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Astor, William Backhouse, 1829–92, American financier and sportsman

(Encyclopedia)Astor, William Backhouse, 1829–92, American financier and sportsman, b. New York City. The son of William Backhouse Astor (1792–1875), he was a retiring man, notable principally for his wealth and...

Abbott, Lyman

(Encyclopedia)Abbott, Lyman, 1835–1922, American clergyman and editor, b. Roxbury, Mass., son of Jacob Abbott. He was ordained a minister in 1860 and was pastor in several churches before succeeding Henry Ward Be...

Straubing

(Encyclopedia)Straubing shtrouˈbĭng [key], city (1994 pop. 43,586), Bavaria, SE Germany, on the Danube (Donau) River. It is an agricultural market of Lower Bavaria and an industrial center. Manufactures include m...

Whelan, Wendy

(Encyclopedia)Whelan, Wendy, 1967–, American ballet dancer, b. Louisville, Ky. A soloist (1989) and principal (1991) with the New York City Ballet (NYCB), the angular, muscled Whelan became known for her roles in...

Geertgen tot Sint Jans

(Encyclopedia)Geertgen tot Sint Jans gārtˈgən tôt sĭnt yäns [key], fl. latter half of 15th cent., Dutch painter. Geertgen is the earliest painter of record in Haarlem. He may have gone to Ghent and had some c...

Albany Regency

(Encyclopedia)Albany Regency, name given, after 1820, to the leaders of the first political machine, which was developed in New York state by Martin Van Buren. The name derived from the charge that Van Buren's prin...

Massillon

(Encyclopedia)Massillon măsˈĭlŏn [key], city (1990 pop. 31,007), Stark co., NE Ohio, on the Tuscarawas River; inc. 1853. A wheat-shipping center on the Ohio & Erie Canal after 1828, it became an industrial ...

Philips, Ambrose

(Encyclopedia)Philips, Ambrose, 1674–1749, English author. After resigning his fellowship from Cambridge in 1708, he moved to London and became known in the literary Whig coterie of Addison. He is principally rem...

Strauss, Levi

(Encyclopedia)Strauss, Levi, 1829–1902, American merchant, b. Buttenheim, Germany, as Löb Strauss. He moved with his mother and sisters to New York City in 1847 to join his brothers' wholesale dry-goods company....

Reuben

(Encyclopedia)Reuben ro͞oˈbən [key], in the Bible, Jacob's eldest son and eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. He interceded for his brother Joseph's life and guaranteed the safe return from Egy...