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Swan, Sir Joseph Wilson

(Encyclopedia)Swan, Sir Joseph Wilson, 1828–1914, English chemist and physicist. He made an incandescent lamp using a carbon filament (1860), 20 years before Edison's lamp. Noted for important contributions to ph...

Bonnat, Léon Joseph Florentin

(Encyclopedia)Bonnat, Léon Joseph Florentin lāôNˈ zhôzĕfˈ flôräNtăNˈ bônäˈ [key], 1833–c.1922, French portrait and historical painter. He is best known for his portraits of famous men, including Thi...

Biden, Joseph Robinette, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Biden, Joseph Robinette, Jr. bīdˈən [key], 1942–, 46th President of the United States (2021–), b. Scranton, Pa. A lawyer and Democrat, he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware, where his...

Brennan, William Joseph, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Brennan, William Joseph, Jr., 1906–97, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1956–90), b. Newark, N.J. After receiving his law degree from Harvard, he practiced law in Newark. He served as ...

Franz Josef Land

(Encyclopedia)Franz Josef Land frăns jōˈzəf, fränts yōˈzĕf [key], Rus. Zemlya Frantsa Iosifa, archipelago, c.6,300 sq mi (16,320 sq km), in the Arctic Ocean N of Novaya Zemlya, Russia. It consists of more t...

Jellachich de Buzim, Joseph, Count

(Encyclopedia)Jellachich de Buzim, Joseph, Count yĕˈlächĭch, bo͞oˈzĭm, –zhĭm [key], 1801–59, Austrian general, a Croatian nobleman. He was governor of Croatia when the revolution of 1848 broke out in Hu...

Lalande, Joseph Jérôme Lefrançais de

(Encyclopedia)Lalande, Joseph Jérôme Lefrançais de läläNdˈ [key], 1732–1807, French astronomer. Under the direction of the French Academy of Science, he went to Berlin in 1751 to make observations on the p...

Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Le Verrier, Urbain Jean Joseph ürbăNˈ zhäN zhôzĕfˈ ləvĕryāˈ [key], 1811–77, French astronomer who made calculations that led to the discovery of the planet Neptune. In considering the per...

Macdonald, Jacques Étienne Joseph Alexandre

(Encyclopedia)Macdonald, Jacques Étienne Joseph Alexandre zhäk ātyĕnˈzhôzĕfˈ älĕksäNˈdrə mäkdônälˈ [key], 1765–1840, marshal of France, of Scottish descent. He distinguished himself in the French...

Ligne, Charles Joseph, prince de

(Encyclopedia)Ligne, Charles Joseph, prince de shärl zhôzĕfˈ prăNs də lēˈnyə [key], 1735–1814, Austrian field marshal. He belonged to an ancient princely family of Hainaut, in the Austrian Netherlands (n...