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Long Island, battle of

(Encyclopedia) Long Island, battle of, Aug. 27, 1776, American defeat in the American Revolution. To protect New York City and the lower Hudson valley from the British forces massed on Staten Island…

Hewlett, William Redington

(Encyclopedia) Hewlett, William RedingtonHewlett, William Redingtonhy&oomacr;ˈlĭt [key], 1913–2001, American engineer and business executive, b. Ann Arbor, Mich., grad. Stanford (B.S. 1934,…

Sunderland, Robert Spencer, 2d earl of

(Encyclopedia) Sunderland, Robert Spencer, 2d earl of, 1641–1702, English statesman. He succeeded to the earldom in 1643. During the reign of Charles II he served on various diplomatic missions and…

Grand Alliance, War of the

(Encyclopedia) Grand Alliance, War of the, 1688–97, war between France and a coalition of European powers, known as the League of Augsburg (and, after 1689, as the Grand Alliance). Louis XIV of…

Burroughs, William Seward

(Encyclopedia) Burroughs, William Seward, 1914–97, American novelist, b. St. Louis, grad. Harvard, 1936, moved to New York City, 1943. He was an elder member of the beat generation. Junkie (1953),…

Bent's Fort

(Encyclopedia) Bent's Fort, trading post of the American West, on the Arkansas River in present-day SE Colorado, E of Rocky Ford and La Junta and several miles above the mouth of the Purgatoire. The…

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

The premier prize for American fiction The Pulitzer Prize for fiction, first given in 1918, is widely recognized as one of the biggest prizes in the American publishing industry. Before 1948, the…

Herschel

(Encyclopedia) HerschelHerschelhûrˈshəl [key], family of distinguished English astronomers. Sir William Herschel,Sir William Herschel, 1738–1822, born Friedrich Wilhelm Herschel, was a great pioneer…

Jasper, William

(Encyclopedia) Jasper, William, c.1750–79, American Revolutionary soldier, b. South Carolina (possibly near Georgetown). He joined William Moultrie's regiment early in the Revolution (1775), was made…

Coke, Thomas William

(Encyclopedia) Coke, Thomas WilliamCoke, Thomas Williamk&oobreve;k [key], 1752–1842, English agricultural reformer. Created earl of Leicester of Holkham in 1837, he was known as Coke of Holkham.…