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Porter, Katherine Anne

(Encyclopedia)Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890–1980, American author, b. Indian Creek, Tex., as Callie Russell Porter. Although she published infrequently, she is regarded as a master of the short story. Her first bo...

Ransom, John Crowe

(Encyclopedia)Ransom, John Crowe, 1888–1974, American poet and critic, b. Pulaski, Tenn., grad. Vanderbilt Univ. and studied at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar. He is considered one of the great stylists of 20th-centu...

Wilkinson, Jemima

(Encyclopedia)Wilkinson, Jemima, 1752–1819, American religious leader, b. Cumberland, R.I. As a girl she was powerfully impressed by the sermons of George Whitefield and also aspired to emulate the example of Ann...

Nederland

(Encyclopedia)Nederland nēˈdərlənd [key], city (1990 pop. 16,192), Jefferson co., SE Tex.; founded by Dutch settlers as a rice-farming community in 1897, inc. 1940. Primarily a residential suburb between Beaumo...

Piltdown man

(Encyclopedia)Piltdown man, name given to human remains found during excavations (1908–15) at Piltdown, Sussex, England, by Charles Dawson. The find led to much speculation and argument. Since they were found wit...

Balfour, Arthur James Balfour, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Balfour, Arthur James Balfour, 1st earl of bălˈfo͝or [key], 1848–1930, British statesman; nephew of the 3d marquess of Salisbury. He entered parliament as a Conservative in 1874 and served as sec...

Gates, John Warne

(Encyclopedia)Gates, John Warne, 1855–1911, American financier and promoter, known as Bet-a-Million Gates, b. near Chicago. He discovered a market for wire fencing on the Western plains, began the manufacture of ...

Lee, Francis Lightfoot

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Francis Lightfoot, 1734–97, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Westmoreland co., Va.; brother of Arthur, Richard H., and William Lee. Whi...

Middleton, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Middleton, Henry, 1717–84, American Revolutionary leader, b. near Charleston, S.C. A wealthy, influential planter, he held many official positions before resigning (1770) in protest against the Brit...

Avalon

(Encyclopedia)Avalon ăvˈəlŏn [key], in Celtic mythology, the blissful otherworld of the dead. In medieval romance it was the island to which the mortally wounded King Arthur was taken, and from which it was exp...