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Morrill, Justin Smith

(Encyclopedia)Morrill, Justin Smith, 1810–98, American politician, b. Strafford, Vt. A prosperous merchant, he helped organize (1855) the Republican party in Vermont. First elected to Congress in 1854, he served ...

Herskovits, Melville Jean

(Encyclopedia)Herskovits, Melville Jean hûrsˈkəvĭts [key], 1895–1963, American anthropologist, b. Bellefontaine, Ohio; educated at the Univ. of Chicago (Ph.B., 1920) and Columbia (Ph.D., 1923). After teaching...

Nielsen, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Nielsen, Carl nēlˈsən, Dan. nĭlˈsən [key], 1865–1931, Danish composer. Nielsen was a pupil of Niels Gade at the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen. Considered Denmark's foremost composer, he is ...

Delaware, University of

(Encyclopedia)Delaware, University of dĕlˈəwâr, –wər [key], at Newark, Del.; land-grant and state-supported; coeducational; founded 1743 in New London, Pa., as a Presbyterian school, moved to Newark 1765, an...

Belknap, William Worth

(Encyclopedia)Belknap, William Worth, 1829–90, U.S. Secretary of War (1869–76), b. Newburgh, N.Y. After practicing law in Iowa, he served in the Civil War, was a division commander under Sherman in Georgia and ...

Fénelon, François de Salignac de la Mothe

(Encyclopedia)Fénelon, François de Salignac de la Mothe fräNswäˈ də sälēnyäkˈ də lä môt fānəlôNˈ [key], 1651–1715, French theologian and writer, a leader of the quietism heresy, archbishop of Cam...

Primaticcio, Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Primaticcio, Francesco fränchāsˈkō prēmätētˈchō [key], 1504–70, Italian painter, called Le Primatice by the French. He was influenced by Correggio and by Michelangelo. As assistant to Giuli...

Lee, Robert Edward

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Robert Edward, 1807–70, general in chief of the Confederate armies in the American Civil War, b. Jan. 19, 1807, at Stratford, Westmoreland co., Va.; son of Henry (“Light-Horse Harry”) Lee. ...

Kings Canyon National Park

(Encyclopedia)Kings Canyon National Park, 461,901 acres (187,070 hectares), E central California. Largely wilderness, the park features summits of the High Sierra and two enormous canyons on the Kings River. Genera...

Gorges, Sir Ferdinando

(Encyclopedia)Gorges, Sir Ferdinando gôrˈjĭz [key], c.1566–1647, English colonizer, proprietor of Maine. He was knighted (1591) for his services to Henry IV of France in the French Wars of Religion and was sub...