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Foley, Thomas Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Foley, Thomas Stephen, 1929–2013, U.S. congressman, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives (1989–95), b. Spokane, Wash. A lawyer, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1964 ...

Crawford, William Harris

(Encyclopedia)Crawford, William Harris, 1772–1834, American statesman, b. Amherst co., Va. (his birthplace is now in Nelson co.). He moved with his parents to South Carolina and later to Georgia. After studying l...

Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth

(Encyclopedia)Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth, 1841–1915, U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, b. Foster, R.I. He rose in local politics as state assemblyman (1875–76) and U.S. Representative (1879–81) before he served a...

Abdullah I

(Encyclopedia)Abdullah I (Abdullah ibn Husayn) äbdo͝olˈlä ĭˈbən ho͝osānˈ [key], 1882–1951, king of Jordan (1946–51), b. Mecca; son of Husayn ibn Ali of the Hashemite family. During World War I, Abdull...

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

(Encyclopedia)Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, former waterway, c.185 mi (300 km) long, from Washington, D.C., to Cumberland, Md., running along the north bank of the Potomac River. A successor to the Potomac Company's (...

Soane, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Soane, Sir John sōn [key], 1753–1837, English architect. After studying with George Dance, the younger, Soane won a fellowship to Rome. He toured Italy and returned in 1780 to begin his practice in...

Platt, Thomas Collier

(Encyclopedia)Platt, Thomas Collier, 1833–1910, American legislator and political boss, b. Owego, N.Y. He was president of the Tioga County National Bank and had acquired considerable commercial interests by the ...

Banksy

(Encyclopedia)Banksy, pseud. of an English graffiti artist, c.1974–, probably b. Bristol. He painted on walls, bridges, and the like in Bristol and London in the 1990s before he began to use (c.2000) stencils and...

Ramallah

(Encyclopedia)Ramallah rämäˈlä [key], city (2007 pop. 27,4000), in the West Bank, N of Jerusalem. The administrative center for the Palestinian Authority, it lies in a fertile farming region where olives, figs,...

Wappinger

(Encyclopedia)Wappinger wŏpˈĭnjər [key], confederation of Native North Americans of the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). In the early 17th cent. the...