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Grandin, Temple

(Encyclopedia)Grandin, Temple, 1947–, American animal scientist and industrial designer, b. Boston, grad. Franklin Pierce College (B.A., 1970), Arizona State Univ. (M.S., 1975), Univ. of Illinois (Ph.D., 1989). D...

Kansas-Nebraska Act

(Encyclopedia)Kansas-Nebraska Act, bill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. By 1854 the organization of the vast Platte and Kansas river c...

Sumner, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Sumner, Charles, 1811–74, U.S. senator from Massachusetts (1851–74), b. Boston. He attended (1831–33) and was later a lecturer at Harvard law school, was admitted (1834) to the bar, and practice...

midge

(Encyclopedia)midge, name for any of numerous minute, fragile flies in several families. The family Chironomidae consists of about 2,000 species, most of which are widely distributed. The herbivorous larvae are fou...

Skinner, Burrhus Frederic

(Encyclopedia)Skinner, Burrhus Frederic, 1904–90, American psychologist, b. Susquehanna, Pa. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1931, and remained there as an instructor until 1936, when he moved to the Univ. ...

Tacoma

(Encyclopedia)Tacoma təkōˈmə [key], city (1990 pop. 176,664), seat of Pierce co., W Wash., on Commencement Bay and Puget Sound at the mouth of the Puyallup River; inc. 1884. It is a major seaport and railroad t...

Quine, W. V.

(Encyclopedia)Quine, W. V. (Willard Van Orman Quine) kwīn [key], 1908–2000, American philosopher and mathematical logician, b. Akron, Ohio, grad. Oberlin, 1930. He studied at Harvard (Ph.D., 1932) under Alfred N...

Louisiana

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Louisiana ləwēˌzēănˈə, lo͞oēˌ– [key], state in the S central United States. It is bounded by Mississippi, with the Mississippi River forming about half of the border (E), the Gulf o...

Dick, Philip K.

(Encyclopedia)Dick, Philip K. (Philip Kindred Dick), 1928–82, American science-fiction writer, b. Chicago. Dick often wrote of the psychological states of individuals caught in altered realities where the everyda...

Davis, Sammy, Jr.

(Encyclopedia) Davis, Sammy, Jr. (Samuel George), 1925-1990, American entertainer, b. Harlem, New York City, N.Y. Both of Davis’s parents were dancers who performe...