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McKay, Donald

(Encyclopedia) McKay, DonaldMcKay, Donaldməkāˈ, məkīˈ [key], 1810–80, American shipbuilder, b. Nova Scotia. He opened his own shipyard in Newburyport, Mass., in 1841, then moved to Boston in 1845. He…

Chadwick, Florence May

(Encyclopedia) Chadwick, Florence May, 1918–95, American distance swimmer, b. San Diego, Calif. She began swimming at the age of six, and four years later she swam the San Diego Bay Channel, the…

Szewińska, Irena

(Encyclopedia) Szewińska, Irena, 1946–2018, Polish sprinter and long jumper, b. Leningrad (now St. Petersburg, Russia) as Irena Kirszenstein, grad. Univ. of Warsaw, 1970. In her first Olympics (1964…

quipus

(Encyclopedia) quipus or khipuskhipuskēˈp&oomacr;z [key], groups of strings, knotted for tally, which were used by the Inca for keeping records and sending messages. The quipu, which is believed…

Black Monday

(Encyclopedia) Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, in U.S. history, day of financial panic. The Dow Jones Average fell 508.32 points, a drop of 22.6%, the largest since 1914. The point decline as well as…

Baez, Joan

(Encyclopedia) Baez, JoanBaez, Joanbīpstr;ĕz, bäˈ– [key], 1941–, American folk singer and political activist, b. New York City. Baez began singing traditional folk ballads, blues, and spirituals in…

Septuagint

(Encyclopedia) SeptuagintSeptuagintsĕpˈty&oomacr;əjĭnt [key] [Lat.,=70], oldest extant Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible made by Hellenistic Jews, possibly from Alexandria, c.250 b.c. Legend…

Still, William

(Encyclopedia) Still, William, 1821–1902, American abolitionist, b. Burlington co., N.J. After he moved to Philadelphia (1844), he began working for the Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery Society (1847) and…

Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon

(Encyclopedia) Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon, 1890–1973, American war hero and airline executive, b. Columbus, Ohio. He became a car racing driver at 16 and set numerous speed records. In World War I…