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Wyss, Johann David

(Encyclopedia)Wyss, Johann David yōˈhän däˈvĭt vēs [key], 1743–1818, Swiss author. His Swiss Family Robinson (1813, tr. 1814), an internationally popular classic for children, relates the adventures of a s...

Rickey, Branch

(Encyclopedia)Rickey, Branch, 1881–1965, American baseball executive, b. Stockdale, Ohio. As manager or executive, he was with the St. Louis Browns (1913–15), the St. Louis Cardinals (1917–42), the Brooklyn D...

Northumbria, kingdom of

(Encyclopedia)Northumbria, kingdom of nôrthŭmˈbrēˈə [key], one of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England. It was originally composed of two independent kingdoms divided by the Tees River, Bernicia (including mod...

Schultz, Theodore William

(Encyclopedia)Schultz, Theodore William, 1902–98, American economist; b. Arlington, S.Dak. He taught at Iowa State College (1930–43) and the Univ. of Chicago (1943–67), but remained active at Chicago long aft...

Watt, James

(Encyclopedia)Watt, James, 1736–1819, Scottish inventor. While working at the Univ. of Glasgow as an instrument maker, Watt was asked to repair a model of Thomas Newcomen's steam engine. He devised improvements t...

Polaroid

(Encyclopedia)Polaroid: see Land, Edwin H.

Birkenhead, Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Birkenhead, Frederick Edwin Smith, 1st earl of bûrˈkənhĕdˌ [key], 1872–1930, British statesman and jurist. He was called to the bar in 1899 and entered the House of Commons as a Conservative in...

Abbey Theatre

(Encyclopedia)Abbey Theatre, Irish theatrical company devoted primarily to indigenous drama. W. B. Yeats was a leader in founding (1902) the Irish National Theatre Society with Lady Gregory, J. M. Synge, and A. E. ...

Penda

(Encyclopedia)Penda, d. 654, king of Mercia (c.632–654). A noble of the Mercian royal house, he fought (629) the king of Wessex for lands along the Severn River. He then allied himself with Cadwallon of Wales, de...

Lee, William Henry Fitzhugh

(Encyclopedia)Lee, William Henry Fitzhugh, known as Rooney Lee, 1837–91, Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, b. Arlington House, near Alexandria, Va.; son of Robert E. Lee. He entered Harvard i...