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Schirra, Wally

(Encyclopedia)Schirra, Wally, (Walter Marty Schirra, Jr.), 1923–2007, the only American astronaut to fly in all of NASA's first three manned spaceflight programs, b. Hackensack, N.J., grad. U.S. Naval Academy (19...

Shockley, William Bradford

(Encyclopedia)Shockley, William Bradford, 1910–89, American physicist, b. London. He graduated from the California Institute of Technology (B.S., 1932) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Ph.D., 1936)....

Capitol, seat of the U.S. Congress

(Encyclopedia)Capitol, seat of the U.S. government at Washington, D.C. It is the city's dominating monument, built on an elevated site that was chosen by George Washington in consultation with Major Pierre L'Enfant...

Franz Josef Land

(Encyclopedia)Franz Josef Land frăns jōˈzəf, fränts yōˈzĕf [key], Rus. Zemlya Frantsa Iosifa, archipelago, c.6,300 sq mi (16,320 sq km), in the Arctic Ocean N of Novaya Zemlya, Russia. It consists of more t...

Maddux, Greg

(Encyclopedia)Maddux, Greg (Gregory Alan Maddux), 1966–, American baseball player, b. San Angelo, Tex. Playing in the National League with the Chicago Cubs (1986–92, 2004–6), Atlanta Braves (1993–2003), Los...

Somerset, Robert Carr, earl of

(Encyclopedia)Somerset, Robert Carr, earl of, 1587?–1645, Scottish favorite of James I of England. His family name also appears as Ker. He may have accompanied James to England as a page in 1603, but he appears t...

Tower of London

(Encyclopedia)Tower of London, ancient fortress in London, England, just east of the City and on the north bank of the Thames, covering about 13 acres (5.3 hectares). Now used mainly as a museum, it was a royal res...

Bogle, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Bogle, Jack (John Clifton Bogle) [key], 1929–2019, American financial executive, b. Montclair, N.J., grad. Princeton (1951). Going to work for Walter Morgan's Wellington Fund, he became CEO in 1967...

Weir, Julian Alden

(Encyclopedia)Weir, Julian Alden wēr [key], 1852–1919, b. West Point, N.Y., American painter. He studied with his father Robert Walter Weir, a landscape painter of the Hudson River school, at the National Academ...

Rob Roy

(Encyclopedia)Rob Roy [Scottish Gaelic,=red Rob], 1671–1734, Scottish freebooter, whose real name was Robert MacGregor. He is remembered chiefly as he figures in Sir Walter Scott's novel Rob Roy (1818). Deprived ...