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Lessing, Doris

(Encyclopedia)Lessing, Doris, 1919–2013, British novelist, b. Kermanshah, Persia (now Iran) as Doris May Tayler. Largely self-educated, she was brought up on a farm in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), and in 194...

Roebling, John Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Roebling, John Augustus rōˈblĭng [key], 1806–69, German-American engineer, b. Mulhouse. He studied engineering in Berlin and in 1831 came to the United States. He demonstrated the practicability ...

Sage, Russell

(Encyclopedia)Sage, Russell, 1815–1906, American financier, b. Oneida co., N.Y. He was successful in the grocery business in Troy, N.Y. Active in public affairs, he became (1845) alderman of Troy and served (1853...

Nantucket

(Encyclopedia)Nantucket năntŭkˈĭt [key], island, c.14 mi (23 km) long, from 3 to 6 mi (4.8–9.6 km) wide, SE Mass., lying c.25 mi (40 km) S of Cape Cod, from which it is separated by Nantucket Sound. Muskeget ...

Mount Vernon, estate, United States

(Encyclopedia)Mount Vernon, NE Va., overlooking the Potomac River near Alexandria, S of Washington, D.C.; home of George Washington from 1747 until his death in 1799. The land was patented in 1674, and the house wa...

Kinderhook

(Encyclopedia)Kinderhook kĭnˈdərho͝okˌ [key], village (1990 pop. 1,293), Columbia co., SE N.Y.; settled before the Revolution, inc. 1838. Richard Upjohn designed St. Paul's Church (1851) there. President Marti...

Memling, Hans

(Encyclopedia)Memling or Memlinc, Hans häns mĕmˈlĭng, –lĭngk [key], c.1430–1494, Flemish religious and portrait painter, b. Germany. He may have studied with Roger van der Weyden in Brussels, but after 146...

Wolff, Elisabeth (Bekker)

(Encyclopedia)Wolff, Elisabeth (Bekker) ālēˈzäbĕt bĕkˈər vôlf [key], 1738–1804, Dutch novelist. She wrote satirical articles and poems, but she is most famous for the epistolary novels she wrote in colla...

Bouts, Dierick

(Encyclopedia)Bouts, Dierick, Dirk, or Thierry dēˈrĭk, dĭrk, tyĕˈrē bouts [key], c.1420–1475, early Netherlandish painter, b. Haarlem, active in Louvain. Bouts was influenced by Roger van der Weyden, the v...

Butler, Benjamin Franklin, 1795–1858, American political leader and cabinet officer

(Encyclopedia)Butler, Benjamin Franklin, 1795–1858, American political leader and cabinet officer, b. Columbia co., N.Y. Butler, like his former law associate, Martin Van Buren, was a member of the Albany Regency...