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Crane, Hart

(Encyclopedia)Crane, Hart (Harold Hart Crane), 1899–1932, American poet, b. Garrettsville, Ohio. He published only two volumes of poetry during his lifetime, but those works established Crane as one of the most o...

Abramoff scandal

(Encyclopedia)Abramoff scandal, in U.S. history, political corruption scandal resulting from criminal conduct on the part of lobbyist Jack Abramoff (1959–) and his associates. Abramoff was a Republican activist w...

harmonica

(Encyclopedia)harmonica. 1 The simplest of the musical instruments employing free reeds, known also as the mouth organ or French harp. It was probably invented in 1829 by Friedrich Buschmann of Berlin, who called h...

Gompers, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Gompers, Samuel gŏmˈpərz [key], 1850–1924, American labor leader, b. London. He emigrated to the United States with his parents in 1863. He worked as a cigar maker and in 1864 joined the local un...

Jobs, Steven Paul

(Encyclopedia)Jobs, Steven Paul jŏbz [key], 1955–2011, American computer-industry executive, b. San Francisco. He dropped out of Reed College (1972), and working with Stephen Wozniak, helped launch the personal-...

sun grebe

(Encyclopedia)sun grebe, common name for a tropical, mainly aquatic bird of the family Heliornithidae. Sun grebes, also called finfoots, are remarkable for their colorful, puffy-toed, webbed feet, which may serve a...

grass

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Edible grasses grass, any plant of the family Poaceae (formerly Gramineae), an important and widely distributed group of vascular plants, having an extraordinary range of adaptation. Numbering...

decadents

(Encyclopedia)decadents, in literature, name loosely applied to those 19th-century, fin-de-siècle European authors who sought inspiration, both in their lives and in their writings, in aestheticism and in all the ...

Chrysler Building

(Encyclopedia)Chrysler Building, in midtown Manhattan, New York City, at Lexington Ave. between 42d and 43d St. The ultimate art deco-style skyscraper, it was commissioned by Walter P. Chrysler, designed by William...

Honecker, Erich

(Encyclopedia)Honecker, Erich āˈrĭkh hônˈĕkər [key], 1912–94, East German political leader. From a Communist family, Honecker was imprisoned by the Nazis for 10 years for party activities. After the war he...