(Encyclopedia) marathon race, long-distance foot race deriving its name from Marathon, Greece. According to legend, in 490 b.c., Pheidippides, a runner from Marathon, carried news of victory over the…
(Encyclopedia) Gregory, Dick (Richard Claxton Gregory), 1932–2017, African-American civil-rights activist and comedian, b. St. Louis, Mo. A biting satirist who used the struggle for civil rights and…
(Encyclopedia) Quincy, Josiah, 1772–1864, American political leader and college president, b. Braintree, Mass.; son of Josiah Quincy (1744–75). After studying law, Quincy became interested in…
(Encyclopedia) frogmouth, common name for small, owllike birds of the family Podargidae, ranging in size from 9 to 21 in. (22.5–52.5 cm). Their soft plumage is a mottled gray-brown in color with…
(Encyclopedia) Henry, Patrick, 1736–99, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Hanover co., Va. Largely self-educated, he became a prominent trial lawyer. Henry bitterly denounced (1765) the…
(Encyclopedia) Hitchens, Christopher Eric, 1949–2011, Anglo-American journalist and critic, b. Portsmouth, England, grad. Bailliol College, Oxford (1970). He wrote for the New Statesman, London Times…
(Encyclopedia) kagukagukäˈg&oomacr; [key], common name for a long-legged, heronlike bird, Rhynochetos jubatus. It has a loose, gray plumage with darker bandings; broad, rounded wings marked with…
(Encyclopedia) Brown, Ron (Ronald Harmon Brown), 1941–96, American politician, b. Washington, D.C. Raised in New York City's Harlem, he attended Middlebury College (grad. 1962) and St. John's Law…
