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Grateful Dead, The

(Encyclopedia)Grateful Dead, The, American rock music group formed in 1965 by guitarists Jerry Garcia, 1942–95, and Bob Weir, 1947–, harmonica player Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, 1945–73, bassist Phil Lesh, 194...

Hutchinson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Hutchinson, Thomas, 1711–80, colonial governor of Massachusetts (1771–74) and historian, b. Boston. A descendant of Anne Hutchinson, he was a man of wealth and prominence, of learning, and of nota...

Coen Brothers

(Encyclopedia)Coen Brothers, American filmmakers Joel Coen, 1955–, and Ethan Coen, 1958–, both b. St. Louis Park, Minn. Joel studied at New York Univ. Film School (B.A., 1978), Ethan at Princeton (B.A., 1979). ...

Continental Congress

(Encyclopedia)Continental Congress, 1774–89, federal legislature of the Thirteen Colonies and later of the United States in the American Revolution and under the Articles of Confederation (see Confederation, Arti...

Hepburn, Katharine

(Encyclopedia)Hepburn, Katharine, 1907–2003, American actress, b. Hartford, Conn. She made periodic stage appearances from 1928 on and debuted in the first of her 43 films in 1932; in her early roles she was usua...

Geronimo

(Encyclopedia)Geronimo jərŏnˈəmōˌ [key], c.1829–1909, leader of a Chiricahua group of the Apaches, b. Arizona. From his youth he participated in the forays of Cochise, Victorio, and other Apache leaders. Wh...

Alien and Sedition Acts

(Encyclopedia)Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798, four laws enacted by the Federalist-controlled U.S. Congress, allegedly in response to the hostile actions of the French Revolutionary government on the seas and in the ...

Falun Gong

(Encyclopedia)Falun Gong dä-fä [key], movement promoting physical and spiritual well-being that became widespread China in the 1990s. Founded in 1992 by Li Hongzhi (1951?–), a former Changchun grain clerk, it c...

Franklin, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Franklin, Benjamin, 1706–90, American statesman, printer, scientist, and writer, b. Boston. The only American of the colonial period to earn a European reputation as a natural philosopher, he is bes...

Tolstoy, Leo, Count

(Encyclopedia)Tolstoy, Leo, Count, Rus. Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoi (lyĕf), 1828–1910, Russian novelist and philosopher, considered one of the world's greatest writers. About 1876 the doubts that had beset Tols...