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Wynkyn de Worde

(Encyclopedia)Wynkyn de Worde wĭngˈkĭn də wôrd, wûrd [key], d. 1535, English printer, whose original name was Jan van Wynkyn. He was born at Wörth in Alsace and probably accompanied William Caxton to England...

Gore, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Gore, Charles, 1853–1932, English prelate and theologian. As the first principal (1884–93) of Pusey House, a theological center at Oxford, he was a leading figure in the High Church movement (see ...

Richardson, Lewis Fry

(Encyclopedia)Richardson, Lewis Fry, 1881–1953, British physicist and pioneering meteorologist, grad. Cambridge (1903), Univ. of London (B.Sc. 1929). Richardson worked at the National Physical Laboratory (1902–...

Maundy Thursday

(Encyclopedia)Maundy Thursday mônˈdē [key] [Lat. mandatum, word in the ceremony], traditional English name for Thursday of Holy Week, so named because it is considered the anniversary of the institution of the E...

Prior, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Prior, Matthew, 1664–1721, English poet and diplomat, b. Wimborne, Dorset. With his appointment as secretary to the embassy at The Hague during the negotiations leading to the Treaty of Ryswick (169...

Saint-Évremond, Charles de Marguetel de Saint-Denis de

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Évremond, Charles de Marguetel de Saint-Denis de shärl də märgətĕlˈ də săN-dənēˈ də săNtāvrəmôNˈ [key], 1616?–1703, French critic, writer, and soldier. He served under Condé...

coronation

(Encyclopedia)coronation, ceremony of crowning and anointing a sovereign on his or her accession to the throne. Although a public ceremony inaugurating a new king or chief had long existed, a new religious service ...

nullity of marriage

(Encyclopedia)nullity of marriage, in law, an unlawful marriage that is either void or voidable because of conditions existing at the time of the marriage. A bigamous or incestuous marriage, for example, is void, a...

Plessy v. Ferguson

(Encyclopedia)Plessy v. Ferguson, case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. The court upheld an 1890 Louisiana statute mandating racially segregated but equal railroad carriages, ruling that the equal protect...

primogeniture

(Encyclopedia)primogeniture, in law, the rule of inheritance whereby land descends to the oldest son. Under the feudal system of medieval Europe, primogeniture generally governed the inheritance of land held in mil...