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Pillow, Gideon Johnson

(Encyclopedia)Pillow, Gideon Johnson, 1806–78, American general, b. Williamson co., Tenn. In the Mexican War he was appointed brigadier general of Tennessee volunteers by his former law partner, President James K...

Lady of the Lake

(Encyclopedia)Lady of the Lake, in Arthurian legend, a misty, supernatural figure endowed with magic powers, who gave the sword Excalibur to King Arthur. She inhabited a castle in an underwater kingdom. According t...

Johnson, Hugh Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Hugh Samuel, 1882–1942, American army officer, government administrator, b. Fort Scott, Kans. After graduation (1903) from West Point, he entered the U.S. army as a second lieutenant. In Wo...

Conscience, Hendrik

(Encyclopedia)Conscience, Hendrik hĕnˈdrĭk kôNsēäNsˈ [key], 1812–83, Flemish novelist, a founder of modern Flemish literature. His many historical novels were romantic but powerful, in the tradition of Sco...

photoengraving

(Encyclopedia)photoengraving, photomechanical process in the graphic arts, used principally for reproducing illustrations. The subject is photographed, and the image is recorded on a sensitized metal plate, which i...

croup

(Encyclopedia)croup kro͞op [key], acute obstructive laryngitis in young children, usually between the ages of three and six. The manifestations are a high-pitched cough and difficulty in breathing, owing to a spas...

Kunstler, William Moses

(Encyclopedia)Kunstler, William Moses, 1919–95, American lawyer, b. New York City, grad. Yale (1941), Columbia law school (1948). Flamboyant and often brilliant, Kunstler defended the unpopular and unfailingly su...

electroscope

(Encyclopedia)electroscope, device for detecting electric charge invented by Nollet in 1748. There are various types of electroscopes. The most common has a cylindrical metal case closed by two round, flat, glass f...

Robsart, Amy

(Encyclopedia)Robsart, Amy rŏbˈsärt [key], 1532–60, maiden name of the wife of Robert Dudley, later earl of Leicester, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth I of England. When Lady Dudley was found dead at the foot of...

Porteous, John

(Encyclopedia)Porteous, John pôrˈtēəs [key], d. 1736, British soldier. He was captain of the Edinburgh town guard at the execution (1736) of Andrew Wilson, a smuggler. When the crowd, which was sympathetic to W...
 

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