English cookbook writer whose The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy was a bestselling recipe book for over a century after its initial publication.

Italian novelist, dramatist, and poet, one of the first tragicomedy authors, writing under the nickname "Cinthio." Cinthio's most famous work, his collection of short stories entitled Hecatommithi (1565), provided the source material for Shakespeare's Measure for Measure and Othello.

English writer who was largely paid to write low-quality and rushed works. As a "hack writer," Gildon was a biographer, essayist, translator, playwright, poet, short story writer, and critic. Alexander Pope denounced Gildon's opportunist writing in his Dunciad. Gildon was likewise engaged in a long-term quarrel with Jonathan Swift.

English critic, editor, and poet. Gifford authored the anti-Della Cruscan satires The Baviad (1791) and The Maviad (1795). He edited the Anti-Jacobin from 1797-1798 and was the first editor of the Quarterly Review, a position he held until 1824.

English historian, scholar, and Member of Parliament. The reputation of this eminent historian rests mostly on his masterwork, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-1788), noted for the irony in its representation of the rise of Christianity.

Character in William Shakespeare's drama Hamlet, she is Hamlet's mother. She takes Hamlet's uncle Claudius as spouse after Claudius kills the king, Hamlet's father, and ascends to the throne.

Born in Cappadocia in Asia Minor, he became one of the most venerated saints in Christianity. As a soldier in Roman service, he was sentenced to death for refusing to repudiate his Christianity. In legend, he slew a dragon that was terrorizing a village populace by demanding human sacrifices. England is one of several nations claiming George as a patron saint.

Husband and royal consort of Queen Anne, Prince of Norway and Denmark, and Duke of Cumberland. George was known for his relaxed demeanor and lack of interest in politics.

Prince Regent for George III from 1811, he became king with his father's death in 1820.

King of Great Britain from 1760-1820. The latter part of his reign was punctuated by periods of intermittent madness so that in 1811 Parliament named as Regent his son, then Prince of Wales, but later to become George IV.