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The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

B. GRATZ BROWN

B Gratz Brown was an American politician. He was a Liberal Republican governor of Missouri from 1871 until 1873.
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B. K. HENAGAN

B K Henagan was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of South Carolina during 1840.
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BABE RUTH

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Babe Ruth (George Herman Ruth) was an American baseball player. He was born in 1895 and died in 1948. He started his career as a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox, but is best known for his batting, regularly driving balls out of the park, and in 1919 set a home run record of 29 which he broke in 1920 with 54 when playing for the New York Yankees. In 1927 he set another season record of 60 home runs. By the time he retired in 1935 he had set a record of 714 home runs, which stood until it was beaten in 1974 by Hank Aaron.
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BABER

Baber was the founder of the Mogul dynasty which ruled northern India for 300 years. He was born in 1483 and died in 1530. He was a grandson of the great Tartar prince Timur or Tamerlane, and was sovereign of Kabul. He several times invaded Hindustan, and in 1525 finally overthrew and killed Sultan Ibrahim, the last Hindu emperor of the Patan or Afghan race. He made many improvements, social and political, in his empire, and left a valuable autobiography.
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BABI

The Babi are a Persian religious sect formed in 1843 by Bab Ed Din.
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BABRIUS

Babrius was a Greek poet who lived during the second or third century of the Christian era. He wrote a number of AEsopian fables. Several versions of these made during the middle ages have come down to us as AEsop's fables. In 1840 a manuscript containing 120 fables by Babrius, previously unknown, was discovered on Mount Athos.
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BABUR

Babur was the first Mogul Emperor of India. He was born in 1483 at Ferghana, Central Asia and died in 1530. He was born into a princely family of mixed Mongol and Turkish blood. Failure to recover his father's lands caused him to turn reluctantly south-east, for India seemed to present the last hope for his ambitions. Defeat of Ibrahim Lodi, the Afghan ruler of Delhi, at the battle of Panipat in 1526 initiated 200 years of strong Mogul rule in India. Having conquered much of northern India,
Babur ruled by force, lacking any civil administration. In addition to his military genius, he possessed a love of learning and wrote his own memoirs.
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BACCHYLIDES

Bacchylides was a Greek lyrical poet. He was born about the middle of the 5th century BC at the island of Cos. He was a nephew of Simonides and a contemporary of Pindar.
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BACCIO BANDINELLI

Baccio Bandinelli was Italian sculptor. He was born in 1493 at Florence and died in 1560. He was jealous of and strove to rival Michaelangelo. Among his works are a Hercules and Cacus, the dead body of Christ held up by an angel, Adam and Eve, etc.
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BACCIO D'AGNOLO

Baccio D'Agnolo was a Florentine wood-carver, sculptor, and architect. He was born in 1460 and died in 1543. He designed some of the finest palaces, etc, in Florence, such as the Villa Borghese, the Palais Bartolini, etc.
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BACHELOR

Bachelor was a term applied anciently to a person in the first or probationary stage of knighthood who has not yet raised his standard in the field. The term also denotes a person who has taken the first degree in the liberal arts and sciences, or in divinity, law, or medicine, at a college or university; or a man of any age who has not been married.
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BAGANDA

The Baganda are a group of settled farmers in Uganda. They constituted a kingdom in the 19th century, in which the king was seen as the supreme ruler who exercised his power through a system of district chiefs. The Baganda consist of fifty exogamous clans, each distinguished by totemic symbols. Originally practitioners of a form of ancestor worship, they are now predominantly Christian.
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BAGGARA

The Baggara are a Muslim Bedouin people of the Nile Basin.
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BAHA'DUR SHAH

Baha'dur Shah was the last of the Grand Moguls of India. A descendant of Tamerlane, in 1857, during the Indian mutiny, the Muslims who wished to restore the empire of the Moguls placed him, then a very old man, at the head of the movement in Delhi, but the city was soon retaken by the British, and the emperor was banished to Rangoon, where he died in 1862.
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BAHMANI

The Bahmani were a dynasty of sultans of the Deccan plateau in central India from 1347 to 1518. The dynasty was founded by Ala-ud-din Bahman Shah, who in 1347 rebelled against his Delhi suzerain. His successors expanded over the west-central Deccan, reaching a peak in the late 15th century under Mahmud Gawan, who successfully held encroaching Hindu and Muslim powers at bay. During the early 16th century the Hindu empire of Vijayanagar to the south expanded at the Bahmanis' expense, and between 1490 and 1518 the sultanate gradually dissolved into five successor Muslim states, Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Golconda, Berar, and Bidar.
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BAJAZET I

Bajazet I (Bayasid I) was a Turkish emperor. In 1389, having strangled his brother Jacob, succeeded his father Murad or Amurath, who fell in the battle of Cassova against the Serbians. From the rapidity of his conquests he received the name of Ilderim, the Lightning. In three years he subjected Bulgaria, part of Serbia, Macedonia, Thessaly, and the states of Asia Minor, and besieged Constantinople (Istanbul) for ten years, defeating Sigismund and the allied Hungarians, Poles, and French, in 1395. The attack of Timur (Tamerlane) on Natolia, in 1400, saved the Greek Empire, Bajazet being defeated and taken prisoner by him near Ancyra, Galatia, 1402. The story of his being carried about in a cage by Timur is improbable; but Bajazet died in 1409, in Timur's camp, in Caramania. His successor was Soilman I.
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BAJAZET II

Bajazet II was a Turkish emperor, He succeeded his father, Mohammed II, as sultan of the Turks, in 1481. He increased the Turkish Empire by conquests on the north-west and in the east took Lepanto, Modon, and Durazzo in a war against the Venetians, and ravaged the coasts of the Christian states on the Mediterranean, to revenge the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Having abdicated in favour of his younger son Selim he died on his way to a residence near Adrianople in 1513. He did much for the improvement of his empire and the promotion of the sciences.
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BAKALAHARI

The Bakalahari are a Bechuana tribe inhabiting the Kalahari Desert, South Africa.
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BAKER

A baker is a person who manufacturers bread.
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BAL TILAK

Bal Gangadhar Tilak was an Indian patriot. He was born in 1856 at Batnagiri and died in 1920. Born of the Brahman caste of Chitpavans, he was educated at the Deccan college, became a lawyer and in 1880 founded two newspapers, The Mahratta, printed in English and The Kesari printed in a local language. From his newspapers he attacked British occupation of India and appealed for independence. He was imprisoned by the British for sedition, and in 1908 following violent resistance among his supporters to the British occupation, he was sentenced to six years' transportation. In 1918 he went to Britain to prosecute his action against Sir Valentine Chirol claiming defamation contained in articles written by Chirol.
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BALDRED

Baldred was king of the Heptarchy in 805. He was killed by Egbert, king of Wessex in 823 who took over the kingdom of Heptarchy.
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BALDWIN I

Baldwin I was Emperor of Constantinople. He was born in 1172 and died in 1206. He was the founder of the short-lived dynasty of Latin sovereigns of the Eastern empire, and was hereditary Count of Flanders and Hainault. His courage and conduct in the fourth crusade led to his unanimous election as Emperor of the East after the capture of Constantinople by the French and Venetians in 1204. In the absence of Baldwin's brother with a large part of the army, the Greeks rose in revolt under the instigation of Joannices, King of Bulgaria. Baldwin marched on Adrianople, but was taken prisoner and died in captivity. Baldwin was succeeded by his brother Henry.

