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Brashear, John Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Brashear, John Alfred brəshērˈ [key], 1840–1920, American maker of scientific instruments and educator, b. Brownsville, Pa. A mechanic by trade, he taught himself the art of making lenses and mir...

Smith, Alfred Emanuel

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Alfred Emanuel, 1873–1944, American political leader, b. New York City. Reared in poor surroundings, he had no formal education beyond grade school and took various jobs—including work in t...

Terry, Alfred Howe

(Encyclopedia)Terry, Alfred Howe, 1827–90, American general, b. Hartford, Conn. A lawyer, he led a regiment of Connecticut volunteers at the first battle of Bull Run in the Civil War. Made a brigadier general of ...

Stevens, Alfred Émile

(Encyclopedia)Stevens, Alfred Émile, 1823–1906, Belgian portrait and genre painter. He often lived in Paris and exhibited there regularly. His chief subjects, painted with admirable technique and color, were soc...

Whitehead, Alfred North

(Encyclopedia)Whitehead, Alfred North, 1861–1947, English mathematician and philosopher, grad. Trinity College, Cambridge, 1884. There he was a lecturer in mathematics until 1911. At the Univ. of London he was a ...

Wegener, Alfred Lothar

(Encyclopedia)Wegener, Alfred Lothar älˈfrĕt lōtärˈ vĕgˈənər [key], 1880–1930, German geologist, meteorologist, and Arctic explorer. Early in his life, he was on the staff of the aeronautical observator...

Highsmith, Patricia

(Encyclopedia)Highsmith, Patricia, 1921–95, American novelist, b. Fort Worth, Tex., as Mary Patricia Plangman, grad. Barnard College (B.A. 1942). She first traveled to Europe in 1949 and moved there in 1963, livi...

Hunter, Evan

(Encyclopedia)Hunter, Evan, 1926–2005, American novelist, b. New York City as Salvatore A. Lambino, grad. Hunter Coll. (1950). He achieved both success and acclaim with the publication of his third novel, The Bla...

De Palma, Brian

(Encyclopedia)De Palma, Brian, 1940–, American film director, b. Newark, N.J. Heavily influenced by Alfred Hitchcock, he is especially known for bloody, shocking, and suspenseful thrillers. Sometimes accused of v...

Chabrol, Claude

(Encyclopedia)Chabrol, Claude klōd shäbrōlˈ [key], 1930–2010, French filmmaker, b. Paris, attended Univ. of Paris. One of the creators of the French “new wave” cinema of the 1950s and 60s, he and such oth...