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Thanksgiving Day

(Encyclopedia)Thanksgiving Day, national holiday in the United States commemorating the Pilgrims' celebration of the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony in 1621, after a winter of great starvation and privation. ...

Valentine's Day

(Encyclopedia)Valentine's Day: see Saint Valentine's Day. ...

Canada Day

(Encyclopedia)Canada Day, formerly Dominion Day, Canadian national holiday, celebrated July 1. It is the anniversary of the uniting in 1867 of Upper and Lower Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia as the dominion ...

Veterans' Day

(Encyclopedia)Veterans' Day, holiday formerly observed in the United States as Armistice Day in commemoration of the signing of the Armistice ending World War I. Nov. 11 officially became Veterans' Day on May 24, 1...

Lewis, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Andrew, 1720?–1781, American soldier, b. Ireland. As a boy he emigrated with his family to America and settled near Staunton, Va. Later, he became a leading frontier Indian fighter. In 1754, ...

Lewis, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Carl (Frederick Carlton Lewis), 1961–, American sprinter and jumper, b. Birmingham, Ala. A star in high school and at the Univ. of Houston, he became possibly the greatest track athlete of al...

Lewis, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Francis, 1713–1802?, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Llandaff, Wales. As clothing contractor for British troops during the French an...

Lewis, Jerry

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Jerry, 1926–2017, extremely popular and influential American comedian, b. Newark, N.J. as Jerome Levitch. The son of vaudevillians, he entered show business early and entertained in the “bo...

Lewis, Lennox

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Lennox (Lennox Claudis Lewis), 1965–, British-Canadian boxer. Born in London, England, to Jamaican parents, Lewis had a troubled childhood and followed his mother to Canada at the age of 12. ...

Lewis, Meriwether

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Meriwether, 1774–1809, American explorer, one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark expedition, b. near Charlottesville, Va. He was a captain in the army and served in a number of campaigns a...