Baldwin I was the first Latin king of Jerusalem. He was born in 1058 and died in 1118. Having taken part in the first crusade with his eldest brother, Godfrey of Boulogne, he succeeded on the death of Godfrey to the government of Jerusalem in 1100.
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BALDWIN II

Baldwin II was the fifth and last Latin Emperor of Constantinople. He was born in 1217 and died in 1270. During his minority John de Brienne was regent, but on his assuming the power himself the empire fell to pieces. In 1261 Constantinople was taken by the forces of Michael Palaeologus, and Baldwin retired to Italy.

Baldwin II was king of Jersualem. He was the cousin and successor of Baldwin I, king of Jersualem, and reigned from 1118 until 1131. During his reign the reduction of Tyre and institution of the order of Templars took place.
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BALDWIN III

Baldwin III was King of Jerusalem from 1143 to 1162. He was son and successor of Foulques of Anjou, and the embodiment of the best aspects of chivalry. After defeating Noureddin in 1152, and again in 1157, he was enabled to devote himself to the hopeless task of improving the kingdom and establishing the Christian chivalry in the East. His death in 1162 was almost immediately followed by the total collapse of the kingdom.
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BALFOUR STEWART

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Balfour Stewart was a Scottish physicist. He was born in 1828 at Edinburgh and died in 1887. He was educated at St Andrews and Edinburgh. He went to Australia for several years and on his return was appointed successively assistant to Professor Forbes in Edinburgh, director of Kew Observatory, and professor of physics in Owen's College, Manchester. He wrote numerous books.
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BAMBARA

The Bambara are a Negroid people of west Africa living chiefly in Mali and by the headwaters of the River Niger in Guinea.
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BAMESSING

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The Bamessing are a tribe of Cameroon.
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BAMUM

The Bamum (Mum, Mom) are a sedentary people of West Africa centred around Foumban in Cameroon. They are primarily farmers, who conduct a little fishing and less hunting, growing chiefly maize, millet, cassava and sweet potatoes.
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BANDIT

The term bandit,from the Italian bandito, originally meant an exile, banished man, or outlaw, and hence, as persons outlawed frequently adopted the profession of brigand or highwayman, the word came to be synonymous with brigand, and was around the late 19th century applied to members of the organized gangs which then infested some districts of Italy, Sicily, Spain, Greece, and Turkey.
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BANIA

The Bania are a Hindu caste of traders (Vishnuites). They are vegetarian and distinguished by thrift and commercial acumen.
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BANIAN

A Banian, or Banyan is an Indian trader or merchant, one engaged in commerce generally, but more particularly one of the great traders of Western India, as in the seaports who traditionally carried on a large trade by means of caravans with the interior of Asia, and with Africa by vessels. They form a class of the Vaisya caste, wear a peculiar dress, and are strict in the observance of fasts and in abstaining from the use of flesh. Hence the term - Banian days which were days in which sailors in the navy had no flesh meat served out to them. Banian days were abolished before the start of the 20th century , but the term is still applied to days of poor fare.
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BANNASTRE TARLETON

Sir Bannastre Tarleton was a British soldier. He was born in 1754 and died in 1833. A colonel, he went to America from England with Charles Cornwallis in 1776. He engaged in Colonel Harcourt's raid upon Baskingridge, New Jersey. In 1779 he organized the British Legion, or Tarleton's Legion, in South Carolina, with which he conducted partisan warfare. He slaughtered Colonel Buford's regiment at Waxhaw Creek and fought bravely at Camden and Fishing Creek. He was defeated at Blackstock Hill by General Sumter and his force was almost annihilated at Cowpens by General Morgan. He surrendered with Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown. He wrote 'A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America'.
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BANNERET

A banneret is a dignity between baron and knight, which was anciently conferred by the king under the royal standard on the field of battle, a knight being so made as a reward for bravery, with the ceremony of cutting off the point of his pennon and making it into a banner.
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BANTU

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The Bantu are a wide-spread race in south Africa, which includes the Zulu, Matabele, Damaras and Mashonas. They were nicknamed Kaffirs (unbelievers) by Islamic traders to south Africa.
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BANYARWANDA

The Banyarwanda are an indigenous people of Rwanda.
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BARABINZIANS

The Barabinzians were an uncultivated tribe of Tartars, living on the banks of the river Irtish, and subsisting chiefly on the produce of their herds and on fish supplied by the lakes of the Baraba steppe.
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BARBARA ROBERTS

Barbara Roberts was an American politician. She was a Democratic governor of Oregon from 1991 until 1995.
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BARBER

A barber is someone who shaves and cuts the hair of a client for business. In England, a barber was formerly also a surgeon, and they were called Barber-Surgeons. A London company of barbers was formed in 1308. The union of barbers and surgeons was dissolved in 1540 by an act of Henry VIII which stated that; 'No person using any shaving or barbery in London shall occupy any surgery, letting of blood, or other matter, except only drawing of teeth.' And that the surgeons were not to shave or practise 'barbery,' and the barbers were to perform no higher surgical operation than blood-letting and tooth-drawing. This continued until the time of George II. The signs of the old profession - the pole which the patient grasped, its spiral decoration in imitation of the bandage, and the basin to catch the blood - are still sometimes retained. The barbers' shops, always notorious for gossip, were in some measure the news-centres of classic and mediaeval times.
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BARD

A bard was a Celtic poet.
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BARI

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The Bari are a negro people of Africa, dwelling on both sides of the White Nile. They traditionally practise agriculture, cattle-rearing, smith work, etc. Their country was conquered by Baker for Egypt.
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BARNABITES

The Barnabites were an order of monks established in Milan about 1530 who were much engaged in instructing youth, relieving the sick and aged, and converting heretics. A few monasteries of the order still existed in France and Italy at the start of the 20th century.
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BARNBURNERS

The Barnburners were a mid-19th century faction of the American Democratic Party in New York State, so called from an alleged eagerness for radical measures, in allusion to the story of the Dutchman who burned down his barn in order to clear it of rats. The election of Polk in 1844 resulted in a split of the Democratic party in New York into two factions, the Barnburners, representing the Van Buren wing and opposing the extension of slavery in the territories, and the Hunkers, representing the administration and its views. In 1848 at the democratic National Convention there were contesting delegations from New York representing the two factions. Unable to secure complete recognition, the Barnburners joined in the Free-Soil Convention, voted for Van Buren, and in so doing helped to elect Taylor. The breach between the Barnburners and the Hunkers had more or less healed by 1852.
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BARNET NEWMAN

