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Leahy, William Daniel

(Encyclopedia)Leahy, William Daniel, 1875–1959, American naval officer and diplomat, b. Hampton, Iowa. He served in the Spanish-American War, in the Philippines, then in Nicaragua (1912), in Haiti (1916), in the ...

Caraway, Hattie Wyatt

(Encyclopedia)Caraway, Hattie Wyatt kărˈəwāˌ [key], 1878–1950, U.S. senator (1932–45), b. near Bakerville, Tenn. In 1932 she was appointed to fill the unexpired Senate term from Arkansas of her late husban...

Grand Coulee Dam

(Encyclopedia)Grand Coulee Dam ko͞oˈlē [key], 550 ft (168 m) high and 4,173 ft (1,272 m) long, on the Columbia ...

Kane, Elisha Kent

(Encyclopedia)Kane, Elisha Kent, 1820–57, American physician and arctic explorer, b. Philadelphia. Seeking adventure after medical school, Kane entered naval service and before he was 30 had seen many parts of th...

Earle, Ralph

(Encyclopedia)Earle or Earl, Ralph, 1751–1801, American portrait and landscape painter, b. Worcester co., Mass. He is purported to have painted four scenes of the battle of Lexington as an eyewitness, but is best...

Drewry's Bluff

(Encyclopedia)Drewry's Bluff dro͝orˈēz [key], high ground on the southern bank of the James River, E Va., S of Richmond; scene of two engagements in the Civil War. On May 15, 1862, the Confederates, positioned o...

New England Primer

(Encyclopedia)New England Primer, famous American school book, first published before 1690. Its compiler was Benjamin Harris, an English printer who emigrated to Boston. This was the book from which most of the chi...

O'Connor, Thomas Power

(Encyclopedia)O'Connor, Thomas Power, 1848–1929, Irish journalist and politician, known as Tay Pay [i.e., T. P.] O'Connor. In 1879 he won public notice for his hostile biography of Benjamin Disraeli. In Parliamen...

Shirley-Quirk, John Stanton

(Encyclopedia)Shirley-Quirk, John Stanton, 1931–2014, British bass-baritone. He began his career as a chemistry teacher, turning permanently to music in 1961. Acclaimed for his fine tone, diction, and phrasing, h...