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Grayson, Cary Travers

(Encyclopedia)Grayson, Cary Travers, 1878–1938, American naval officer and surgeon, b. Culpeper co., Va. As a physician he entered (1903) the U.S. navy, was graduated (1904) from the navy medical school, and afte...

Fleming, Sir Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Fleming, Sir Alexander, 1881–1955, Scottish bacteriologist, discoverer of penicillin (1928) and lysozyme (1922), an antibacterial substance found in saliva and other body secretions. Educated at St....

Kokomo

(Encyclopedia)Kokomo kōˈkəmō [key], city (1990 pop. 44,962), seat of Howard co., N central Ind., on Wildcat Creek; inc. 1865. Glass, motor vehicle parts, metal products, plastics, food and beverages, and plumbi...

Carnarvon, Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Carnarvon, Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th earl of, 1831–90, British statesman. As colonial secretary (1866–67) under the earl of Derby he introduced the British North America Act, which made C...

Cabot, John

(Encyclopedia)Cabot, John, fl. 1461–98, English explorer, probably b. Genoa, Italy. He became a citizen of Venice in 1476 and engaged in the Eastern trade of that city. This experience, it is assumed, was the sti...

Freedmen's Bureau

(Encyclopedia)Freedmen's Bureau, in U.S. history, a federal agency, formed to aid and protect the newly freed blacks in the South after the Civil War. Established by an act of Mar. 3, 1865, under the name “bureau...

Wright, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Jim (James Claud Wright, Jr.), 1922–2015, U.S. congressman, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1987–89), b. Fort Worth, Tex. Following service in the U.S. army during World War ...

Byrd, Robert Carlyle

(Encyclopedia)Byrd, Robert Carlyle, 1917–2010, U.S. senator from West Virginia (1959–2010), b. North Wilkesboro, N.C., as Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr. A Democrat, he served (1947–52) in the West Virginia legisl...

Booth, Junius Brutus

(Encyclopedia)Booth, Junius Brutus, 1796–1852, Anglo-American actor. After experience in the provinces, he appeared at Covent Garden. In 1817, with his portrayal of Richard III, he established himself as a rival ...

Stanford, Leland

(Encyclopedia)Stanford, Leland, 1824–93, American railroad builder, politician, and philanthropist, b. Watervliet, N.Y. After practicing law in Wisconsin, he went (1852) to California, where he became a successfu...