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Kennedy, Robert Francis

(Encyclopedia)Kennedy, Robert Francis, 1925–68, American politician, U.S. Attorney General (1961–64), b. Brookline, Mass., younger brother of President John F. Kennedy and son of Joseph P. Kennedy. A graduate o...

Cheng Ho

(Encyclopedia)Cheng Ho or Zheng He both: jŭngˈ ho͝oˈ [key], 1371–c.1433, admiral, diplomat, and explorer during China's Ming dynasty. At 10 he was captured by Chinese troops in Yunnan, castrated, and sent int...

Whitney Museum of American Art

(Encyclopedia)Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York City, founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney with a core group of 700 artworks, many from her own collection. The museum was an outgrowth of the Whi...

Provisions of Oxford

(Encyclopedia)Provisions of Oxford, 1258, a scheme of governmental reform forced upon Henry III of England by his barons. In 1258 a group of barons, angered by the king's Sicilian adventure and the expenditures it ...

Coligny, Gaspard de Châtillon, comte de

(Encyclopedia)Coligny, Gaspard de Châtillon, comte de gäspärˈ də shätēyôNˈ kôNt də kōlēnyēˈ [key], 1519–72, French Protestant leader. A nephew of Anne, duc de Montmorency, he came to the French cou...

Monet, Claude

(Encyclopedia)Monet, Claude klōd mônāˈ [key], 1840–1926, French landscape painter, b. Paris. Monet was a founder of impressionism. He adhered to its principles throughout his long career and is considered the...

Priestley, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Priestley, Joseph, 1733–1804, English theologian and scientist. He prepared for the Presbyterian ministry and served several churches in England as pastor but gradually rejected orthodox Calvinism a...

shrew

(Encyclopedia)shrew, common name for the small, insectivorous mammals of the family Soricidae, related to the moles. Shrews include the smallest mammals; the smallest shrews are under 2 in. (5.1 cm) long, excluding...

Epiphany

(Encyclopedia)Epiphany ĭpĭfˈənē [key] [Gr.,=showing], a prime Christian feast, celebrated Jan. 6, called also Twelfth Day or Little Christmas. Its eve is Twelfth Night. It commemorates three events—the bapti...

White, Ellen Gould (Harmon)

(Encyclopedia)White, Ellen Gould (Harmon), 1827–1915, leader of the Seventh-day Adventists, b. Gorham, Maine. Converted at the age of 15 to the beliefs of the Adventists, she began to receive visions accepted as ...
 

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