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Wilson, Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Henry Maitland Wilson, 1st Baron, 1881–1964, British field marshal. He served in the South African War and World War I and in 1939 became commander of the British forces in Egypt. He led the...

Bowne, Borden Parker

(Encyclopedia)Bowne, Borden Parker boun [key], 1847–1910, American philosopher, b. Monmouth co., N.J. In 1876 he became head of the department of philosophy at Boston Univ. and later served as dean of the graduat...

Bassett, James

(Encyclopedia)Bassett, James băsˈət [key], 1834–1906, American Presbyterian missionary, b. Canada. In 1872, under the auspices of the American Board, he founded the first American mission at Tehran, Persia (no...

Burns, Otway

(Encyclopedia)Burns, Otway, c.1775–1850, American privateer, b. Onslow co., N.C. At the outbreak of the War of 1812, he outfitted the Baltimore clipper Snap-Dragon as a privateer and began one of the most spectac...

brown recluse spider

(Encyclopedia)brown recluse spider or violin spider, poisonous nocturnal spider, Loxoceles reclusa, most common in the SE and S central United States. Adults are 3⁄8 in. (10 mm) long and are light brown with a da...

Vestfjarða

(Encyclopedia)Vestfjarða vĕstˈfyärˌᵺä [key], peninsula, c.80 mi (130 km) long, NW Iceland, between Breiðafjörður and Húnaflói and extending into the Denmark Strait. The peninsula, c.90 mi (140 km) wide...

Lvov, Prince Georgi Yevgenyevich

(Encyclopedia)Lvov, Prince Georgi Yevgenyevich gēôrˈgē yĭvgāˈnyəvĭch lyəvôfˈ [key], 1861–1925, Russian public official, head of the provisional government (Mar.–July, 1917). He played a prominent pa...

Medici, Alessandro de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Alessandro de' mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1510?–37, duke of Florence (1532–37); probably an illegitimate son of Lorenzo de' Medici, duke of Urbino. His prominence began when ...

National Security Agency

(Encyclopedia)National Security Agency (NSA), an independent agency within the U.S. Dept. of Defense. Founded by presidential order in 1952, its primary functions are to collect and analyze communications intellige...

Andropov, Yuri Vladimirovich

(Encyclopedia)Andropov, Yuri Vladimirovich yo͞oˈrē vlədyēˈmĭravĭch əndrôˈpôf [key], 1914–84, Soviet Communist leader (1982–84). As ambassador to Hungary from 1954 to 1957, he played a major role in ...