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Barnum, P. T.

(Encyclopedia)Barnum, P. T. (Phineas Taylor Barnum) fĭnˈēəs, bärˈnəm [key], 1810–91, American showman, b. Bethel, Conn. As a youth Barnum worked at diverse sales jobs and managed a boardinghouse. He made h...

Heimlich maneuver

(Encyclopedia)Heimlich maneuver, emergency procedure used to treat choking victims whose airway is obstructed by food or another substance. It forces air from the lungs through the windpipe, pushing the obstruction...

ocarina

(Encyclopedia)ocarina ŏkərēˈnə [key], musical wind instrument with eight finger holes and two thumb holes, rather egg-shaped, and made of metal, terra-cotta or plastic. Unlike other wind instuments, it produce...

Henson, Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Henson, Josiah, 1789–1883, black slave, reputedly the basis of the character of Uncle Tom in Uncle Tom's Cabin, b. Charles co., Md. In 1825 he faithfully led a party of his master's slaves from Mary...

Perrault, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Perrault, Charles shärl pĕrōˈ [key], 1628–1703, French poet. His collections of eight fairy tales, Histoires ou contes du temps passé [stories or tales of olden times] (1697) gave classic form ...

Dibdin, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Dibdin, Charles, 1745–1814, English songwriter and theatrical entrepreneur. His best-known songs are from his ballad operas, such as The Bells of Aberdovey from Liberty Hall (1785) and To Bachelors'...

Kemerovo

(Encyclopedia)Kemerovo kĕmˈərōˌvō [key], city (1989 pop. 520,000), capital of Kemerovo region, central Siberian Russia, on the Tom River and on a branch of the Trans-Siberian RR. It is a coal-mining center of...

bush baby

(Encyclopedia)bush baby or bushbaby, name for several small, active nocturnal primates of the Galagidae family, found in forested parts of Africa. Bush babies are also called galagos. The smallest are about 1 ft (3...

Cotton, George Edward Lynch

(Encyclopedia)Cotton, George Edward Lynch, 1813–66, English clergyman and educator, grad. Trinity College, Cambridge, 1836. From 1837 until 1852 he was an assistant master at Rugby and is the “young master” i...

Grossi, Tommaso

(Encyclopedia)Grossi, Tommaso tôm-mäˈzō grôsˈsē [key], 1791–1853, Italian novelist and poet. Imitating his friend Manzoni, he wrote romantic historical novels, among them Marco Visconti (1834, tr. 1836). O...