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Takoma Park

(Encyclopedia)Takoma Park təkōˈmə [key], city (1990 pop. 16,700), Montgomery and Prince Georges counties, W central Md., a residential suburb of Washington, D.C.; inc. 1890. It is the international headquarters...

Wexler, Nancy

(Encyclopedia)Wexler, Nancy, 1945–, American geneticist and neuropsychologist, b. Washington, D.C., Ph.D. Univ. of Michigan, 1974. After her mother was diagnosed with Huntington's disease in 1968, her father, the...

Wheaton

(Encyclopedia)Wheaton. 1 City (1990 pop. 51,464), seat of Du Page co., NE Ill., a residential suburb of Chicago; inc. 1859. It is a religious center and the headquarters of the Theosophical Society of America. Many...

Wrong, George MacKinnon

(Encyclopedia)Wrong, George MacKinnon, 1860–1948, Canadian historian. He was professor of history at the Univ. of Toronto from 1894 until his retirement in 1927. He was the author of many works on early colonial ...

Ball, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Ball, Thomas, 1819–1911, American sculptor, b. Charlestown, Mass.; son of a house and sign painter. Thomas Ball was also a singer of reputation, the first in the United States to sing the title role...

Rankin, Jeannette

(Encyclopedia)Rankin, Jeannette, 1880–1973, American pacifist, b. Missoula, Mont. She was active in social work and campaigned for woman suffrage. A Republican, she was the first woman in the United States to ser...

Ross, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Robert, 1766–1814, British general. He served against the French in the Netherlands, in Egypt, and in the Peninsular War. In the War of 1812 he defeated a U.S. force at Bladensburg, and on the...

Rehoboth Beach

(Encyclopedia)Rehoboth Beach rĭhōˈbəth [key], resort town (1990 pop. 1,234), Sussex co., SE Del., on the Atlantic coast; inc. 1873. Its industries include boat construction and printing. Settled about 1675, the...

Renwick, James

(Encyclopedia)Renwick, James, 1818–95, American architect, b. New York City, grad. Columbia, 1836. His design for Grace Church (1843–46) in New York City was followed by that for St. Patrick's Cathedral; he was...

island

(Encyclopedia)island, relatively small body of land surrounded entirely by water. (As the oceans form a continuous mass of water on the earth's surface, all continents are islands in the strict sense of the word.) ...