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Sophia

(Encyclopedia)Sophia sōfīˈə, Ger. zōfēˈä [key], 1630–1714, electress of Hanover, consort of Elector Ernest Augustus. She was the daughter of Frederick the Winter King and Elizabeth of Bohemia, who was the...

cult

(Encyclopedia)cult, ritual observances involved in worship of, or communication with, the supernatural or its symbolic representations. A cult includes the totality of ideas, activities, and practices associated wi...

Evans, Dame Edith

(Encyclopedia)Evans, Dame Edith, 1888–1976, English actress. After her stage debut in 1912, Evans toured with Ellen Terry. Known for her resonant voice, she worked with the Old Vic (1925–26) and had a distingui...

Hewes, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Hewes, Joseph hyo͞oz [key], 1730–79, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Kingston, N.J. He moved (1760) to Edenton, N.C., and became a wealthy...

Forbes, Malcolm

(Encyclopedia)Forbes, Malcolm, 1919–90, American publisher, b. Englewood, N.J. The third son of a Scottish immigrant who founded Forbes magazine in 1917, he graduated from Princeton (1941), and became publisher o...

Hill, Joe

(Encyclopedia)Hill, Joe, 1879–1915, Swedish-American union organizer; b. Sweden, as Joel Hägglund, also called Joseph Hillström. He came to the United States in 1902 and worked as a miner and a longshoreman, wh...

Selznick, David O.

(Encyclopedia)Selznick, David O., 1902–65, American film producer, b. Pittsburgh. He worked for studios in Hollywood before founding Selznick International Pictures in 1936. Selznick's most famous movie is Gone w...

Geiger, Johannes Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Geiger, Johannes Wilhelm (Hans Geiger) gīˈgər [key], 1882–1945, German physicist. Geiger received a doctorate in physics at Erlangen in 1906, then went to Manchester, where he assisted British c...

Abacha, Sani

(Encyclopedia)Abacha, Sani, 1943–98, Nigerian military officer and political leader, b. Kano. He received military training in Nigeria and England, joining the Nigerian army in 1963. Abacha participated in severa...

Yellow Book

(Encyclopedia)Yellow Book, English illustrated quarterly published (1894–97) in book form in London. Henry Harland was literary editor, and Aubrey Beardsley, whose exotic and provocative drawings brought immediat...