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Benchley, Robert Charles

(Encyclopedia)Benchley, Robert Charles, 1889–1945, American humorist, b. Worcester, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1912. He was drama critic of Life (1920–29) and of the New Yorker (1929–40). Benchley was known for a ...

Actium

(Encyclopedia)Actium ăkˈtēəm, –shē– [key], promontory, NW Acarnania, Greece, at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. There are vestiges of several temples and an ancient town. At Actium was fought the naval ba...

Ostia

(Encyclopedia)Ostia ŏsˈtēə [key], ancient city of Italy, originally at the mouth of the Tiber but now inland as the Tiber delta has grown. It was founded (4th cent. b.c.) as a protection for Rome, then develope...

Dahlmann, Friedrich Christoph

(Encyclopedia)Dahlmann, Friedrich Christoph frēˈdrĭkh krĭsˈtôf dälˈmän [key], 1785–1860, German historian. He was dismissed from his professorship at Göttingen for protesting (1837) the abrogation of th...

Verrius Flaccus, Marcus

(Encyclopedia)Verrius Flaccus, Marcus märˈkəs vĕrˈēəs flăkˈəs [key], fl. 20 b.c., Roman grammarian. A freedman, he was appointed by Augustus to educate his grandsons and died at an advanced age during the...

Bethsaida

(Encyclopedia)Bethsaida bĕth-sāˈĭdə [key] [Heb.,=house of the fisher], in the Gospels, birthplace of Jesus' disciples Peter, Andrew, and Philip. Herod Philip (4 b.c.–a.d. 33) is said to have renamed it Julia...

Hanover, former kingdom and province, Germany

(Encyclopedia)Hanover hănˈōvər [key], Ger. Hannover, former independent kingdom and former province of Germany; Lower Saxony, NW Germany. Very irregular in outline, Hanover stretched from the Dutch border and t...

Ruggles, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Ruggles, Carl, 1876–1971, American composer, b. Marion, Mass. Ruggles studied music at Harvard and was a friend of Charles Ives. His works are highly original, characterized by complex textures and ...

Castle Pinckney

(Encyclopedia)Castle Pinckney, fortification on Shutes Folly, an island in the harbor of Charleston, S.C.; built in 1797, when war with France seemed imminent; named for the American diplomat Charles Cotesworth Pin...

Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2d marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Rockingham, Charles Watson-Wentworth, 2d marquess of rŏkˈĭng-əm [key], 1730–82, British statesman. In the early years of the reign of George III he became a leading opponent of the “king's fri...
 

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