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Pew Charitable Trusts

(Encyclopedia)Pew Charitable Trusts, philanthropic foundation established (1948) by the children of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew (1886–1963) of Philadelphia to provide funds for “general religious, cha...

Cunningham, Merce

(Encyclopedia)Cunningham, Merce (Mercier Philip Cunningham), 1919–2009, American modern dancer and choreographer, b. Centralia, Wash. Cunningham studied modern dance with Martha Graham and ballet at Balanchine's ...

Wise, Thomas James

(Encyclopedia)Wise, Thomas James, 1859–1937, English bibliographer and book collector. His famous Ashley Library of rare editions and manuscripts was acquired by the British Museum in 1937. His many bibliographie...

showboat

(Encyclopedia)showboat. In the early 19th cent. entertainment was brought by boat to the pioneers that settled along the western rivers (especially the Mississippi and Ohio) of the United States. At first companies...

Davis, Gray

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Gray (Joseph Graham Davis, Jr.), 1942–, U.S. politician, b. the Bronx, N.Y. A graduate of Stanford Univ. (1964) and Columbia Univ. Law School (1967), he entered the army and served in Vietnam...

Curtiss, Glenn Hammond

(Encyclopedia)Curtiss, Glenn Hammond, 1878–1930, American inventor and aviation pioneer, b. Hammondsport, N.Y. He was a member of Alexander Graham Bell's Aerial Experiment Association (1907–9). In 1908 he made ...

Clark, Alvan

(Encyclopedia)Clark, Alvan, 1804–87, American astronomer and maker of astronomical lenses, b. Ashfield, Mass. In 1846 the firm of Alvan Clark & Sons was established at Cambridgeport, Mass.; it became famous a...

mores

(Encyclopedia)mores môrˈāz [key], concept developed by William Graham Sumner to designate those folkways that if violated, result in extreme punishment. The term comes from the Latin mos (customs), and although ...

O'Brien, William Shoney

(Encyclopedia)O'Brien, William Shoney, c.1826–1878, American silver magnate, b. Dublin, Ireland. He was brought to the United States as a child and worked in a New York grocery store before going to California in...

Leslie, David

(Encyclopedia)Leslie, David, d. 1682, Scottish military commander. After serving in the Swedish army, he was a major general under his uncle, Alexander Leslie, 1st earl of Leven, in the Scottish army that joined th...