Barnet Newman was an American painter. He was born in 1905 and died in 1970. He was a founder of Abstract Expressionism.
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BARNETT BARNATO

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Barnett Barnato was an Anglo-Jewish diamond merchant. He was born in 1852 at London and died in 1897 apparently committing suicide by jumping overboard of a ship. He went to South Africa and built a large diamond trading firm, before merging with the De Beers firm in 1888.
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BARNEY OLDFIELD

Barney Oldfield (real name Berna Eli Oldfield) was an American racing driver. He was the first person to travel one mile in one minute.
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BARON

Baron is the lowest but oldest rank of nobility in Britain. The title seems to have been used first to describe men who held grants of land direct from the Crown. By the reign of Edward I 'barony by tenure' was becoming obsolete and the title became confined to the great landowners who were summoned by the king's writ as barons to attend the Great Council, the nucleus of Parliament. In 1387 the first barony by letters patent was created, but baronies still continued to be created by writ until 1607. The only form of creation nowadays is by letters patent, although there are still some barons who hold their rank hereditarily by writ. The baron's mantle has only two bars of ermine, and his coronet has six large silver balls fixed to a silver circlet.
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BARON DE KALB

Baron de Kalb (real name Johann Kalb) was a French spy. He was born in 1731 and died in 1780. He visited America as a secret agent of the French Government in 1768. He was encouraged by Franklin and Silas Deane to join the Continental army, and accompanied Lafayette to the United States in 1777. He was appointed major-general and served under George Washington in New Jersey and Maryland. In 1780 he was despatched to South Carolina in command of the Delaware and Maryland troops. At Camden his troops defeated the opposing British force, but were subsequently surrounded and DeKalb was mortally wounded.
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BARON MUNCHHAUSEN

Baron Munchhausen was a German soldier. He was born in 1720 and died in 1797. He is remembered for telling exaggerated tales about his adventures during the campaigns he served in. He is the feature of a book, The adventures of
Baron Munchhausen written by Rudolph Raspe in 1785.
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BARONESS ORCZY

Baroness Emmusca Orczy was a Hungarian born novelist. She was born in 1865 and died in 1947. She is remembered for writing 'The Scarlet Pimpernel', which she wrote in 1905.
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BARONET

Baronet is the first in rank among the gentry, and the only knighthood that is hereditary. They were instituted by James I in 1611 as a result of the rebellion in Ulster, it being required of a baronet on his creation, to pay into the exchequer as much as would maintain 'thirty soldiers three years at eight pence a day in the province of Ulster in Ireland.' It was also required that a baronet should be a gentleman born, and have a clear estate of 1000 pounds per annum.
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BARROWISTS

The Barrowists were a religious sect following the teachings of Henry Barrows, a church reformer of the late 16th century who advocated church government by elders, and freedom of religious thought within certain limits. The Congregational Church of New England developed from the Barrowists.
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BARRY HUMPHRIES

Barry Humphries is an Australian entertainer, aesthete and novelist. He was born in 1934. He is perhaps best known for his stage alter-ego 'Dame Edna Everage'.
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BARRY PAIN

Barry Pain was an English journalist and humours author. He was born in 1867 and died in 1928. He became editor of 'To-day' in 1897. Thomas Pain was an English author and agitator. He was born in 1737 and died in 1809. He published 'Common Sense' in 1776 which advocated American Independence.
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BARRY SAINT LEGER

Barry Saint Leger was a British soldier. He was born in 1737 and died in 1789. He wemt to America as a soldier in 1757. He commanded a company at Louisbourg in 1758 and served under Wolfe at Quebec in 1759. He commanded the British expedition against Fort Stanwix and distinguished himself by his strategy at Oriskany. From 1780 to 1781 he conducted a guerilla warfare, with headquarters at Montreal.
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BARRY SHEENE

Barry Sheene was an English motorcycle racer. He was born in 1950 at London and died in 2003 of throat cancer. He was 500cc world champion in 1976 and 1977, riding for Suzuki, though he was perhaps best loved for his natural good looks, charm and survivability, enduring horrendous crashes during his career. In 1978 he was awarded the MBE . After suffering a terrible crash in 1982 (he smashed into a bike lying across the Silverstone track during a British Grand Prix practice) in which both his legs were rebuilt with metal pins and plates, he retired from motorcycle racing in 1984 and moved to Australia where he became a television star - though he returned to win the Jester International Classic race on a Molnar FWD Manx at Donnington park, England in July 2001.
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BARTOLOME MURILLO

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Bartolome Esteban Murillo was a Spanish painter. He was born in 1617 at Seville and died in 1682.
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BARTOLOMEO AMMANATI

Bartolomeo Ammanati was an Italian sculptor and architect. He was born in 1511 at Florence and died in 1589. He executed the Leda at Florence, a gigantic Neptune for St Mark's Place at Venice, a colossal Hercules at Padua, and built the celebrated Trinity Bridge at Florence.
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BARTOLOMEO CAMPAGNOLI

Bartolomeo Campagnoli was an Italian violinist. He was born in 1751 and died in 1827. He was a pupil and imitator of Nardini and attained celebrity status in his day by his marvellous technique.
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BARTOLOMMEO BORGHESI

Count Bartolommeo Borghesi was an Italian archaeologist and numismatist. He was born in 1781 at Savignano and died in 1860. He catalogued the Vatican collection of coins.
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BARTOLOMMEO SUARDI

Bartolommeo Suardi ('Bramantino') was an Italian painter, architect and military engineer. He was born in 1455 at Milan and died in 1535. He worked a great deal in Milan, and was also at one time employed by Pope Julius II.
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BARUCH DE SPINOZA

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Baruch De Spinoza was a Dutch philosopher. He was born in 1632 at Amsterdam and died in 1677. At first a student of theology, his unorthodox ideas caused him to be excommunicated and an attempt made to kill him. As a result he left Amsterdam and devoted himself to philosophy, declining an offer of a professorship at Heidelberg lest it interfere with his studies, and instead earned a living polishing lenses.
His philosophy is based upon that of Descartes, but set forth according to a rigorously geometrical method. His most important work was entitled 'Ethics', a form of pantheism. In it he starts from the definition of substance as that which is in itself and is conceived by itself, he argues that there is only one substance - God, the absolutely infinite. This infinite substance he argues possesses infinite attributes, of which we only know two, thought and extension. Spinoza further argued that each of these attributes carries with it an infinity of modes; the totality of these modes is the world. By attribute he meant that which constitutes the essence of substance; by mode that which is in something else by which also it is conceived.
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BARZILLA W. CLARK

Barzilla W Clark was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of Idaho from 1937 until 1939.
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BASHKIRS

