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Lauren, Ralph

(Encyclopedia)Lauren, Ralph lôrˈən, lərĕnˈ [key], 1939–, American fashion designer, b. New York City as Ralph Lipschitz. He began his career by creating neckties under the name Polo for Beau Brummel. In 196...

Woolworth, Frank Winfield

(Encyclopedia)Woolworth, Frank Winfield, 1852–1919, American merchant, b. Rodman, N.Y. He established in 1879 a five-cent store at Utica, N.Y., which failed, and the same year he started a successful five-and-ten...

Takada, Kenzo

(Encyclopedia)Takada, Kenzo, 1939–2020, Japanese fashion designer, the first Japanese designer to win international acclaim. In 1965 he moved to Paris, where he sold sketches to French fashion houses. Five years ...

Evans, Lewis

(Encyclopedia)Evans, Lewis, c.1700–1756, colonial surveyor and geographer, b. Wales. Evans carried out several assignments for Benjamin Franklin. His travels and studies of the colonies nearest him bore fruit in ...

Delany, Samuel R.

(Encyclopedia)Delany, Samuel R. (Samuel Ray Delany, Jr.), 1942–, African-American wrtier, b. Harlem, New York City. Delany uses science fiction, fantasy, and memoir to explore sexual identity, race, language, and...

Edison, Thomas Alva

(Encyclopedia)Edison, Thomas Alva, 1847–1931, American inventor, b. Milan, Ohio. A genius in the practical application of scientific principles, Edison was one of the greatest and most productive inventors of his...

Ginsburg, Ruth Bader

(Encyclopedia)Ginsburg, Ruth Bader, 1933–2020, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1993–2020), b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Joan Ruth Bader. A graduate (1954) of Cornell, she attended Harvard Law School, then...

Hudson, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Hudson, river, c.315 mi (510 km) long, rising in Lake Tear of the Clouds, on Mt. Marcy in the Adirondack Mts., NE N.Y., and flowing generally S to Upper New York Bay at New York City; the Mohawk River...

Coleman, William Thaddeus, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Coleman, William Thaddeus, Jr., 1920–2017, African-American lawyer and U.S. cabinet official, b. Philadelphia, grad. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1941, Harvard Law School, 1946. He clerked for Justice Fra...

Ryman, Robert Tracy

(Encyclopedia)Ryman, Robert Tracy, 1930–2019, American painter, b. Nashville, Tenn. While working (1953–60) as a guard at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City he was immersed in modern and contemporary wor...