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Selkirk, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Selkirk, Alexander sĕlˈkərk [key], 1676–1721, Scottish sailor whose adventures suggested to Daniel Defoe the story of Robinson Crusoe (1719). In 1704, as a sailing master, Selkirk quarreled with ...

Andrew, John Albion

(Encyclopedia)Andrew, John Albion, 1818–67, Civil War governor of Massachusetts (1861–66), b. Windham, Maine. He practiced law in Boston, but his antislavery sympathies drew him into politics. He was one of the...

Adams, Maude

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Maude, 1872–1953, American actress, b. Salt Lake City, Utah. Her father's name was Kiskadden, but she used her mother's maiden name. She began acting at an early age and became leading lady t...

Stamos, Theodoros

(Encyclopedia)Stamos, Theodoros stămˈōs [key], 1920–97, American painter, b. New York City. Allied with the New York school of the 1960s (see modern art), Stamos drew much of his inspiration from Asian mystici...

Stillwater

(Encyclopedia)Stillwater. 1 City (1990 pop. 13,822), seat of Washington co., E Minn., on the St. Croix River; inc. 1854. Boats, metal products, signs, computer supplies, molding and tools, and electronic goods are ...

Choate, Rufus

(Encyclopedia)Choate, Rufus chōt [key], 1799–1859, American lawyer and Congressman, b. Essex co., Mass.; uncle of Joseph Hodges Choate. Admitted to the bar in 1823, Rufus Choate gained national reputation as a l...

Islington

(Encyclopedia)Islington ĭzˈlĭngtən [key], inner borough of Greater London, SE England. Islington, in the ...

Arber, Werner

(Encyclopedia)Arber, Werner vĕrˈnər ärˈbər [key], 1929–, Swiss microbiologist. A professor at the Univ. of Geneva (1960–70) and later at the Univ. of Basel (1971–), Arber worked with Daniel Nathans and ...

eclecticism, in philosophy

(Encyclopedia)eclecticism ĭklĕkˈtĭsĭzˌəm [key] [Gr. eklektikos=to choose], in philosophy, the selection of elements from different systems of thought, without regard to possible contradictions between the sy...

Dobbs, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Dobbs, Arthur, 1689–1765, British colonial governor of North Carolina (1753–65), b. Co. Antrim, Ireland. A member of the Irish House of Commons (1727–30) and surveyor general of Ireland (1730), ...