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Farrar, Edgar Howard

(Encyclopedia)Farrar, Edgar Howard fărˈər [key], 1849–1922, American lawyer, b. Concordia, La. He made his home in New Orleans, where he had a large corporation practice. He was active in municipal reform move...

Franklin, Ann Smith

(Encyclopedia)Franklin, Ann Smith, 1696–1763, American printer; sister-in-law of Benjamin Franklin. After the death in 1735 of her husband, James Franklin, she carried on his commercial printing business, in Newp...

Abscam

(Encyclopedia)Abscam, U.S. scandal resulting from an investigation begun in 1978 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI created a front (Abdul Enterprises, Ltd., hence, Abscam) for its agents, who, posing ...

Gylippus

(Encyclopedia)Gylippus jĭlĭˈpəs [key], fl. 415–404 b.c., Spartan commander in the Peloponnesian War. He was sent to help Syracuse in its defense against Athenian attack, and it was his resourcefulness and ski...

Norton, Joshua Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Norton, Joshua Abraham, 1818–80, colorful eccentric of San Francisco known as “Emperor Norton,” b. London. He went (1820) with his parents to Cape Town, South Africa, and news of the California ...

Acca Larentia

(Encyclopedia)Acca Larentia –tīˈnə [key], in Roman mythology, wife of the shepherd Faustulus and foster mother of Romulus and Remus. Her 12 sons founded the priesthood of the Arval Brothers. According to one l...

Kirkwood, Samuel Jordan

(Encyclopedia)Kirkwood, Samuel Jordan, 1813–94, American politician, b. Harford co., Md. Moving to Ohio in 1835, he served (1845–49) as prosecuting attorney for Richland co. and was a member (1850–51) of the ...

Tappan, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Tappan, Arthur tăpˈən [key], 1786–1865, American abolitionist, b. Northampton, Mass. He made a fortune in the dry-goods business in New York City and with his brother and partner Lewis Tappan gav...

Drew, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Drew, Elizabeth, 1935–, American journalist, b. Cincinnati. A deeply insightful analyst of the national political scene, she was the Washington correspondent for two major U.S. magazines, the Atlant...

Collins, William

(Encyclopedia)Collins, William, 1721–59, English poet. He was one of the great lyricists of the 18th cent. While he was still at Oxford he published Persian Ecologues (1742), which was written when he was 17. Uns...