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Rotterdam, city, Netherlands

(Encyclopedia)Rotterdam rŏtˈərdămˌ, Dutch rôtərdämˈ [key], city (1994 pop. 598,521), South Holland prov., W Netherlands, on the Nieuwe Maas (New Meuse) River near its mouth on the North Sea. One of the lar...

Irving, Washington

(Encyclopedia)Irving, Washington, 1783–1859, American author and diplomat, b. New York City. Irving was one of the first Americans to be recognized abroad as a man of letters, and he was a literary idol at home. ...

Dan

(Encyclopedia)Dan. 1 In the Bible, son of Jacob and Bilhah and eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Their allotment in SW Palestine was the least extensive. The hostility of the Amorites living the...

Gilead

(Encyclopedia)Gilead gĭlˈēăd [key], in the Bible. 1 Eponym of the Gileadites, grandson of Manasseh. 2 Gadite. 3 Jephthah's father. 4 City near Mizpah, denounced by Hosea. 5 Fertile, mountainous region, NE of th...

John, Augustus Edwin

(Encyclopedia)John, Augustus Edwin, 1879–1961, British painter and etcher, b. Wales. John studied at the Slade School, London. A leading portrait painter, he had many important sitters, among them Queen Elizabeth...

phlox

(Encyclopedia)phlox, common name for plants of the genus Phlox and for members of the Polemoniaceae, a family of herbs (and some shrubs and vines) found chiefly in the W United States. The family includes many popu...

Stuart, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Stuart, Robert, 1785–1843, American explorer, b. Scotland. He emigrated (1807) to Canada and became a fur trader. He joined in John Jacob Astor's Astoria venture, and in 1812 he led the overland par...

Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Benjamin [Heb.,=son of fortune], younger son of Jacob and Rachel, eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. His mother, dying, named him Benoni bĕnōˈnī [key] [Heb.,=son of my sorrow]. ...

District of Columbia, University of the

(Encyclopedia)District of Columbia, University of the, at Washington, D.C.; coeducational; land-grant and federally supported; est. 1976 with the merger of three existing colleges; predominantly African American. I...

Cushing, William Barker

(Encyclopedia)Cushing, William Barker, 1842–74, Union naval hero in the Civil War, b. Delafield, Wis., educated at Annapolis. Cushing became noted for a series of daredevil exploits, particularly for his sinking ...