The Bashkirs are a tribe of Finnish or of Tatar origin, inhabiting the Russian governments of Ufa, Orenburg, Perm, and Samara. They formerly roamed about under their own princes in Southern Siberia, but in 1556 they voluntarily placed themselves under the Russian sceptre. They are nominally Islamic, and traditionally lived by hunting, cattle-rearing, breeding of cattle and horses, and keeping of bees.
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BASIL I

Basil I 'the Macedonian' was a Byzantine Emperor and founder of the Macedonian Dynasty. He was born in Thrace and died in 886. He was emperor from 867 to 886, at first jointly with Michael III but assassinated him in 868.
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BASIL II

Basil II was a Byzantine Emperor. He was born in 958 and died in 1025. He became emperor in 976 and waged a 15-year war against the Bulgarians which culminated in his victory in the Belasica mountains, after which he had thousands of prisoners blinded and sent back to Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria who died of shock in 1015, Bulgaria being annexed to the Byzantine empire in 1018.
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BASQUES

The Basques or Biscayans (properly the Euscaldunac) are an ancient people of the Pyrenees of south-west France and northern Spain. They are probably descendants of the ancient Iberi, who occupied Spain before the Celts. They preserve their ancient language, former manners, and national dances, and even in the 19th century were renowned for making admirable soldiers, especially in guerrilla warfare. Their language is highly polysynthetic, and no connection between it and any other language has as yet been made out. There are four principal dialects, which are not only distinguished by their pronunciation and grammatical structure, but differ even in their vocabularies.Legend tells that the Basques visited America prior to Columbus in pursuit of whales and fish. During the 20th century an independence movement formed in northern Spain seeking independence from Spain for the Basque people, the campaign being often punctuated by terrorist attacks directed at the Spanish people.
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BASSELISSE TAPESTRY

A Basselisse tapestry is a kind of tapestry wrought with a horizontal warp.
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BASTARNAE

The Bastarnae were a warlike tribe in Podolia and Moldavia. They were hired by Perseus, king of Macedon, in his wars with Rome, 168 BC.
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BATAK

The Batak are six distinct but related peoples of northern and central Sumatra in Indonesia, speaking Austronesian languages. Their ancestors were Proto-Malayan people fairly isolated in the Sumatran highlands until the early 19th century.
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BATAVIANS

The Batavians were an old German nation which inhabited a part of the present Holland, especially the island called Batavia, formed by that branch of the Rhine which empties itself into the sea near Leyden, together with the Waal and the Meuse. Tacitus asserts them to have been a branch of the Catti. They were subdued by Germanicus, and were granted special privileges for their faithful services to the Romans, but revolted under Vespasian. They were, however, again subjected by Trajan and Adrian, and at the end of the third century the Salian Franks obtained possession of the island of Batavia.
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BATHORI

The Bathori were a Hungarian family, which gave Transylvania five princes, and Poland one of its greatest kings. The more important members were: Stephen born in 1532, elected Prince of Transylvania in 1571, on the death of Zapolya, and in 1575 king of Poland. He accomplished many internal reforms, recovered the Polish territories in possession of the Czar of Muscovy, and reigned prosperously until his death in 1586.

Sigismund, nephew of Stephen, educated by the Jesuits, became waiwode or prince of Transylvania in 1581, shook off the Ottoman yoke, and had begun to give hopes of reigning gloriously when he resigned his dominions to the emperor Rudolph II, in return for two principalities in Silesia, a cardinal's hat, and a pension. Availing himself, however, of an invitation by the Transylvanians, he returned, and placed himself under the protection of the Porte, but was defeated by the Imperialists in every battle, and finally sent to Prague, where he died almost forgotten in 1613.

Elizabeth, niece of Stephen, king of Poland, and wife of Count Nadasdy, of Hungary. She is said to have bathed in the blood of 300 young girls in the hope of renewing her youth, and to have committed other attrocities. She was latterly seized and confined until her death in 1614.
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BATTAS

The Battas are a people belonging to the Malayan race inhabiting the valleys and plateaus of the mountains that extend longitudinally through the island of Sumatra. They traditionally practised agriculture and cattle-rearing, and were skilful in various handicrafts; they also had a written literature and an alphabet of their own, their books treating of astrology, witchcraft, medicine, war, etc. They were traditionally under the rule of hereditary chieftains.
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BATTHYANYI

Batthyanyi is one of the oldest and most celebrated Hungarian families, traceable as far back as the Magyar invasion of Pannonia in the ninth century. Among later bearers of the name have been Count Casimir Batthyanyi, who was associated with Kossuth, was minister of foreign affairs in Hungary during the insurrection of 1849, and who died in Paris 1854.
Count Louis Batthyanyi, born 1809, of another branch of the family, was leader of the opposition in the Hungarian diet until the breaking out of the commotions of 1848, when he took an active part in promoting the national cause; but on the entry of Windischgratz into Pesth he was arrested and shot in 1849.
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BATWA

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The Batwa are a nomad tribe of African pygmies living in the Congo. They were discovered in 1880 by Pogge and Wissmann. The Batwa are renowned for their habit of chipping their teeth to a point for fashion.
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BAYARD TAYLOR

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Bayard Taylor was an American writer. He was born in 1825 at Chester County, Pennsylvania and died in 1878. After being apprenticed to a printer he published a volume of poems and then procured orders for travel articles and set off on a pedestrian tour of Europe. In 1847 he joined the staff of the New York Tribune, travelling as a special correspondent in California, Mexico, Egypt, the Middle East, Syria, India, China, Japan, Greece, Sweden and Russia. In 1871, while spending time in Germany he translated Faust, and in 1878 was for several months American ambassador at Berlin.
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BEADLE

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A beadle was a British parish officer, chosen by the vestry, who acted as a messenger and servant, keeping order in church and punishing petty offenders. The name was also used for a person whose duty it was to bid or cite persons to appear to a summons.
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BEAKER PEOPLE

The Beaker People were formerly thought to be people of Iberian origin who spread out over Europe in the 2nd millennium BC, however, it is now (since about 1990) known that they were in fact an industrialized and highly organised indigenous British stone-age people who built Stonehenge in England. They are called the Beaker People because their remains include earthenware beakers.
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BEAUFORD H. JESTER

Beauford H Jester was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of Texas from 1947 until 1949.
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BEBE BUELL

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Bebe Buell (real name Beverle Lorence Buell) is an American glamour model. She was born in 1953 at Portsmouth, Virginia. Moving to New York, she started modelling when she was seventeen years old. A fashion model, in 1974 she became the first fashion model to pose nude for Playboy magazine, a contract which resulted in her being discharged by the Ford modelling agency.
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BEDRICH SMETANA

Bedrich Smetana was a Czech composer. He was born in 1824 at Litomysl and died in 1884. He opened a music school, with funding from Franz Liszt in 1848, but is best known for composing the 1866 opera 'The Bartered Bride'.
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BELA BARTOK

Bela Bartok was a Hungarian composer. He was born in 1881 and died in 1945.
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BELLMEN

