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Davidson, Donald Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Davidson, Donald Herbert, 1917–2003, American philosopher, b. Springfield, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1939; Ph.D., 1949). A student of W. V. Quine, Davidson emerged as one of the major figures in p...

America, in music

(Encyclopedia)America, in music, a patriotic hymn of the United States. The words (beginning “My country, 'tis of thee”) were written in 1832 by Samuel Francis Smith while he was a theological student in Andove...

Mayor, Michel Gustave Edward

(Encyclopedia)Mayor, Michel Gustave Edward, 1942–, Swiss astrophysicist, Ph.D. Univ. of Geneva, 1971. He spent his entire career at the Univ. of Geneva, retiring as professor emeritus in 2007. In 2019 Mayor and D...

Nimeiri, Muhammed Jaafar al-

(Encyclopedia)Nimeiri or Nimeiry, Muhammed Jaafar al- mo͞ohämˈmäd jäfärˈ äl-nĭmārˈē [key], 1930–, Sudanese army officer and politician. Early active in the Sudanese nationalist movement, he was tempor...

Percier, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Percier, Charles shärl pĕrsyāˈ [key], 1764–1838, French architect. He won (1786) the Grand Prix de Rome, and in 1794 he became associated with Pierre François Léonard Fontaine. Napoleon appoin...

Langdell, Christopher Columbus

(Encyclopedia)Langdell, Christopher Columbus lăngˈdəl [key], 1826–1906, American teacher of law, b. New Boston, N.H. He practiced in New York City from 1854 to 1870, when he was appointed Dane professor of law...

Langer, Susanne Knauth

(Encyclopedia)Langer, Susanne Knauth nouth lăngˈər [key], 1895–1986, American philosopher, b. New York City, grad. Radcliffe (B.A., 1920; Ph.D., 1926). After holding various teaching posts, she was a lecturer ...

Knuth, Donald Ervin

(Encyclopedia)Knuth, Donald Ervin no͞oth, kəno͞othˈ [key], 1938–, American mathematician and computer scientist, b. Milwaukee, Wis., grad. Case Institute of Technology (B.S. and M.S., 1960) and California Ins...

Büchner, Georg

(Encyclopedia)Büchner, Georg gāˈôrk bükhˈnər [key], 1813–37, German dramatist. He was a student of medicine and a political agitator. He died at the age of 24, leaving a powerful drama, Danton's Death (183...

Tadić, Boris

(Encyclopedia)Tadić, Boris, 1958–, Serbian political leader, president of Serbia (2004–), b. Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now in Bosnia and Herzegovina). A student activist while attending Belgrade Univ., Tadić join...