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Bemelmans, Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Bemelmans, Ludwig, 1898–1962 American author and illustrator of children's books, b. Meran, Austria-Hungary (now in Italy), to Belgian and German parents. Trained in the hotel and restaurant busines...

Armstrong, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Armstrong, Louis (Daniel Louis Armstrong), known as “Satchmo” and “Pops,” 1901–1971, American jazz trumpet virtuoso, singer, and bandleader, b. New Orleans. He learned to play the cornet in ...

Leisler, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Leisler, Jacob līsˈlər [key], 1640–91, leader of an insurrection (1689–91) in colonial New York, b. Frankfurt, Germany. He immigrated to America in 1660 as a penniless soldier, married a wealth...

Crabtree, Lotta

(Encyclopedia)Crabtree, Lotta, 1847–1924, American actress, b. New York City. A protégée of Lola Montez, she became, while still a child, a favorite in California mining camps with her sprightly singing, dancin...

Fish, Stuyvesant

(Encyclopedia)Fish, Stuyvesant stīˈvəsənt [key], 1851–1923, American railroad executive, b. New York City; son of Hamilton Fish (1808–93). He became (1877) a director of the Illinois Central RR, and as its ...

Hell Gate

(Encyclopedia)Hell Gate, narrow channel of the East River, SE N.Y., between Wards Island and Astoria, Queens, New York City. Named Hellegat by the Dutch navigator Adriaen Block, who passed through it into Long Isla...

Hicks, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Hicks, Thomas, 1823–90, American portrait painter, b. Newtown, Pa. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and abroad, where he lived for several years. He settled in New York City i...

Fordham University

(Encyclopedia)Fordham University fôrˈdəm [key], in New York City; Jesuit; coeducational; founded as St. John's College 1841, chartered as a university 1846; renamed 1907. Fordham College for men and Thomas More ...

Ames, Ezra

(Encyclopedia)Ames, Ezra, 1768–1836, American painter, b. Framingham, Mass. Early in his life he worked as a carriage painter, miniaturist, engraver, and decorator, first in Worcester, Mass., and later in Albany,...

Jenkins, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Jenkins, Paul, 1923–2012, American painter, b. Kansas City, Mo., studied Kansas City Art Institute, Art Students League, New York City. After he moved to New York in the 1950s, he became a part of t...