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Alabama claims

(Encyclopedia)Alabama claims, claims made by the U.S. government against Great Britain for the damage inflicted on Northern merchant ships during the American Civil War by the Alabama and other Confederate cruisers...

William II, king of England

(Encyclopedia)William II or William Rufus ro͞oˈfus [key], d. 1100, king of England (1087–1100), son and successor of William I. He was called William Rufus or William the Red because of his ruddy complexion. Hi...

Langland, William

(Encyclopedia)Langland, William, c.1332–c.1400, putative author of Piers Plowman. He was born probably at Ledbury near the Welsh marshes and may have gone to school at Great Malvern Priory. Although he took minor...

Ladd, William

(Encyclopedia)Ladd, William, 1778–1841, American pacifist, b. Exeter, N.H., grad. Harvard, 1797. He commanded sailing vessels until the outbreak of the War of 1812, when he retired to a farm in Maine. In 1820 he ...

Laud, William

(Encyclopedia)Laud, William, 1573–1645, archbishop of Canterbury (1633–45). He studied at St. John's College, Oxford, and was ordained a priest in 1601. From the beginning Laud showed his hostility to Puritanis...

Law, William

(Encyclopedia)Law, William, 1686–1761, English clergyman, noted for his controversial, devotional, and mystical writings. One of the nonjurors, Law was deprived of his fellowship in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, a...

Keith, William

(Encyclopedia)Keith, William, 1838–1911, American painter, b. Scotland. In 1851 he came to New York City, where he learned wood engraving and did illustrations for Harper's Weekly. He moved to San Francisco in 18...

Kennedy, William

(Encyclopedia)Kennedy, William, 1928–, American novelist, b. Albany, N.Y., grad. Siena College, 1949. Brought up in Albany, he worked as a journalist from 1949 to 1970, and began to concentrate on writing fiction...

Kent, William

(Encyclopedia)Kent, William, 1685–1748, English landscape gardener, architect, and painter. A minor painter, Kent made ceiling decorations for Kensington Palace. He greatly influenced landscape gardening by chang...

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