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Banville, John

(Encyclopedia)Banville, John, 1945–, Irish novelist. His novels, which stress language over plot and narrative, are written in a dense, elaborate, and highly original blend of poetry and prose. They are allusive,...

Carey, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Carey, Peter, 1943–, Australian novelist, b. near Melbourne. Carey's combination of science fiction and fantasy motifs with a realistic style, displayed in the short stories in The Fat Man in Histor...

Stuart, Gilbert

(Encyclopedia)Stuart, Gilbert, 1755–1828, American portrait painter, b. North Kingstown, R.I., best known for his portraits of George Washington. Having shown an early talent for drawing, he became the pupil of C...

Harding, Chester

(Encyclopedia)Harding, Chester, 1792–1866, American portrait painter, b. Conway, Mass. He worked as an itinerant portrait painter long enough to enable him to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Design. Later he...

Krock, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Krock, Arthur, 1886–1974, American journalist, b. Glasgow, Ky. He left Princeton to take up reporting and worked in Louisville and Washington. In 1927 he joined the New York Times, becoming Washingt...

Dinwiddie, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Dinwiddie, Robert, 1693–1770, colonial governor of Virginia (1751–58), b. near Glasgow, Scotland. He was collector of customs (1727–38) for Bermuda and surveyor general (1738–51) for the Baham...

Dobrynin, Anatoly Fyodorovich

(Encyclopedia)Dobrynin, Anatoly Fyodorovich, 1919–2010, Soviet diplomat, b. Krasnaya Gorka. He studied at a Moscow aviation institute, designed aircraft during World War II, and was selected after the war for dip...

Fort Necessity

(Encyclopedia)Fort Necessity, entrenched camp built in July, 1754, by George Washington and his Virginia militia at Great Meadows (near the present Uniontown, Pa.). He retired there when he learned that the British...

Byrne, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Byrne, Jane, 1934–2014, American politician, b. Chicago as Margaret Jane Burke. She was Chicago's consumer sales commissioner (1968–77) under Mayor Richard Daley before she became the first woman ...

Powers, Hiram

(Encyclopedia)Powers, Hiram, 1805–73, American sculptor, b. Woodstock, Vt. Having moved to Ohio, he made wax models for a Cincinnati museum. In 1835 he began his career as a sculptor, spending some time in Washin...