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Stern, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Stern, Isaac, 1920–2001, American violinist, b. Kremenets, in what is now Ukraine. Brought to the United States as an infant, Stern began piano lessons at the age of six and violin lessons at eight....

Fort Henry, in United States history

(Encyclopedia)Fort Henry, Confederate fortification on the Tennessee River, S of the Ky.-Tenn. line; site of the first major Union victory of the Civil War (Feb. 6, 1862). The fort was attacked and reduced by Union...

Indian Removal Act

(Encyclopedia)Indian Removal Act, in U.S. history, law signed by President Andrew Jackson in 1830 providing for the general resettlement of Native Americans to lands W of the Mississippi River. From 1830 to 1840 ap...

Dalhousie, James Andrew Broun Ramsay, 1st marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Dalhousie, James Andrew Broun Ramsay, 1st marquess of dălho͞oˈzē, –houˈ– [key], 1812–60, British statesman. After serving as president of the Board of Trade (1845–47) he was governor-gene...

Farrell, Eileen

(Encyclopedia)Farrell, Eileen fârˈəl [key], 1920–2002, American dramatic soprano, b. Willimantic, Conn. Farrell received her early musical training from her vaudvillian mother. Having begun singing on the radi...

Rubin, Vera

(Encyclopedia)Rubin, Vera, 1928–2016, American astronomer, b. Philadelphia as Vera Florence Cooper, Ph.D. Georgetown (1954). After teaching at Georgetown, she joined (1965) the Carnegie Institution's department o...

Parton, James

(Encyclopedia)Parton, James, 1822–91, American biographer, b. England. He came to the United States in 1827. In 1848 he joined the staff of N. P. Willis's Home Journal in New York City. His biographical writing b...

foundation

(Encyclopedia)foundation, institution through which private wealth is contributed and distributed for public purpose. Foundations have existed since Greek and Roman times, when they honored deities. During the Midd...

Gilded Age

(Encyclopedia)Gilded Age, a term used to describe a period in United States history—from roughly 1870 to 1900—when the wealthy elite consisted of industrialists w...

Gass, Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Gass, Patrick, 1771–1870, American explorer, member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, b. Perry co., Pa. His journal of the trip across the continent first appeared in 1807 and was widely read. Gass...