because of his ruddy complexion. Hi...

Siward

(Encyclopedia)Siward syo͞oˈərd [key], d. 1055, earl of Northumbria. A Danish warrior, he probably came to England with King Canute. At the behest of King Harthacanute in 1041 he ravaged Worcestershire and perhap...

Haley, Alex

(Encyclopedia)Haley, Alex (Alexander Murray Palmer Haley), 1921–92, American writer, b. Ithaca, N.Y. Haley was for a time one of the most famous writers in the United States as the author of Roots: The Saga of an...

National Institute of Standards and Technology

(Encyclopedia)National Institute of Standards and Technology, governmental agency within the U.S. Dept. of Commerce with the mission of “working with industry to develop and apply technology, measurements, and st...

Storey, David

(Encyclopedia)Storey, David (David Malcolm Storey), 1933–, English novelist and playwright, b. Wakefield, Yorkshire. His first novel, This Sporting Life (1960), was a disguised autobiography about the brutalizati...