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DeLay, Tom

(Encyclopedia)DeLay, Tom (Thomas Dale DeLay), 1947–, American politician, b. Laredo, Tex., grad. Univ. of Houston (B.S., 1970). A conservative Republican businessman, he entered politics (1979) as a Texas state l...

hoopoe

(Encyclopedia)hoopoe ho͞oˈpo͞o, –pō [key], common name for a shy, solitary, Old World woodland bird, Upupa epops. Its body color ranges from cinnamon to chestnut, with white-barred, black wings and tail, and ...

Halifax, George Savile, 1st marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Halifax, George Savile, 1st marquess of, 1633–95, English statesman. A protégé of the 2d duke of Buckingham, he was made Viscount Halifax (1668) and sat (1672–76) in the privy council. An oppone...

Grateful Dead, The

(Encyclopedia)Grateful Dead, The, American rock music group formed in 1965 by guitarists Jerry Garcia, 1942–95, and Bob Weir, 1947–, harmonica player Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, 1945–73, bassist Phil Lesh, 194...

Mühlenberg, Heinrich Melchior

(Encyclopedia)Mühlenberg, Heinrich Melchior myo͞oˈlənbûrg [key], 1746–1807, American clergyman, Revolutionary officer, and legislator, eldest son of Heinrich, was born in Trappe, Pa., and studied at Halle. A...

NASCAR

(Encyclopedia)NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla., in 1948 and began its first and...

Pennebaker, D. A.

(Encyclopedia)Pennebaker, D. A. (Donn Alan Pennebaker), 1925–2019, pioneering documentary filmmaker, b. Evanston, Ill. His first film, Daybreak Express (1958), is a five-minute short detailing New York's doomed T...

sun grebe

(Encyclopedia)sun grebe, common name for a tropical, mainly aquatic bird of the family Heliornithidae. Sun grebes, also called finfoots, are remarkable for their colorful, puffy-toed, webbed feet, which may serve a...

Quezon, Manuel Luis

(Encyclopedia)Quezon, Manuel Luis mänwĕl lo͞oēsˈ kāˈsōn [key], 1878–1944, first president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935–44). While a law student, he joined (1899) Emilio Aguinaldo's insur...

Schuller, Gunther Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Schuller, Gunther Alexander, 1925–2015, American composer and conductor, b. Queens, N.Y. He studied French horn and flute, becoming principal hornist with the Cincinnati Symphony (1943–45) and Met...