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longevity

(Encyclopedia)longevity lŏnjĕvˈĭtē [key], term denoting the length or duration of the life of an animal or plant, often used to indicate an unusually long life. The average human life-span of threescore and te...

John of Salisbury

(Encyclopedia)John of Salisbury sôlzˈbərē [key], c.1110–1180, English scholastic philosopher, b. Salisbury. He studied in France at Paris and Chartres under Abelard and other famous teachers. He was secretary...

Île-aux-Noix

(Encyclopedia)Île-aux-Noix ēl-ō-nwä [key], island, 210 acres (85 hectares), in the Richelieu River near St. Jean, S Que., Canada; location of Fort Lennox National Historic Site (est. 1921). During the French an...

Huntingdon, Selina Hastings, countess of

(Encyclopedia)Huntingdon, Selina Hastings, countess of, 1707–91, English religious leader, patron of the Calvinistic Methodists. She was closely associated with the Wesleys and George Whitefield. When they split,...

Putnam, Israel

(Encyclopedia)Putnam, Israel, 1718–90, American Revolutionary general, b. Salem (now Danvers), Mass. A farmer at Pomfret, Conn., he fought in the French and Indian Wars, seeing action at Montreal (1760) and at Ha...

Norristown

(Encyclopedia)Norristown, borough (1990 pop. 30,749), seat of Montgomery co., SE Pa., on the Schuylkill River; settled c.1712, laid out 1784, inc. 1812. Among its manufactures are textiles, medical equipment, machi...

Wooster, David

(Encyclopedia)Wooster, David wo͝osˈtər [key], 1711–77, American Revolutionary officer, b. Fairfield co., Conn. He served as an officer in the British army during the last of the French and Indian Wars. Wooster...

Southern Christian Leadership Conference

(Encyclopedia)Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), civil-rights organization founded in 1957 by Martin Luther King, Jr., and headed by him until his assassination in 1968. Composed largely of African-Am...

Carleton, Guy, 1st Baron Dorchester

(Encyclopedia)Carleton, Guy, 1st Baron Dorchester, 1724–1808, governor of Quebec and British commander during the American Revolution. He began his service in America in 1758 and distinguished himself in the Fren...

lumber

(Encyclopedia)lumber, term for timber that has been cut into boards for use as a building material. The major steps in producing lumber involve logging (the felling and preparation of timber for shipment to sawmill...