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Spark, Dame Muriel

(Encyclopedia)Spark, Dame Muriel, 1918–2006, Scottish novelist, b. Muriel Sarah Camberg. She lived in Edinburgh, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), London, New York, and Rome, and spent her last years in Tuscany. Spark's t...

Scorsese, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Scorsese, Martin skôrsāˈzē, –sĕzˈē [key], 1942–, American film director; b...

Hardy, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Hardy, Thomas, 1840–1928, English novelist and poet, b. near Dorchester, one of the great English writers of the 19th cent. The son of a stonemason, he derived a love of music from his father and a ...

Dye, Pete

(Encyclopedia)Dye, Pete (Paul Dye, Jr.), 1925–2020, American golf course architect, often regarded as the father of modern golf course architecture, b. Urbana, Ohio. He was a successful amateur golfer and an insu...

Anti-Federalists

(Encyclopedia)Anti-Federalists, in American history, opponents of the adoption of the federal Constitution. Leading Anti-Federalists included George Mason, Elbridge Gerry, Patrick Henry, and George Clinton. Later, ...

Hildreth, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hildreth, Richard hĭlˈdrəth [key], 1807–65, American historian, b. Deerfield, Mass. From 1832 to 1838 he was the leading editorial writer for the Boston Daily Atlas. In addition to writing contro...

Hershey, Milton Snavely

(Encyclopedia)Hershey, Milton Snavely, 1857–1945, American manufacturer and philanthropist, b. near Derry Church (now Hershey), Pa. The son of Mennonite farmers, at 15 he was apprenticed to a confectioner in Lanc...

ergonomics

(Encyclopedia)ergonomics, the engineering science concerned with the physical and psychological relationship between machines and the people who use them. The ergonomicist takes an empirical approach to the study o...

micrometer

(Encyclopedia)micrometer mīkrŏmˈətər, mīˈkrōmēˌtər [key]. 1 Instrument used for measuring extremely small distances. Typical examples are devices used in astronomical telescopes to measure the apparent d...

Pelée

(Encyclopedia)Pelée pəlāˈ [key], volcano, 4,429 ft (1,350 m) high, on N Martinique, in the West Indies. On May 8, 1902, the day after the eruption of Soufrière on St. Vincent, Pelée also erupted, engulfing Sa...