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Priestley, J. B.

(Encyclopedia)Priestley, J. B. (John Boynton Priestley), 1894–1984, English author. An extraordinarily prolific writer, Priestley worked in a variety of genres. He first wrote literary criticism as a student at C...

Riordan, Richard J.

(Encyclopedia)Riordan, Richard J. rĭrˈdən [key], 1930–2023, American businessman and politician, b. Flushing, ...

Simpson, Sir James Young

(Encyclopedia)Simpson, Sir James Young, 1811–70, Scottish physician, M.D. Univ. of Edinburgh, 1832. He became (1839) professor of medicine and midwifery at Edinburgh. For a while he employed ether anesthesia in c...

Walker, Madam C. J.

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Madam C. J., 1867–1919, African-American entrepeneur, b. Delta, La., as Sarah Breedlove. Thought to be America's first black female millionaire, this daughter of ex-slaves was orphaned at 7,...

Tolkien, J. R. R.

(Encyclopedia)Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien) tälˈkēn, tōlˈ– [key], 1892–1973, British novelist, b. South Africa. A fantasy writer and Oxford don, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit (1937), adapted fro...

Bond, J. Max, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Bond, J. Max, Jr., 1935-2009, African-American architect, b. Lexington, Ky., Harvard Univ. (BA, 1955; MA, 1958). Bond’s father, J. Max, Sr., was ...

Windsor, Wallis Warfield, duchess of

(Encyclopedia)Windsor, Wallis Warfield, duchess of wĭnˈzər [key],1896–1986, American-born wife of Edward, duke of Windsor, who, as Edward VIII, abdicated the British throne in order to marry her. In 1916 she ...

Crèvecoeur, J. Hector St. John

(Encyclopedia)Crèvecoeur, J. Hector St. John krĕvkörˈ [key], 1735–1813, American author and agriculturist, b. France as Michel Guillaume Jean de Crèvecoeur. It is believed that he served under Montcalm in Ca...

Kalam, A. P. J. Abdul

(Encyclopedia)Kalam, A. P. J. Abdul (Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam), 1921–2015, Indian scientist and political leader, studied St. Joseph's College, Tiruchirappalli (grad. 1954), Madras Institute of Technol...

Parsons, Talcott

(Encyclopedia)Parsons, Talcott, 1902–79, American sociologist, b. Colorado Springs, Colo., educated at Amherst College (B.A., 1924), London School of Economics, and Univ. of Heidelberg (Ph.D., 1927). He was on th...