Bellmen were appointed in London to proclaim the hour of the night before public clocks became general, and were numerous around 1556. They were to ring a bell at night and cry, 'Take care of your fire and candle, be charitable to the poor, and pray for the dead.'.
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BEMBA

The Bemba are an African people of northern Zambia.
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BEN JONSON

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Ben Jonson was a British poet and dramatist. He was born in 1573 and died in 1637. He wrote 'Song to Celia'.
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BEN S. PAULEN

Ben S Paulen was an American politician. He was a Republican governor of Kansas from 1925 until 1929.
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BEN W. HOOPER

Ben W Hooper was an American politician. He was a Republican governor of Tennessee from 1911 until 1915.
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BEN W. OLCOTT

Ben W Olcott was an American politician. He was a Republican governor of Oregon from 1919 until 1923.
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BENDIGO

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Bendigo (William Thompson) was a British boxer who won the prize ring championship of England in 1839 though little more than a middleweight. He was born in 1811 and died in 1880.
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BENEDICT ARNOLD

Benedict Arnold was an American soldier. He was born in 1741 at Norwich, Connecticut and died in 1801. A druggist, he joined the Colonial army and was appointed a colonel by the Massachusetts Congress when the American War Of Independence broke out. Benedict Arnold served as a volunteer in capture of Ticonderoga, and became famous for his masterly conduct of the right flank in the attack on Canada in 1775, being wounded at the assault on Quebec. Promoted to brigadier-general he was defeated by the British flotilla at Valcour Island in Lake Champlain in October 1776 but managed a skilful retreat. Further promoted to major-general he took part in the Burgoyne Campaign. He commanded in Philadelphia but was court-martialled on trivial charges and reprimanded by Washington. Obtaining the charge of West Point he intrigued with Henry Clinton for the betrayal of West Point to the British, but the capture of the negotiator frustrated the scheme and Benedict Arnold escaped to the British who rewarded him with a position of brigadier-general, a sum of money and the chance to make attacks upon Virginia and New London. After the war he went to England and lived out the remainder of his life there. Benedict Arnold is perhaps the most notorious traitor in American history.

Benedict Arnold was an American politician. He was born in 1615 at Rhode Island and died in 1678. He was elected President of Rhode Island in 1657 and under the royal charter of 1663 was its first Governor.
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BENEDICT XIV

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Pope Benedict XIV (real name Prospero Lambertini) was Pope from 1740 until 1758. He was born in 1675 at Bologna and died in 1758. He became bishop of Ancona in 1727, cardinal in 1728, and archbishop of Bologna in 1731. In 1742 and 1743 he published bulls forbidding the accommodation of Christian usage to pagan superstition.
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BENITO JUAREZ

Benito P Juarez was a Mexican statesman. He was born in 1806 and died in 1872. He was Governor of Mexico from 1847 to 1852, including part of the war with the United States. He was Minister of Justice and Religion from 1855 to 1857. He was Secretary of the Interior from 1857 to 1858. In 1858 he assumed the control of the executive, and was recognized by the US Government in 1859. He maintained his government against the clerical party with difficulty throughout the revolutionary troubles, but from the withdrawal of the French and the death of Maximilian until his own death he ruled the republic.
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BENITO MUSSOLINI

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Benito Mussolini was an Italian dictator. He was born in 1883 at Predappio and died in 1945 when he was executed by Italian Partisans. He founded the fascist movement in 1919 and sided with Hitler during the Second World War.
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BENJAMIN AMES

Benjamin Ames was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of Maine from 1821 until 1822.
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BENJAMIN B. MOEUR

Benjamin B Moeur was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of Arizona from 1933 until 1937.
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BENJAMIN B. ODELL, JR

Benjamin B Odell Jr was an American politician. He was a Republican governor of New York from 1901 until 1904.
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BENJAMIN BRITTEN

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Benjamin Britten was a British composer. He was born in 1913 and died in 1976. He composed Peter Grimes, Turn of the Screw, A Ceremony of Carols and War Requiem.
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BENJAMIN BROWN

Benjamin Gratz Brown was an American politician, journalist and soldier. He was born in 1826 and died in 1885. From 1852 until 1858 he was a member of the Missouri Legislature. From 1854 until 1859 he edited the 'Missouri Democrat'. During the American Civil War he commanded a brigade. From 1863 until 1867 he was a Republican Senator for Missouri, and played an important role in the Liberal-Republican movement and was the Liberal republican and Democrat candidate for Vice-President on the ticket with Horace Greeley in 1872.
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BENJAMIN CHURCH

Benjamin Church was an American soldier. He was born in 1639 at Massachusetts and died in 1718. He was active in King Philip's War, was in the Great Swamp Fight in the Narragansett country and finally compassed Philip's death on August 12, 1676.
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BENJAMIN CONLEY

Benjamin Conley was an American politician. He was a Republican governor of Georgia from 1871 until 1872.
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BENJAMIN CROWNINSHIELD

Benjamin Crowninshield was an American sailor and politician. He was born in 1772 at Massachusetts and died in 1851. He was Secretary of the Navy from 1814, in Madison's cabinet until 1818 in James Monroe's Cabinet, was a Presidential elector in 1820, and a Democratic member of Congress from 1823 to 1831.
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BENJAMIN CURTIS

Benjamin R Curtis was an American judge. He was born in 1809 and died in 1874. He was appointed to the US Supreme Court in 1851 by President Eillmore, dissented in the Dred Scott case and resigned in 1857. He was one of the counsel for President Johnson in the impeachment trial of 1868.
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BENJAMIN DISRAELI

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Benjamin Disraeli was a British statesman and writer. He was born in 1804 and died in 1881.
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BENJAMIN EDES

Benjamin Edes was an American newspaperman and agitator. He was born in 1732 and died in 1803. From 1755 until 1798 he was editor of the Boston Gazette and the Country Journal which were influential during the American War of Independence, and he actively supported, encouraged and financed the uprising known as the Boston Tea Party in 1773.
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BENJAMIN F. BUTLER

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Benjamin Franklin Butler was an American lawyer, soldier and politician. He was born in 1818 and died in 1893. He was a Republican congressman from Massachusetts from 1867 until 1875 and again from 1877 until 1879, and Democratic governor of Massachusetts from 1883 until 1884.
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BENJAMIN F. PERRY

Benjamin F Perry was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of South Carolina during 1865.
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BENJAMIN F. PRESCOTT

Benjamin F Prescott was an American politician. He was a Republican governor of New Hampshire from 1877 until 1879.
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BENJAMIN FITZPATRICK

Benjamin Fitzpatrick was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of Alabama from 1841 until 1845.
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BENJAMIN FLANDERS

Benjamin Flanders was an American politician. He was a Republican governor of Louisiana from 1867 until 1868.
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BENJAMIN FLETCHER

Benjamin Fletcher was an English colonial governor. He was appointed Governor of New York by William and Mary. He arrived in New York in 1692 and received a commission to assume also the government of Pennsylvania, which he did in 1693. He was zealous in the extension of the English Church. In 1698 he was deposed on account of suspicions of complicity with pirates.
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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

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Benjamin Franklin was an American statesman and scientist. He was born in 1706 at Boston and died in 1790. The son of a tallow-chandler and soap-boiler, he was apprenticed to his elder brother, a printer, and developed an eager fondness for books and writing.

