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Patton, George Smith, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Patton, George Smith, Jr., 1885–1945, American general, b. San Gabriel, Calif. A graduate of West Point (1909), he served in World War I and was wounded while commanding a tank brigade in France. Su...

Stark, Freya Madeline

(Encyclopedia)Stark, Freya Madeline frāˈə [key], 1893–1993, British author, traveler, and Arabist. The first European to visit several areas in the Middle East, she was born in Paris to artist parents and grew...

Peirce, Charles Sanders

(Encyclopedia)Peirce, Charles Sanders pûrs [key], 1839–1914, American philosopher and polymath, b. Cambridge, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1859; son of Benjamin Peirce. Except for occasional lectures he renounced the r...

Crockett, Davy

(Encyclopedia)Crockett, Davy (David Crockett) krŏkˈĭt [key], 1786–1836, American frontiersman, b. Limestone, near Greeneville, Tenn. After serving (1813–14) under Andrew Jackson against the Creek in the War ...

executive

(Encyclopedia)executive, one who carries out the will or plan of another person or of a group. In government, the term refers not only to the chief administrative officer but to all others who execute the laws and ...

revolution

(Encyclopedia)revolution, in a political sense, fundamental and violent change in the values, political institutions, social structure, leadership, and policies of a society. The totality of change implicit in this...

Burroughs, William Seward

(Encyclopedia)Burroughs, William Seward, 1914–97, American novelist, b. St. Louis, grad. Harvard, 1936, moved to New York City, 1943. He was an elder member of the beat generation. Junkie (1953), originally publi...

Weber, Max, German sociologist

(Encyclopedia)Weber, Max vāˈbər [key], 1864–1920, German sociologist, economist, and political scientist. At various times he taught at Berlin, Freiburg, Munich, and Heidelberg. One of Weber's chief interests...

Led Zeppelin

(Encyclopedia)Led Zeppelin, English pop music group formed in 1968 by guitarist Jimmy Page (1944–), singer Robert Plant (1948–), bassist John Paul Jones (1946–), and drummer John “Bonzo” Bonham (1948–80...

Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn (Stevenson)

(Encyclopedia)Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn (Stevenson) găsˈkəl [key], 1810–65, English novelist. When she was still an infant her mother died, and she was brought up by an aunt in Knutsford, Cheshire, the backg...