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La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur de

(Encyclopedia)La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur de rōbĕrˈ kävəlyāˈ syör də lä sälˈ [key], 1643–87, French explorer in North America, one of the most celebrated explorers and builders of New France. He ...

Bugeaud de la Piconnerie, Thomas Robert

(Encyclopedia)Bugeaud de la Piconnerie, Thomas Robert tōmäˈ rōbĕrˈ büzhōˈ də lä pēkōnərēˈ [key], 1784–1849, marshal of France, duc d'Isly, general and administrator in Algeria. He served in the ar...

Sunderland, Robert Spencer, 2d earl of

(Encyclopedia)Sunderland, Robert Spencer, 2d earl of, 1641–1702, English statesman. He succeeded to the earldom in 1643. During the reign of Charles II he served on various diplomatic missions and in 1679 was mad...

rat

(Encyclopedia)rat, name applied to various stout-bodied rodents, usually having a pointed muzzle, long slender tail, and dexterous forepaws. It refers particularly to the two species of house rat, Rattus norvegicus...

Doulton ware

(Encyclopedia)Doulton ware dōlˈtən [key], English pottery produced at Lambeth after 1815, first by John Doulton and his partners, then by his descendants. It won the medal at the Exhibition of 1851 and more than...

lignite

(Encyclopedia)lignite lĭgˈnīt [key] or brown coal, carbonaceous fuel intermediate between coal and peat, brown or yellowish in color and woody in texture. It contains more moisture than coal and tends to dry and...

garnet

(Encyclopedia)garnet, name applied to a group of isomorphic minerals crystallizing in the cubic system. They are used chiefly as gems and as abrasives (as in garnet paper). The garnets are double silicates; one of ...

Stephenson, George

(Encyclopedia)Stephenson, George, 1781–1848, British engineer, noted as a locomotive builder. He learned to read and write in night school at the age of 18, while working in a colliery. He constructed (1814) a tr...

failed star

(Encyclopedia)failed star: see brown dwarf.

Hayes, Helen

(Encyclopedia)Hayes, Helen, 1900–1993, American actress, b. Washington, D.C., as Helen Hayes Brown. She made her New York stage debut at the age of nine. Performances in Caesar and Cleopatra (1925), and Mary of S...