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Franklin, William

(Encyclopedia)Franklin, William, c.1730–1813, last royal governor of New Jersey; illegitimate son of Benjamin Franklin. He grew up in Philadelphia, served in King George's War, and was (1754–56) comptroller of ...

Independents

(Encyclopedia)Independents, in religion, those bodies of Christians who claim freedom from ecclesiastical and civil authority for their individual churches. They hold that each congregation should have control of i...

Gracián, Baltasar

(Encyclopedia)Gracián, Baltasar bältäsärˈ gräthyänˈ [key], 1601–58, Spanish Jesuit philosopher and writer. A scholar, satirist, and epigrammatist, Gracián frequently ran afoul of Jesuit authority. El hé...

O'Neill, Owen Roe

(Encyclopedia)O'Neill, Owen Roe, 1590?–1649, Irish chieftain. Nephew of Hugh O'Neill, 2d earl of Tyrone, he left Ireland after the “flight of the earls” in 1607 and spent 30 years in the Spanish army, serving...

Otto I, king of Greece

(Encyclopedia)Otto I, 1815–67, first king of the Hellenes (1833–62). The second son of King Louis I of Bavaria, he was chosen (1832) by a conference of European powers at London to rule newly independent Greece...

Orsay, Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, count d'

(Encyclopedia)Orsay, Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, count d' älfrĕdˈ gēyōmˈ gäbrēĕlˈ, dôrsāˈ [key], 1801–52, French dandy. The son of a Bonapartist general, he went to England in 1821, where he met Margue...

Mahan, Dennis Hart

(Encyclopedia)Mahan, Dennis Hart, 1802–71, American soldier and educator, b. New York City; father of Alfred Thayer Mahan. He graduated (1824) from West Point, and from that year until 1871, except for four years...

Khama III

(Encyclopedia)Khama III käˈmä [key], d. 1923?, chief of the Ngwato people of Bechuanaland (now Botswana) from 1875 until his death; grandfather of Sir Seretse Khama. To counter threats from neighboring Africans ...

Lucifer

(Encyclopedia)Lucifer lo͞oˈsĭfər [key] [Lat.,=light-bearing], in Christian tradition a name for Satan. In the Vulgate, Lucifer served as a translation of the Hebrew epithet meaning “Day Star,” a name associ...

Praetorians

(Encyclopedia)Praetorians prētôrˈēənz [key], bodyguard of the ancient Roman emperors. Growing out of an early troop that served as bodyguard to the general commanding in Rome, they were formally organized in t...