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Rift Valley fever

(Encyclopedia)Rift Valley fever, acute viral disease that affects domestic livestock and can be transmitted to humans. The disease is most common in E and S Africa, but also occurs widely in sub-Saharan Africa and ...

Vico, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Vico, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēˈstä vēˈkō [key], 1668–1744, Italian philosopher and historian, also known as Giambattista Vico, b. Naples. In 1699, Vico became professor of rhetor...

Crompton, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Crompton, Samuel, 1753–1827, English inventor of the mule spinner, or muslin wheel, an important step in the development of fine cotton spinning. Working as a young man in a spinning mill, he knew t...

Abernathy, Ralph David

(Encyclopedia)Abernathy, Ralph David ăbˈərnăthˌē [key], 1926–90, American civil-rights leader, b. Linden, Ala. A Baptist minister, he helped Martin Luther King, Jr., organize the Montgomery bus boycott (195...

Hamilton, Andrew Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, 1815–75, American politician, b. Huntsville, Ala. Moving to Texas in 1846, he served (1849) as attorney general, was a member of the legislature (1851–53), and in 1859 wa...

American Association of University Professors

(Encyclopedia)American Association of University Professors (AAUP), organization of college and university teachers. It was founded (1915) for the purpose of defending faculty rights, most notably academic freedom ...

McGill, Ralph Emerson

(Encyclopedia)McGill, Ralph Emerson məgĭlˈ [key], 1898–1969, American journalist and publisher, b. E Tenn. A proponent of civil rights, he was expelled from Vanderbilt Univ. for expressing his beliefs. Beginni...

Martin, Luther

(Encyclopedia)Martin, Luther, c.1748–1826, American lawyer and political leader, b. New Brunswick, N.J. He practiced law in Maryland and became the first attorney general of the state, holding office from 1778 to...

Walker, Mary Edwards

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Mary Edwards, 1832–1919, American surgeon and feminist, b. Oswego, N.Y., grad. Syracuse Medical College, 1855. At the beginning of the Civil War she offered her services to the Union army. F...

Ticknor, William Davis

(Encyclopedia)Ticknor, William Davis, 1810–64, American publisher. John Reed and James T. Fields became Ticknor's partners in Boston, and their firm is best known as Ticknor and Fields. They published the works o...