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Smith, Kiki

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Kiki, 1954–, American sculptor and printmaker, b. Nuremberg, Germany. The daughter of sculptor Tony Smith, she grew up in New Jersey and settled in New York City in 1976. Prolific and essenti...

brigandage

(Encyclopedia)brigandage brĭgˈəndĭj [key] [Ital. brigare=to fight], robbery and plundering committed by armed bands, often associated with forests or mountain regions. Social and political demoralization, econo...

Brooks, Mel

(Encyclopedia)Brooks, Mel, 1927–, American film director, writer, actor, and producer, b. Brooklyn, NY as Melvin Kaminsky. His earliest work was in television, notably as a gag writer for Sid Caesar's “Your Sho...

K2

(Encyclopedia)K2 or Mount Godwin-Austen, peak, 28,251 ft (8,611 m) high, in the Karakorum range, N Kashmir, on the China-Pakistan border; second highest peak in the world. It was discovered and measured by the Surv...

Monk, Thelonius

(Encyclopedia)Monk, Thelonius (Thelonius Sphere Monk), 1917–82, American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger, b. Rocky Mount, N.C. Monk is considered one of the most important, and eccentric, figures in modern j...

Stuck, Hudson

(Encyclopedia)Stuck, Hudson, 1863–1920, American missionary and explorer, b. London, England. He emigrated to the United States in 1885, graduated from the Univ. of the South (1892), and was dean (1894–1904) of...

Sumter, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Sumter, Thomas, 1734–1832, American Revolutionary officer, b. near Charlottesville, Va. He served with Edward Braddock (1755) and John Forbes (1758) in their expeditions against Fort Duquesne in the...

Palomar Mountain

(Encyclopedia)Palomar Mountain pălˈōmär [key], peak, 6,126 ft (1,867 m) high, S Calif., NE of San Diego, in Cleveland National Forest. It is the site of the Palomar Observatory, operated by the California Insti...

King's Lynn

(Encyclopedia)King's Lynn, town (1991 pop. 37,323), Norfolk, E England, on the Great Ouse River near its influx into The Wash, an inlet of the North Sea. Its large harbor serves foreign as well as coastal trade and...

Yourcenar, Marguerite

(Encyclopedia)Yourcenar, Marguerite märgərētˈ yo͞orsənärˈ [key], 1903–87, French writer, b. Belgium as Marguerite de Crayencour. The first woman elected (1980) to the prestigious French Academy, Yourcenar...