Born: 7/14/1913Birthplace: Omaha, Neb. Gerald Rudolph Ford was born Leslie King Jr. in Omaha, Neb., on July 14, 1913, the only child of Leslie and Dorothy Gardner King. His parents were divorced in…
(Encyclopedia) mahogany, common name for the Meliaceae, a widely distributed family of chiefly tropical shrubs and trees, often having scented wood. The valuable hardwood called mahogany is obtained…
(Encyclopedia) Canada Act, also called the Constitutional Act of 1982, which made Canada a fully sovereign state. The British Parliament approved it on Mar. 25, 1982, and Queen Elizabeth II…
(Encyclopedia) Gregory XIII, 1502–85, pope (1572–85), an Italian named Ugo Buoncompagni, b. Bologna; successor of St. Pius V. He is best known for his work on the calendar, and the reformed calendar…
(Encyclopedia) Anderson, Maxwell, 1888–1959, American dramatist, b. Atlantic, Pa., grad. Univ. of North Dakota, 1911. His plays, many of which are written in verse, usually concern social and moral…
(Encyclopedia) Hemings, Sally, 1773–1835, African-American slave owned by Thomas Jefferson, b. Charles City co., Va.; her original name was probably Sarah. Her father was John Wayles, Jefferson's…
(Encyclopedia) Bruno, Saint, c.1030–1101, German monk, founder of the Carthusians, b. Cologne. He studied and taught at Reims. In 1084 he took six companions and founded a little monastery in the…
(Encyclopedia) steamship, watercraft propelled by a steam engine or a steam turbine.
Despite such innovations as turbo-electric drive, which converts steam energy into rotational power for…
(Encyclopedia) South Portland, port city (1990 pop. 23,163), Cumberland co., SW Maine, on the Fore River and Casco Bay, part of the Portland metropolitan area; separated from Falmouth (now Portland)…
(Encyclopedia) Isabella II, 1830–1904, queen of Spain (1833–68), daughter of Ferdinand VII and of Maria Christina. Her uncle, Don Carlos, contested her succession under the Salic law, and thus the…
