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Gates, Robert Michael

(Encyclopedia)Gates, Robert Michael, 1943–, American government official, U.S. secretary of defense (2006–11), b. Wichita, Kans. A circumspect and pragmatic career intelligence officer, he joined (1966) the Cen...

Williams, Ephraim

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Ephraim, 1715–55, American soldier, founder of Williams College, b. Newton, Mass. After several years as a sailor, he lived in Massachusetts and took part in defending the frontier against...

Gibbons, Grinling

(Encyclopedia)Gibbons, Grinling, 1648–1721, English wood carver and sculptor, b. Rotterdam. From the reign of Charles II to that of George I he was master wood carver to the crown. Sir Christopher Wren employed h...

Everest, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Everest, Mount ĕvˈərĭst, ĕvˈrəst [key], peak, 29,032 ft (8,849 m) high (as officially recognized by China and Nepal; rock height only, 29,016 ft/8,844 m), on the border of Tibet and Nepal, in t...

Harrow, borough, Greater London, England

(Encyclopedia)Harrow, outer borough of Greater London, SE England. For centuries Harrow grew foodstuffs for London. It is mainly residential and contains parts of the...

Williams, Shirley Vivien Teresa Brittain, Baroness Williams of Crosby

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Shirley Vivien Teresa Brittain, Baroness Williams of Crosby 1930–, British politician. Daughter of the political scientist and philosopher Sir George Catlin and the novelist Vera Brittain,...

Carteret, Philip

(Encyclopedia)Carteret, Philip, 1639–82, first colonial governor of New Jersey. Carteret, commissioned by the proprietor, Sir George Carteret, his fourth cousin, arrived in the province in 1665. He soon faced dis...

Hawksmoor, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Hawksmoor, Nicholas, 1661–1736, English architect involved in the development of most of the great buildings of the English baroque. From the age of 21 he assisted Sir Christopher Wren in the design...

Powell, Jerome Hayden

(Encyclopedia)Powell, Jerome Hayden, 1953–, U.S. investment banker and government official, b. Washington, D.C., A.B. Princeton, 1975, J.D. Georgetown Univ., 1979. He worked with New York law firms and in investm...

Baring

(Encyclopedia)Baring bârˈĭng [key], British family of bankers. Sir Francis Baring (1740–1810) founded (1763) the John and Francis Baring Company, which he renamed Baring Brothers and Company in 1806. At first ...