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Westinghouse, George

(Encyclopedia)Westinghouse, George, 1846–1914, American inventor and manufacturer, b. Central Bridge, N.Y. In the Civil War he served in the Union army and navy. Among his inventions in the railroad field were a ...

Eaton, Amos

(Encyclopedia)Eaton, Amos ēˈtən [key], 1776–1842, American naturalist, b. Chatham, N.Y., grad. Williams College, 1799. After practicing law for a time, he conducted pioneer geological surveys in Albany and Ren...

Kilpatrick, William Heard

(Encyclopedia)Kilpatrick, William Heard kĭlpăˈtrĭk [key], 1871–1965, American philosopher, b. White Plains, Ga., grad. Mercer College, 1891, Ph.D. Columbia, 1912, and studied at Johns Hopkins. He taught at Te...

Robinson, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Bill, 1878–1949, African-American tap dancer popularly known as “Bojangles,” b. Richmond, Va., as Luther Robinson. An influential virtuoso tap dancer, he was a tap innovator and repute...

Austin, Moses

(Encyclopedia)Austin, Moses, 1761–1821, American pioneer, b. Durham, Conn. After developing lead mines in SW Virginia, he went to inspect (1796–97) prospects in Missouri, then Spanish territory. In 1798 he foun...

Wilder, Laura Elizabeth Ingalls

(Encyclopedia)Wilder, Laura Elizabeth Ingalls, 1867–1957, American author of the classic Little House series of children's books, b. Pepin, Wis. She and her pioneer family traveled (1869–79) throughout the Midw...

psychokinesis

(Encyclopedia)psychokinesis, movement or deformation of a physical object by thought or willpower alone (i.e., without the application of physical force). Telekinesis (sometimes abbreviated TK), an older term for p...

Zane, Ebenezer

(Encyclopedia)Zane, Ebenezer, 1747–1811, American pioneer and land speculator, b. near what is now Moorefield, W.Va. (then Virginia). With his brothers Silas and Jonathan, he went west in 1769 and established the...

Shaw, Anna Howard

(Encyclopedia)Shaw, Anna Howard, 1847–1919, American woman-suffrage leader, b. England. She emigrated (1851) to the United States in early childhood and grew up on a farm in Michigan. She received a degree in the...

Erikson, Erik

(Encyclopedia)Erikson, Erik, 1902–94, American psychoanalyst, b. Germany. As a young man he traveled throughout Europe. He became a teacher in a Vienna private school and trained as a psychoanalyst (1927–33) un...