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Jackson, Ketanji Onyika Brown

(Encyclopedia)Jackson, Ketanji Onyika Brown, American lawyer, jurist, and Supreme Court Justice, b. Washington, D.C., 1970; grad. Harvard-Radcliff (B.A., cum laud...

Roethke, Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Roethke, Theodore rĕtˈkə [key], 1908–63, American poet, b. Saginaw, Mich., educated at the Univ. of Michigan and Harvard. A poet of the Midwest, Roethke combined a love of the land with his visio...

Watson, Thomas John

(Encyclopedia)Watson, Thomas John, 1874–1956, American industrialist and philanthropist, b. Campbell, N.Y. After rising from clerk to sales executive in the National Cash Register Co. (1898–1913), he became (19...

Harpestreng, Henrik

(Encyclopedia)Harpestreng, Henrik, or Henricus Dacus, d. 1244, Danish herbalist and medical writer. He probably studied at the medical school in Salerno, and was a canon at Roskilde Cathedral, then Denmark's eccles...

Daley, Richard Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Daley, Richard Joseph, 1902–76, U.S. political leader, b. Chicago. Admitted to the bar in 1933, he entered politics and served as a Democrat in the state assembly (1936–38) and the state senate (1...

Iran hostage crisis

(Encyclopedia)Iran hostage crisis, in U.S. history, events following the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by Iranian students on Nov. 4, 1979. The overthrow of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi of Iran by an Isla...

Vermeer, Jan

(Encyclopedia)Vermeer, Jan or Johannes vərmērˈ, Dutch yän vərmārˈ, yōhänˈəs [key], 1632–75, Dutch genre and landscape painter. He was born in Delft, where he spent his entire life. He was also known as...

Kenai Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Kenai Peninsula kēˈnī [key], S Alaska, jutting c.150 mi (240 km) into the Gulf of Alaska, between Prince William Sound and Cook Inlet. The Kenai Mts., c.7,000 ft (2,130 m) high, occupy most of the ...

Lee, Ann

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Ann, 1736–84, English religious visionary, founder of the Shakers in America. Born in Manchester, she worked there in the cotton factories and then became a cook. In 1762 she was married to Abr...

Waters, Alice

(Encyclopedia)Waters, Alice, 1944–, American chef and author whose advocacy of organically grown, locally produced seasonal food and of sustainable agriculture has influenced America's approach to food, b. Chatha...