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Booth, William

(Encyclopedia)Booth, William, 1829–1912, English religious leader, founder and first general of the Salvation Army, b. Nottingham. Originally a local preacher for the Wesleyan Methodists, he went (1849) to London...

Carman, Harry James

(Encyclopedia)Carman, Harry James, 1884–1964, American historian and educator, b. Greenfield, Saratoga co., N.Y. He was a elementary-school teacher and a high-school principal before becoming an instructor and th...

Webster-Ashburton Treaty

(Encyclopedia)Webster-Ashburton Treaty, Aug., 1842, agreement concluded by the United States, represented by Secretary of State Daniel Webster, and Great Britain, represented by Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburto...

Benjamin, Walter

(Encyclopedia)Benjamin, Walter, 1892–1940, German essayist and critic. He is known for his synthesis of eccentric Marxist theory and Jewish messianism. In particular, his essays on Charles Baudelaire and Franz Ka...

Gorky, Arshile

(Encyclopedia)Gorky, Arshile ärˈshīl gôrˈkē [key], c.1900–48, American painter, b. Armenia as Vosdanig Adoian. He escaped the Turkish slaughter of Armenians, emigrated to the United States in 1920, studied ...

Goebbels, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Goebbels, Joseph (Paul Joseph Goebbels) poul yōˈzĕf göbˈəls [key], 1897–1945, German National Socialist propagandist. He was kept out of the service in World War I by a clubfoot. After graduat...

idealism

(Encyclopedia)idealism, the attitude that places special value on ideas and ideals as products of the mind, in comparison with the world as perceived through the senses. In art idealism is the tendency to represent...

Coolidge, Calvin

(Encyclopedia)Coolidge, Calvin, 1872–1933, 30th President of the United States (1923–29), b. Plymouth, Vt. John Calvin Coolidge was a graduate of Amherst College and was admitted to the bar in 1897. He practice...

Audubon, John James

(Encyclopedia)Audubon, John James ôˈdəbŏn [key], 1785–1851, American ornithologist, b. Les Cayes, Santo Domingo (now Haiti). The illegitimate son of a French sea captain and plantation owner and a Creole cham...

Dead Sea Scrolls

(Encyclopedia)Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient leather and papyrus scrolls first discovered in 1947 in caves on the NW shore of the Dead Sea. Most of the documents were written or copied between the 1st cent. b.c. and the...