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Robinson, Arthur Napoleon Raymond

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Arthur Napoleon Raymond, 1926–2014, Trinidadian political leader, b. Tobago. A barrister before being elected (1961) to parliament, he was a founding member of the People's National Moveme...

Davie, William Richardson

(Encyclopedia)Davie, William Richardson, 1756–1820, American Revolutionary soldier and statesman, b. Egremont, Cumberland, England. During the American Revolution he served under Casimir Pulaski and later took pa...

Ventris, Michael George Francis

(Encyclopedia)Ventris, Michael George Francis, 1922–56, English linguist. Ventris was a student of architecture, but he became interested in the untranslated Mycenaean scripts, particularly Linear B, which was fo...

Cage, John Milton, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Cage, John Milton Jr., 1912–92, American composer, b. Los Angeles. A leading figure in the musical avant-garde from the late 1930s, he attended Pomona...

Bewick, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Bewick, Thomas byo͞oˈĭk [key], 1753–1828, English wood engraver. Bewick pioneered in the revival of original wood engraving. Among his famous early works are his illustrations for John Gay's Fabl...

Juan Fernández

(Encyclopedia)Juan Fernández hwän fārnänˈdās [key], group of small islands, S Pacific, c.400 mi (640 km) W of Valparaiso, Chile. They belong to Chile and are constitutionally a special territory; they are adm...

Wyss, Johann David

(Encyclopedia)Wyss, Johann David yōˈhän däˈvĭt vēs [key], 1743–1818, Swiss author. His Swiss Family Robinson (1813, tr. 1814), an internationally popular classic for children, relates the adventures of a s...

St. John, John Pierce

(Encyclopedia)St. John, John Pierce, 1833–1916, American political reformer, b. Brookville, Ind. He traveled in the West and in South America, fought in the Union army in the Civil War, and after 1869 practiced l...

Rickey, Branch

(Encyclopedia)Rickey, Branch, 1881–1965, American baseball executive, b. Stockdale, Ohio. As manager or executive, he was with the St. Louis Browns (1913–15), the St. Louis Cardinals (1917–42), the Brooklyn D...

Watt, James

(Encyclopedia)Watt, James, 1736–1819, Scottish inventor. While working at the Univ. of Glasgow as an instrument maker, Watt was asked to repair a model of Thomas Newcomen's steam engine. He devised improvements t...