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Jamaica Bay

(Encyclopedia)Jamaica Bay, c.20 sq mi (50 sq km), SW Long Island, SE N.Y., separated from the Atlantic Ocean by Rockaway Peninsula; the Rockaway Inlet links it to the sea. The shallow bay has many islands, and its ...

Cavell, Edith

(Encyclopedia)Cavell, Edith kăvˈəl [key], 1865–1915, English nurse. When World War I broke out, she was head of the nursing staff of the Berkendael Medical Institute in Brussels. In 1915 she was arrested by th...

Runnymede

(Encyclopedia)Runnymede or Runnimede rŭnˈĭmēd [key], meadow, in Egham, Surrey, S England, on the south bank of the Thames River, W of London. Either on this meadow or on nearby Charter Island, King John accepte...

Swanson, Gloria

(Encyclopedia)Swanson, Gloria, 1899–1983, American movie actress, b. Chicago. Swanson began her film career in 1913, displaying an elegant comedic style in a series of films for director Cecil B. DeMille. Finance...

Hampden, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Hampden, Walter hămˈdən [key], 1879–1955, American actor, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., whose original name was Walter Hampden Dougherty. He made his first appearance in London in 1901. Returning to the Uni...

Ammann, Othmar Hermann

(Encyclopedia)Ammann, Othmar Hermann ôtˈmär, ŏˈmŏn [key], 1879–1965, American civil engineer, b. Switzerland, grad. Federal Polytechnic Institute, Zürich, 1902. He came to the United States in 1904 and was...

McCloy, John Jay

(Encyclopedia)McCloy, John Jay, 1895–1989, U.S. government official, b. Philadelphia. A lawyer, he gained an international reputation when after a long investigation he fixed responsibility on the German governme...

Barnstable

(Encyclopedia)Barnstable bärnˈstəbəl [key], town (2020 pop. 44,107), seat of Barnstable co., SE Mass.; inc. ...

Shriver, Robert Sargent

(Encyclopedia)Shriver, Robert Sargent, 1915–2011, U.S. public official, b. Westminster, Md., husband of Eunice Shriver. A lawyer, he served in World War II and was (1945–46) an assistant editor of Newsweek maga...

Dongan, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Dongan, Thomas dŏngˈgən [key], 1634–1715, colonial governor of New York, b. Co. Kildare, Ireland. He was appointed governor in 1682, and on the instructions of the duke of York (later James II), ...