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Shee, Sir Martin Archer

(Encyclopedia)Shee, Sir Martin Archer, 1769–1850, British portrait painter and writer, b. Dublin; pupil of Sir Joshua Reynolds. He attained popularity in court and theatrical circles and executed many royal commi...

Pseudo-Philo

(Encyclopedia)Pseudo-Philo, early Jewish work extant in Latin, probably written originally in Hebrew and emanating from Palestine. It was attributed to Philo (c.20 b.c.–a.d. 50) because it circulated with his wri...

Morton, Jelly Roll

(Encyclopedia)Morton, Jelly Roll, 1890–1941, American jazz musician, composer, and band leader, originally named Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe, b. Gulfport, La. He began studying piano as a child and in his youth was ...

Northcote, James

(Encyclopedia)Northcote, James nôrthˈkət [key], 1746–1831, English historical and portrait painter. He worked as assistant to Reynolds and studied at the Royal Academy. From 1777 to 1780 he studied in Italy an...

Kimball, Sumner Increase

(Encyclopedia)Kimball, Sumner Increase, 1834–1923, organizer of the U.S. Life-Saving Service, b. Lebanon, Maine. A lawyer, he became (1871) head of the revenue marine service of the Treasury Dept., and his invest...

Castle Mountains National Monument

(Encyclopedia)Castle Mountains National Monument, 20,920 acres (8,466 hectares), SE California. Surrounded on three sides by the Mojave National Preserve (see Mojave Desert), the monument contains Native American a...

Seir

(Encyclopedia)Seir sēˈər [key]. 1 Mountainous region, S Palestine, S of the Dead Sea. Mt. Hor is the highest point. Seir is identical with Edom, which is mentioned frequently in the Bible as Mt. Seir. The eponym...

Amorites

(Encyclopedia)Amorites ămˈərīts [key], a people of Canaan. There is evidence of them in Babylonia, where in the 19th cent. b.c. they established under their patronage the first dynasty at Babylon. The most powe...

Gibson, Josh

(Encyclopedia)Gibson, Josh (Joshua Gibson) 1911–47, American baseball player, b. Buena Vista, Ga. A catcher and the long-time batterymate of Satchel Paige, Gibson was called “the Babe Ruth of the Negro Leagues....

Aijalon

(Encyclopedia)Aijalon ăˈjəlŏn, īˈ–, āˈ– [key], in the Bible. 1 Town, on the border between Philistia and Israel, the modern Yalo (Israel), NW of Jerusalem. In the Tell el Amarna letters it is called Aia...