This selection is based on our editorial judgment. Other sources may list different firsts. Admiral in U.S. Navy: David Glasgow Farragut, 1866. Airmail route, first transcontinental: Between…
(Encyclopedia) Morton, Rosalie Slaughter, 1876–1955, American surgeon, b. Lynchburg, Va., M.D. Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1897. She was the first woman faculty member of both the New…
(Encyclopedia) Cueva, Beatriz de laCueva, Beatriz de labāätrēsˈ dā lä kwāˈvä [key], d. 1541, governor of Guatemala. After the death of her husband, Pedro de Alvarado, she maneuvered her own election…
(Encyclopedia) Du Deffand, Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, marquiseDu Deffand, Marie de Vichy-Chamrond, marquisemärēˈ də vēshēˈ-shäNrôNˈ märkēzˈ dü dĕfäNˈ [key], 1697–1780, French woman of letters, whose…
(Encyclopedia) Brent, Margaret, 1600?–1671?, early American feminist, b. Gloucester, England. With her two brothers and a sister, she left England to settle (1638) in St. Marys City, Md., where she…
(Encyclopedia) Hepburn, Katharine, 1907–2003, American actress, b. Hartford, Conn. She made periodic stage appearances from 1928 on and debuted in the first of her 43 films in 1932; in her early…
by Liz Olson Each year, writers who have produced the most distinguished literary work of an idealist tendency are awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Until 1909, the honor had not been…
The Question: I read the list of the fastest animals on land at your site. But I was wondering what is the fastest animal in the sea might be? The Answer…