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Smith, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Joseph, 1805–44, American Mormon leader, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, b. Sharon, Vt. When he was a boy his family moved to Palmyra, N.Y., where he experienc...

Bergman, Ingmar

(Encyclopedia)Bergman, Ingmar (Ernst Ingmar Bergman) ĕrnst ĭngˈmär bĕrˈyəmän [key], 1918–2007, Swedish film and stage writer, director, and producer. Acclaimed by many as the greatest director of the seco...

Perry, Matthew Calbraith

(Encyclopedia)Perry, Matthew Calbraith, 1794–1858, American naval officer, b. South Kingstown, R.I.; brother of Oliver Hazard Perry. Appointed a midshipman in 1809, he first served under his brother on the Reveng...

Iran-contra affair

(Encyclopedia)Iran-contra affair, in U.S. history, secret arrangement in the 1980s to provide funds to the Nicaraguan contra rebels from profits gained by selling arms to Iran. The Iran-contra affair was the produc...

Brandeis, Louis Dembitz

(Encyclopedia)Brandeis, Louis Dembitz brănˈdīs [key], 1856–1941, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1916–39), b. Louisville, Ky., grad. Harvard law school, 1877. As a successful Boston lawyer (1879...

Providence

(Encyclopedia)Providence, city (1990 pop. 160,728), state capital and seat of Providence co., NE R.I., a port at the head of Providence Bay; founded by Roger Williams 1636, inc. as a city 1832. The largest city in ...

Donne, John

(Encyclopedia)Donne, John dŭn, dŏn [key], 1572–1631, English poet and divine. He is considered the greatest of the metaphysical poets. All of Donne's verse—his love sonnets and his religious and philosophic...

Mbeki, Thabo Mvuyelwa

(Encyclopedia)Mbeki, Thabo Mvuyelwa täˈbō mvo͝oyĕlˈə mbĕkˈē [key], 1942–, South African political leader. Mbeki was born into a politically active family; his father, Govan Mbeki, an official with the A...

Brook, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Brook, Peter, 1925–, English theatrical director, b. London, grad. Oxford (1943). An innovative, unconventional, and controversial figure, Brook mounts energetic productions in which the entire stag...

Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st earl of, 1621–83, English statesman. In the English civil war he supported the crown until 1644 but then joined the parliamentarians. He was made a member of ...