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Hayashi, Fumiko

(Encyclopedia)Hayashi, Fumiko fo͞oˈmēˈkō häˈyäˈshē [key], 1903–51, Japanese novelist and short-story writer. The daughter of an itinerant peddlar, Hayashi was raised in abject poverty. After finishing s...

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

(Encyclopedia)William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, philanthropic organization founded in 1966 by engineer and entrepeneur William R. Hewlett (1913–2001), co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, his wife, Flora Lamson Hew...

Stuart, James Ewell Brown

(Encyclopedia)Stuart, James Ewell Brown (Jeb Stuart), 1833–64, Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War, b. Patrick co., Va. Most of his U.S. army service was with the 1st Cavalry in Kansas. On Vir...

Point Four program

(Encyclopedia)Point Four program, U.S. foreign aid project aimed at providing technological skills, knowledge, and equipment to poor nations throughout the world. The program also encouraged the flow of private inv...

Zechariah, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Zechariah zĕkˌərīˈə [key], prophetic book of the Bible, which dates from 520 b.c.–518 b.c. at Jerusalem. The prophet was associated with Haggai in a movement to restore the Temple. The book, a...

sex therapy

(Encyclopedia)sex therapy, treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunction, including impotence, orgasmic dysfunction, vaginismus (spasm of the muscles of the vagina), premature ejaculation, and lack of sexual respon...

Pleasonton, Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Pleasonton, Alfred, 1824–97, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Washington, D.C. He served in the Mexican War and in the Indian wars on the frontier. In the Civil War, he distinguished hims...

Annapolis Convention

(Encyclopedia)Annapolis Convention, 1786, interstate convention called by Virginia to discuss a uniform regulation of commerce. It met at Annapolis, Md. With only 5 of the 13 states—Delaware, New Jersey, New York...

Sloane, William Milligan

(Encyclopedia)Sloane, William Milligan, 1850–1926, American historian. After serving as secretary to George Bancroft and studying under Droysen in Germany, he was professor of history at Princeton (1883–96) and...

Howard, Oliver Otis

(Encyclopedia)Howard, Oliver Otis, 1830–1909, Union general in the Civil War, founder of Howard Univ., b. Leeds, Maine, grad. Bowdoin College, 1850, and West Point, 1854. Made a brigadier general of volunteers (S...