At seventeen he ran away to Philadelphia, where, in 1729, he established a newspaper. His public spirit, his talents as a writer and the fame of his scientific discoveries advanced him in prominence. In 1753 he was appointed deputy postmaster-general of the British colonies. In 1754, being a member of the Albany Convention, he proposed an important plan for colonial union.. From 1757 to 1763, and again from 1764 to the American War of Independence, he was agent of Pennsylvania in England; part of the time, also, for Massachusetts, New Jersey and Georgia.

In 1773, acting as agent for the political leaders in Massachusetts, he sent over to them the correspondence of Hutchinson, Oliver and other Massachusetts loyalists with a confidant of the British Ministry. The publication of the letters aroused great excitement in the colonies, and brought down upon Franklin violent abuse on the part of the ministerialists, and dismissal from his office of postmaster-general.

In 1775 seeing that reconciliation was impossible, he returned to Pennsylvania, and was at once chosen a delegate to the Continental Congress. In 1776 he was one of the committee of five who drew up the Declaration of Independence,, and in the autumn was sent to join Arthur Lee and Silas Deane in the mission to France. In Paris he was received with great enthusiasm. He succeeded in obtaining from the French Government not only the treaty of 1778, but also large sums of money supplied in secret before that government declared war on England and openly afterward. Franklin had a leading part in the beginnings of negotiation with Great Britain for peace and independence. In respect to the actual manner in which the treaty was concluded, he was overruled by John Adams and Jay, who deemed it best, contrary to the instructions of Congress, to negotiate apart from France and make separate terms. Franklin played an important part in the arrangements of the treaty, especially those respecting the loyalists. After the Treaty of Versailles had thus been signed on September the 3rd, 1783, Franklin negotiated a favourable treaty with Prussia.

In 1785 Franklin returned to America, and was chosen president of Pennsylvania, and again in 1786 and 1787. He was an influential member of the Convention of 1787, and died at Philadelphia a few years later. Beside his eminence as a statesman and as a philosopher and scientific discoverer, Franklin was noted as a shrewd and practical philanthropist, and was one of the best of English writers. He was renowned for his identification of lightning with electricity, but also wrote widely criticising corruption, philosophising and even describing Harvard College as a place where money was valued above intelligence.
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BENJAMIN G. HUMPHREYS

Benjamin G Humphreys was an American politician. He was a Whig governor of Mississippi from 1865 until 1868.
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BENJAMIN GOODHUE

Benjamin Goodhue was an American politiicna. He was born in 1748 and died in 1814. He was a Massachusetts member of the Continental Congress from 1784 until 1789, was a US Congressman from 1789 until 1795, and a Federalist Senator from 1796 to 1800. He drafted many of the revenue laws, and served on the Committee on Commerce in the Senate.
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BENJAMIN GUERARD

Benjamin Guerard was an American politician. He was a governor of South Carolina from 1783 until 1785.
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BENJAMIN H. EATON

Benjamin H Eaton was an American politician. He was a Republican governor of Colorado from 1885 until 1887.
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BENJAMIN HARRISON

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Benjamin Harrison was an American politician. He was born in 1740 at Virginia and died in 1791. He was a member of the House of Burgesses in 1764, a member of the Correspondence Committee in 1773, and a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to 1778. From 1778 to 1782 he was Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and ardently advocated united opposition to Great Britain. He was Governor of the State from 1782 to 1784, and when a delegate to the State Convention of 1788 opposed the ratification of the Constitution as being a national and not a Federal document.

Benjamin Harrison was the 23rd president of the USA from 1889 to 1893. He was born in 1833 at North Bend, Ohio and died in 1901. The grandson of President William Henry Harrison, he graduated at Miami University in 1852, and settled as a lawyer in Indianapolis. He was elected reporter of the Indiana Supreme Court in 1860, but his term was interrupted by the American Civil War.

He volunteered in 1863 and was colonel of an Indiana regiment in the battles of Resaca and Peach Tree Creek in 1864 he won distinction. Leaving the army with the brevet of brigadier-general, he resumed his position of Supreme Court reporter.

General Harrison was a successful lawyer and campaign orator, and in 1876 he received the Republican nomination for Governor, being defeated by a small majority. His name was presented to the Republican National Convention of 1880. Elected to the US Senate, he served from 1881 to 1887. At the National Convention of 1888 he was a leading candidate from the start, received the nomination, and was elected over President Cleveland in a campaign in which protection was the principal issue.

In his Cabinet, Blaine in the State and Windom in the Treasury Department were national figures. Proctor, and later Elkins, was in the War Department, B F Tracy in the Navy, Noble in the Interior, Rusk Secretary of Agriculture, Miller Attorney-General, and Wanamaker Postmaster-General. The administration was marked politically by the McKinley Tariff Act in 1890, with the attendant feature of reciprocity; the foreign relations with Chili and Hawaii were matters of interest.


In 1892 the President was a candidate for renomination, and received the gift over his powerful rival, Blaine, who resigned from the Cabinet during the contest. President Harrison was in the election again confronted with Cleveland. The Democratic reaction, very marked in 1890, proved to be still in force, and the President was defeated and retired from office in 1893.
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BENJAMIN HARVEY HILL

Benjamin Harvey Hill was an American politician. He was born in 1823 at georgia and died in 1882. He was admitted to the bar in 1845. He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1851, 1859 and 1860. He was a Unionist member of the State secession convention and strenuously opposed the ordinance of secession, but after its passage supported the Confederacy. He was a delegate from Georgia to the Confederate provisional Congress, and was a member of the Confederate Senate until 1865. He published 'Notes on the Situation', ably opposing the reconstruction measures. He earnestly supported Horace Greeley for the Presidency in 1872. He served in the US Congress from 1875 to 1877, and on the Electoral Commission, and was a member of the US Senate from 1877 to 1882.
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BENJAMIN HAYDON

Benjamin Robert Haydon was an English painter. He was born in 1786 at Plymouth and died in 1846. He was admitted as a student to the Royal Academy in 1805 and exhibited his first picture in 1807. His life was plagued with debts and he eventually committed suicide.
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BENJAMIN HOTCHKISS

Benjamin B Hotchkiss was an American engineer. He was born in 1830 and died in 1885. He was considered at the time of his death the first artillery engineer in the world. He invented among others, a machine gun and a magazine rifle.
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BENJAMIN JONSON

Benjamin Jonson was a rival poet and dramatist to Shakespeare. He was born in 1572 and died in 1637.
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BENJAMIN KELLEY

