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Declaration of Independence

(Encyclopedia)Declaration of Independence, full and formal declaration adopted July 4, 1776, by representatives of the Thirteen Colonies in North America announcing the separation of those colonies from Great Brita...

Tweed, William Marcy

(Encyclopedia)Tweed, William Marcy, 1823–78, American politician and Tammany leader, b. New York City. A bookkeeper, he became (1848) a volunteer fireman and as a result acquired influence in his ward. He was an ...

Walton, Sir William Turner

(Encyclopedia)Walton, Sir William Turner, 1902–83, English composer, b. Oldham. Walton studied at Oxford. One of his earliest works was a piano quartet (1918–19). In 1923, Façade, satirical poems by Edith Sitw...

Henderson, Richard, American colonizer in Kentucky

(Encyclopedia)Henderson, Richard, 1735–85, American colonizer in Kentucky, b. Hanover co., Va. An associate justice of the North Carolina superior court (1769–73), Henderson was long interested in Western lands...

Cumberland, Richard, 1631–1718, English philosopher

(Encyclopedia)Cumberland, Richard, 1631–1718, English philosopher. He was bishop of Peterborough from 1691. In his De legibus naturae [on natural laws] (1672) he first propounded the doctrine of utilitarianism an...

Cumberland, Richard, 1732–1811, English dramatist

(Encyclopedia)Cumberland, Richard, 1732–1811, English dramatist; great-grandson of the 17th-century philosopher Richard Cumberland. His family connections earned him a clerical position with the British board of ...

King, William Lyon Mackenzie

(Encyclopedia)King, William Lyon Mackenzie, 1874–1950, Canadian political leader, b. Kitchener, Ont.; grandson of William Lyon Mackenzie. An expert on labor questions, he served in Wilfrid Laurier's Liberal admin...

Burlington, Richard Boyle, 3d earl of

(Encyclopedia)Burlington, Richard Boyle, 3d earl of, 1694–1753, English patron and architect of the Neo-Palladian movement. Even before age 21, when he became a member of the Privy Council and Lord High Treasurer...

Sackville, Thomas, 1st earl of Dorset

(Encyclopedia)Sackville, Thomas, 1st earl of Dorset, 1536–1608, English statesman and poet. A barrister of the Inner Temple, Sackville entered Parliament in 1558, gained favor with Elizabeth I, and was created Ba...

Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck

(Encyclopedia)Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck, 1836–1911, English playwright and poet. He won fame as the librettist of numerous popular operettas, written in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. Wh...