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Leopold von Ranke
Leopold von Ranke , 1795-1886, German historian, generally recognized as the father of the modern objective historical school. He applied and elaborated Barthold Niebuhr 's scientific method of historical investigation. Ranke's aim was to reconstruct the unique periods of the past as they actually ...
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Damocles
Damocles , in classical mythology, courtier at the court of Dionysius I. He so persistently praised the power and happiness of Dionysius that the tyrant, in order to show the precariousness of rank and power, gave a banquet and had a sword suspended above the head of Damocles by a single hair. Hence...
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Oscar Osorio
Oscar Osorio , 1910-69, president of El Salvador (1950-56). A peasant farmer, he joined the army and rose to the rank of major. As a member of the junta that seized power in 1948, he served as provisional executive until his election in 1950. Under his rule, the country's first social-security legis...
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Thomas Savery
Thomas Savery c.1650-1715, English engineer. He became a military engineer, rising to the rank of captain by 1702. He spent his free time performing experiments in mechanics, inventing such devices as a machine for polishing plate glass and a contrivance employing paddle wheels to move becalmed shi...
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Natchez
Natchez , indigenous North American people who lived along St. Catherine's Creek east of the present-day city of Natchez in Mississippi. At the time of contact with the French in 1682, they numbered about 4,000 and were the most powerful chiefdom on the lower Mississippi. Typical of the Mississippia...
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taxon
taxon (pl. taxa), in biology, a term used to denote any group or rank in the classification of organisms, e.g., class, order, family.
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boyars
boyars , upper nobility in Russia from the 10th through the 17th cent. The boyars originally obtained influence and government posts through their military support of the Kievan princes. Their power and prestige, however, soon came to depend almost completely on landownership. The boyars occupied th...
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Richard Burton
Richard Burton 1925-84, British actor, b. Pontrhydfen, Wales; his original name was Richard Jenkins. A dark, introspective actor with a splendid speaking voice, Burton specialized in portraying conflicted, frequently tormented, men. He appeared with the Old Vic in Henry V and Othello and on Bro...
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George Clinton
George Clinton c.1686-1761, colonial governor of New York (1743-53), b. England; father of Sir Henry Clinton . He entered (1708) the British navy and rose to the rank of admiral in 1747. Through family connections, Clinton was appointed (1741) governor of New York and arrived in the colony in 1743...
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Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors (James Scott Connors, Jr.), 1952-, American tennis player, b. East St. Louis, Ill. A volatile, controversial, and fiercely competitive player, Connors was known for his theatrical conduct on the court as well as for his powerful two-handed backhand, strong return of service, accurate ...
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