Benjamin F Kelley was an American soldier. He was born in 1807 and died in 1891. During the American Civil War fought at Philippi, Romney and at Blue Gap. In 1863 he commanded the Department of West Virginia. He was brevetted major-general in 1864 for services at Cumberland, New Creek and Morefield.
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BENJAMIN LINCOLN

Benjamin Lincoln was an American general. He was born in 1733 at Hingham, Massachusetts and died in 1810. He was a comrade of George Washington in his earlier campaigns, and commanded the expedition which cleared Boston harbour of British vessels in 1776. He unsuccessfully besieged Savannah in 1779 and surrendered Charleston to the British in 1787. In 1787 he suppressed Shay's rebellion and from 1781 to 1784 was Secretary of War.
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BENJAMIN LOGAN

Benjamin Logan was a Kentucky pioneer. He was born in 1753 and died in 1802. He was renowned for his great courage and endurance. He distinguished himself at Fort Logan, Chillicothe and Bryan's Station during Indian troubles.
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BENJAMIN LUNDY

Benjamin Lundy was an American abolitionist and journalist. He was born in 1789 and died in 1839. A Quaker, he originated an anti-slavery association in Ohio called the Union Humane Society in 1815. He contributed anti-slavery articles to periodicals, and from 1812 to 1836 edited The Genius of Universal Emancipation published at Baltimore after 1824. He advocated negro colonization. He was one of the first to deliver anti-slavery lectures and the first to found societies for the encouragement of free labour. Garrison was an assistant to him at first.
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BENJAMIN MCCULLOCH

Benjamin McCulloch was an American soldier. He was born in 1811 and died in 1862. He commanded a company during the Mexican War at Monterey, Buena Vista and the city of Mexico. He was a. US Marshal from 1853 to 1857. He was commissioned brigadier-general in the Confederate service in 1861 and fought with distinction at Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge, where he met his death.
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BENJAMIN MEEK MILLER

Benjamin Meek Miller was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of Alabama from 1931 until 1935.
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BENJAMIN OGLE

Benjamin Ogle was an American politician. He was a Federalist governor of Maryland from 1798 until 1801.
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BENJAMIN PEIRCE

Benjamin Peirce was an American mathematician. He was born in 1809 and died in 1880. He won distinction for his original and extensive work in pure and in applied mathematics. He was a professor at Harvard from 1833 to 1867. He published many mathematical works.
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BENJAMIN PIERCE

Benjamin Pierce was an American politician. He was a Democratic-Republican governor of New Hampshire from 1827 until 1828.
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BENJAMIN PRIME

Benjamin Prime was an American song writer. He was born in 1733 at New York and died in 1791. He composed many popular songs and ballads during the American Revolution. He was an able physician and a celebrated linguist. He wrote 'Columbia's Glory', a poem, and 'The Patriotic Muse'.
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BENJAMIN R. TILLMAN

Benjamin R Tillman was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of South Carolina from 1890 until 1894.
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BENJAMIN RICHARDSON

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Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson was an English doctor. He was born in 1828 at Somerby, and died in 1896. He graduated in medicine at St Andrews University in 1854 and in 1855 founded the Journal of Health. He gained the Astley Cooper prize for his treatise on the cause of the Coagulation of the Blood and the Fothergillian gold medal for a disquisition on the Diseases of the Foetus in Utero. He originated the use of ether spray for the local abolition of pain in surgical operations, and introduced methylene bichloride as a general anaesthetic. He was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and of the Royal Society, and was knighted in 1893. He published works on medicine and hygiene, and was an earnest sanitary and temperance reformer.
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BENJAMIN ROBERTS

Benjamin S Roberts was an American soldier. He was born in 1811 and died in 1875. He was brevetted lieutenant-colonel for services in the Mexican War. He served as chief of cavalry under General Pope in 1862, and fought at Cedar Mountain and Bull Run.
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BENJAMIN RUSH

Benjamin Rush was an American physician. He was born in 1745 near Philadelphia and died in 1813. He was elected a member of Congress to support the American Declaration of Independence, which he signed, and in 1777 was appointed physician- general of the army. This appointment he resigned for a private practice in Philadelphia, where he distinguished himself by his successful treatment of an epidemic of yellow fever in 1793. From 1799 until his death he was treasurer of the United States mint.
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BENJAMIN SILLIMAN

Benjamin Silliman was an American scientist. He was born in 1779 and died in 1864. Known as 'The Nestor of American Science', he was professor at Yale College from 1803 to 1853, founded the American Journal of Science in 1818, and was sole editor until 1838. He exerted his influence for the Union and the abolition of slavery.
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BENJAMIN SMITH

Benjamin Smith was an American politician. He was a Democratic-Republican governor of North Carolina from 1810 until 1811.
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BENJAMIN SPOCK

Benjamin McLane Spock is an American paediatrician and writer on child care. He was born in 1903. His 'Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care' written in 1946 urged less rigidity in bringing up children than had been advised by previous generations of writers on the subject, but this was misunderstood as advocating permissiveness. In his later work he stressed that his common- sense approach had not implied rejecting all discipline, but that his main aim was to give parents the confidence to trust their own judgement rather than rely on books by experts who did not know a particular child.
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BENJAMIN STODDERT

Benjamin Stoddert was an American politician. He was born in 1751 at Maryland and died in 1813. He distinguished himself at the Battle of Brandywine. He was Secretary of the Board of War from 1777 to 1781. He was Secretary of the Navy in Adams' Cabinet from 1798 to 1801, being thus the first Secretary of the Navy.
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BENJAMIN SWEET

Benjamin J Sweet was an American soldier. He was born in 1832 and died in 1874. He was severely wounded at Perryville in 1861. In 1864 he took command of the prison at Camp Douglas, Chicago, where he defeated two well-planned attempts to liberate the prisoners and burn Chicago.
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BENJAMIN T. BIGGS

Benjamin T Biggs was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of Delaware from 1887 until 1891.
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BENJAMIN T. LANEY

Benjamin T Laney was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of Arkansas from 1945 until 1949.
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BENJAMIN TALLMADGE

Benjamin Tallmadge was an American soldier and politician. He was born in 1754 and died in 1835. He commanded detachments during the American War of Independence at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, Lloyd's Neck and Fort George. He represented Connecticut in the US Congress as a Federalist from 1801 to 1817.
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BENJAMIN THOMPSON

Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford) was an Anglo-American soldier and scientist. He was born in 1753 at Massachusetts and died in 1814. He sympathized with the pre-Revolutionary movements in America, but the jealousy of his fellow-officers in the New Hampshire regiments alienated his patriotism. He carried dispatches from Howe to England in 1776. He raised the King's American Dragoons in New York in 1781 and was appointed lieutenant-colonel. He went to England in 1783. He entered the service of the Elector of Bavaria, acquired great influence, and was made prime minister and a count in 1790. He contributed valuable observations and discoveries to science, particularly on the nature and effects of heat and in chemistry, of which he was one of the founders.
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BENJAMIN TRUMBULL

