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Andronicus I

(Encyclopedia)Andronicus I (Andronicus Comnenus) ăndrənīˈkəs kŏmnēˈnəs [key], 1120?–1185, Byzantine emperor (1183–85), nephew of John II. He acceded to the throne by strangling his cousin Alexius II. T...

Ishmael

(Encyclopedia)Ishmael ĭshˈmāĕl [key] [Heb.,=God hears], in the Bible. 1 Son of Abraham and Hagar; ancestor of 12 tribes in N Arabia. Through Sara's jealousy he and his mother were sent into the desert, where th...

Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Jacob jāˈkəb [key], in the Bible, ancestor of the Hebrews, the younger of Isaac and Rebecca's twin sons; the older was Esau. In exchange for a bowl of lentil soup, Jacob obtained Esau's birthright ...

Harmon, Judson

(Encyclopedia)Harmon, Judson, 1846–1927, U.S. Attorney General and governor of Ohio, b. Newton, Ohio. He was a lawyer and a judge in Cincinnati for many years and served (1895–97) ably as U.S. Attorney General ...

Wilson, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Benjamin, 1721–88, English portrait painter and electrician who opposed Benjamin Franklin's theory of positive and negative electricity. Instead, Wilson supported Newton's gravitational-opti...

Acton

(Encyclopedia)Acton, town (2020 pop. 24,021), Middlesex co., E Mass., NW of Boston; settled c.1680, inc. 1735. Among its manufactures are electrical machinery, chemicals, prefabricated houses, and preci...

Copernican system

(Encyclopedia)Copernican system, first modern European theory of planetary motion that was heliocentric, i.e., that placed the sun motionless at the center of the solar system with all the planets, including the ea...

Smith, Hoke

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Hoke, 1855–1931, American political leader, b. Newton, N.C. A successful lawyer in Atlanta, he acquired the Atlanta Journal in 1887. He served (1893–96) in President Cleveland's cabinet as ...

Converse, Frederick Shepherd

(Encyclopedia)Converse, Frederick Shepherd kŏnˈvûrs [key], 1871–1940, American composer, b. Newton, Mass., studied with J. K. Paine and G. W. Chadwick and in Germany with Rheinberger. His Pipe of Desire (Bosto...

Moivre, Abraham de

(Encyclopedia)Moivre, Abraham de äbrä-ämˈdə mwäˈvrə [key], 1667–1754, French-English mathematician. He fled to England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. He was called upon by the Royal Society ...