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George Barker
George Barker (George Granville Barker), 1913-91, English poet, b. Essex, England. He has taught in Japan and the United States as well as in England. His highly dramatic poems, often concerned with themes of remorse and pain, led critics to place him—perhaps misleadingly—among the "N...
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blood count
blood count method for determining the number of red (erythrocytes) and white (leukocytes) blood cells in a certain volume of blood. This test can be used as a preliminary step in diagnosing some diseases. Leukemia, for instance, causes an increase in the white blood cell count, while a decrease in...
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Jean le Rond d' Alembert
Jean le Rond d' Alembert , 1717-83, French mathematician and philosopher. The illegitimate son of the chevalier Destouches, he was named for the St. Jean le Rond church, on whose steps he was found. His father had him educated. Diderot made him coeditor of the Encyclopédie , for which he wro...
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indictment
indictment , in criminal law , formal written accusation naming specific persons and crimes. Persons suspected of crime may be rendered liable to trial by indictment, by presentment, or by information. An indictment is issued by a grand jury when the jury's investigation is initiated by the publi...
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lawrencium
lawrencium artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Lr; at. no. 103; mass number of most stable isotope 262; m.p. about 1,627°C; b.p. and sp. gr. unknown; valence +3. Lawrencium is the last member of the actinide series of elements found in Group 3 of the periodic table . L...
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Second Council of Lyons
Second Council of Lyons 1274, 14th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. It was summoned by Pope Gregory X to discuss problems in the Holy Land, to remove the schism of East and West, and to reform the church. The reunion of Constantinople and Rome had been proposed by the Byzantine em...
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ostracism
ostracism , ancient Athenian method of banishing a public figure. It was introduced after the fall of the family of Pisistratus . Each year the assembly took a preliminary vote to decide whether a vote of ostracism should be held. If a majority approved holding an ostracism, a day was set for the v...
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Sir Henry Raeburn
Sir Henry Raeburn , 1756-1823, Scottish portrait painter, b. near Edinburgh. He was apprenticed to a goldsmith at 15 and he showed considerable talent. In 1784 he went to London and there met Reynolds, who greatly influenced him. After living for two years in Italy, where he developed his virtuoso b...
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Emancipation Proclamation
Emancipation Proclamation in U.S. history, the executive order abolishing slavery in the Confederate States of America.
Desire for Such a Proclamation
In the early part of the Civil War, President Lincoln refrained from issuing an edict freeing the slaves despite the insistent urgings of ...
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William Cranch Bond
William Cranch Bond 1789-1859, American astronomer, b. Portland, Maine. He early aided his father in the trades of silversmith and clockmaker in Boston. He soon became an expert in the making of chronometers and by 1812 was fashioning most of the superior ones used by ships sailing out of Boston. H...
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