Benjamin Trumbull was an American clergyman and historian. He was born in 1735 and died in 1820. He was pastor at New Haven from 1760 to 1820. He wrote a 'General History of the United States', and 'History of Connecticut from 1630 to 1713'.
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BENJAMIN VAUGHAN

Benjamin Vaughan was an English writer and politician. He was born in 1751 and died in 1835. He was prominent in the negotiations for peace between England and the United States in 1783. He was not officially connected with the transaction, but as a friend of Franklin and Lord Shelburne. He was a member of Parliament from 1792 to 1796. He went to America in 1796. He accumulated a large library and wrote many political articles.
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BENJAMIN WADE

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Benjamin Franklin Wade was an American statesman. He was born in 1800 and died in 1878. He was a lawyer and Whig politician in Ohio; he had been in the State Senate and served as State Judge before his entrance into the US Senate. His term in that body covers the long period of 1851 to 1869. He rapidly became known as one of the most outspoken anti-slavery and later Republican leaders. He strongly opposed the Kansas-Nebraska measure, and during the Rebellion he was chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War. Senator Wade opposed President Lincoln to some degree on the Reconstruction problem, and was naturally in the opposition to President Johnson. He was chairman of the Committee on Territories, and was chosen President pro tern. of the Senate in 1867. President Grant appointed him to the San Domingo commission in 1871. Wade was a leading candidate for the vice-presidency in 1868, and chairman of the Ohio delegation in the convention that nominated Hayes.
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BENJAMIN WAUGH

Benjamin Waugh was an English social reformer. He was born at Settle in Yorkshire in 1839 and died in 1908. He founded the London Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.
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BENJAMIN WEST

Benjamin West was an American-born English painter. He was born in 1738 at Pennsylvania and died in 1820. He went to Italy in 1760 and settled in England in 1763. He was one of the most famous painters of the day. He was one of the founders of the Royal Academy and was its president from 1792 to 1802 and from 1803 to 1815. He painted many famous religious pieces and 'The Death of Wolfe' and 'The Treaty of Penn'.
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BENJAMIN WILLIAMS

Benjamin Williams was an American politician. He was a Democratic-Republican governor of North Carolina from 1799 until 1802.
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BENNING WENTWORTH

Benning Wentworth was an American colonial governor. He was born in 1696 and died in 1770. He was Governor of New Hampshire from 1741 to 1767. His grants of land in what is now southern Vermont, which was claimed by New York, are known in history as the New Hampshire Grants.
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BENNY GOODMAN

Benny Goodman was an American clarinettist and orchestra leader. He was born in 1909 at Chicago, Illinois and died in 1986.
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BENOIT

Benoit was a French poet of the 12th century. He wrote Le Roman de Troie which was a source of inspiration to many other writers.
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BENSON LOSSING

Benson J Lossing was an American writer and engraver. He was born in 1813 at New York and died in 1891. He published Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, and others of the American Civil War and War of 1812, a National History of the United States, the Statesman's Manual, biographies of Zachary Taylor, Winfield Scott, George Washington, etc., a history of New York, and Biographies of Eminent Americans.
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BENTON MCMILLIN

Benton McMillin was an American politician. He was a Democratic governor of Tennessee from 1899 until 1903.
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BENVENUTO CELLINI

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Benvenuto Cellini was a Florentine goldsmith and sculptor. He was born in 1500 at Florence and died in 1571. The son of a maker of musical instruments, he was intended for the same profession as his father but from an early age showed artistic talent, especially in design and was apprenticed to a goldsmith. Although always a musician and eventually one of the Papal Band, his life was given to work as a sculptor and goldsmith.
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BEORNA

Beorna was king of the East Angles in 749, reigning jointly with Ethelred and then solely in 758.
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BEORNRED

Beornred was king of Mercia in 755. He was slain.
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BEORNWULF

Beornwulf was king of Mercia in 821. He was killed by his own subjects.
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BERBER

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The term Berber is a general term for any of the various tribes who were living in North Africa before the Arabs invaded. The tribes include the Rif, Kabyle, Shawia and Tuareg.
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BEREANS

The Bereans (Barclayans) are a sect of dissenters from the Church of Scotland. They originated in Edinburgh in 1773, being founded by Barclay. They profess to follow the ancient Bereans in building their faith and practice upon the Scriptures alone, without regard to any human authority whatever.
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BERENICE

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Berenice was the wife of Ptolemy Euergetes. When her husband went to war in Syria she vowed that if he returned safe she would dedicate her hair to the gods. Upon his safe return she hung her hair in the temple of Venus, from where it disappeared and is said to have been used to form the constellation Coma Berenices.
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BERENICE ABBOTT

Berenice Abbott was an American photographer. She was born in 1898 at Springfield, Ohio and died in 1991. She is famous for her documentation of New York City and for her pioneering camera work in the physical sciences. She studied sculpture in New York City and Paris before turning to photography in the mid-1920s at the suggestion of the American surrealist Man Ray. Through Ray she met the photographer Eugene Atget just before his death in 1927 and worked tirelessly to spread his fame. She Returned to the USA in 1929 and resolved to record New York City with a camera in the manner that Atget had recorded Paris; the result was her epic ' Changing New York'. From the 1940s to the 1960s Abbott explored natural phenomena (such as magnetism) with a camera.
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BERIAH MAGOFFIN

Beriah Magoffin was an American politician. He was born in 1815 and died in 1885. A prominent member of the Democratic party, he was Governor of Kentucky from 1859 to 1862. His sympathies inclined toward the Confederates, but he maintained a policy of neutrality.
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BERNARD BARTON

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Bernard Barton was a British bank clerk and amateur poet. He was born in 1784 at Carlisle and died in 1849. He worked all his life as a clerk at a bank in Woodbridge, Suffolk, but also wrote books of poetry including the 1812 'Metrical Effusions' and 1822 'Napoleon and Other Poems'.
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BERNARD OF TREVISO

Bernard of Treviso was an Italian alchemist. He was born in 1406 at Padua and died in 1490.
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BERNARD PALISSY

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Bernard Palissy was a French potter and glass painter. He discovered how to manufacture enamel. He was born in 1510 and died in 1589.
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BERNARD VAUGHAN

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Bernard Vaughan was a Roman Catholic clergyman. He was born in 1847 and died in 1922. He was for eighteen years a distinguished worker in the religious and civic life of Manchester before transferring to London in 1901 where he continued his work.
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BERNARDINO BALDI

Bernardino Baldi was an Italian mathematician, theologian, geographer, historian and poet. He was born in 1533 at Urbino and died in 1617. He studied at Padua and became abbot of Guastalla. He knew upwards of twelve languages, and is said to have written over a hundred works, most of which remain in manuscript form. His works include a poem on Navigation, various translations and commentaries, Lives of Celebrated Mathematicians, etc.