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Calypso
Calypso , nymph, daughter of Atlas, in Homer's Odyssey. She lived on the island of Ogygia and there entertained Odysseus for seven years. Although she offered to make him immortal if he would remain, Odysseus spurned the offer and continued his journey.
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Calypso
Calypso , nymph, daughter of Atlas, in Homer's Odyssey. She lived on the island of Ogygia and there entertained Odysseus for seven years. Although she offered to make him immortal if he would remain, Odysseus spurned the offer and continued his journey.
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Edith Piaf
Edith Piaf , 1915-63, French cabaret singer, born as Edith Giovanna Gassion. She began to sing at 15 in cafés and in the streets of Paris and was soon engaged to sing in a cabaret. Fame quickly followed her appearances in nightclubs all over Europe and America. Piaf appeared in several movies...
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Mary Astell
Mary Astell , 1666-1731, English author and feminist. Her Serious Proposal to the Ladies (2 parts, 1694-97) offered a scheme for a women's college, an idea far in advance of the time. The project was not realized, and her ideas were ridiculed in the Tatler, possibly by Swift and Addison.
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Barabbas
Barabbas [Aram.,=son of the father], bandit held in jail at the time of Jesus' arrest. Pontius Pilate, who, according to the Gospels, annually released a prisoner at Passover, offered to release Jesus, but the people demanded his death and Barabbas' delivery.
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brownie
brownie in Celtic folklore, household spirit associated with farmsteads. Brownies help with chores, but, if criticized, they will make mischief, such as spoiling crops. If payment other than food is offered a brownie, he vanishes from a farm forever.
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Alexander John Forsyth
Alexander John Forsyth , 1769-1843, Scottish inventor. He invented in 1807 the first workable percussion cap for the ignition of gunpowder in firearms. Forsyth refused an offer from Napoleon of £20,000 for the secret and was later pensioned by the British government.
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Henry Peacham
Henry Peacham 1576?-1643?, English author, b. Hertfordshire, educated at Cambridge. The Compleat Gentleman (1622), his best-known work, offers his formula for the ideal Englishman. Among his other writings is a treatise on art, The Gentleman's Exercise (1607).
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Salome
Salome , in the New Testament. 1 Daughter of Herod Philip and Herodias. She is generally supposed to be the daughter who danced to obtain the head of John the Baptist. 2 One of the women who ministered to Jesus, who beheld his crucifixion, and who brought offerings to his tomb. Many identify her...
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motel
motel public lodging establishment for automobile travelers. Motels have traditionally differed from hotels in that the former have facilities for free parking on the premises, are seldom more than three stories high, and offer occupants direct access to rooms without having to pass through a lobby...
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