(Encyclopedia) Crespi, JuanCrespi, Juanhwän [key]Crespi, Juan krāsˈpē [key], 1721–82, Spanish explorer in the Southwest, a Franciscan. He came to America in 1749, and in 1767 he went to the peninsula…
(Encyclopedia) Davis, George Breckenridge, 1847–1914, American army officer and jurist, b. Ware, Mass., grad. West Point, 1871. His early military service was divided between duty on the Western…
(Encyclopedia) Encke, Johann FranzEncke, Johann Franzyōˈhän fränts ĕngˈkə [key], 1791–1865, German astronomer. He was assistant (1816–22) and director (1822–25) of the observatory at Seeberg (near…
(Encyclopedia) identity theft, the use of one person's personal information by another to commit fraud or other crimes. The most common forms of identity theft occur when someone obtains another…
(Encyclopedia) McKay, DonaldMcKay, Donaldməkāˈ, məkīˈ [key], 1810–80, American shipbuilder, b. Nova Scotia. He opened his own shipyard in Newburyport, Mass., in 1841, then moved to Boston in 1845. He…
(Encyclopedia) Chadwick, Florence May, 1918–95, American distance swimmer, b. San Diego, Calif. She began swimming at the age of six, and four years later she swam the San Diego Bay Channel, the…
(Encyclopedia) Szewińska, Irena, 1946–2018, Polish sprinter and long jumper, b. Leningrad (now St. Petersburg, Russia) as Irena Kirszenstein, grad. Univ. of Warsaw, 1970. In her first Olympics (1964…
(Encyclopedia) quipus or khipuskhipuskēˈp&oomacr;z [key], groups of strings, knotted for tally, which were used by the Inca for keeping records and sending messages. The quipu, which is believed…
(Encyclopedia) Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, in U.S. history, day of financial panic. The Dow Jones Average fell 508.32 points, a drop of 22.6%, the largest since 1914. The point decline as well as…
(Encyclopedia) Baez, JoanBaez, Joanbīpstr;ĕz, bäˈ– [key], 1941–, American folk singer and political activist, b. New York City. Baez began singing traditional folk ballads, blues, and spirituals in…