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Hawley, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Hawley, Joseph, 1723–88, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Northampton, Mass. He was a leader of the opposition to the revivalist preaching of Jonathan Edwards and helped bring about E...

Koch, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Koch, Jim (C. James Koch) ko͝ok [key], 1949–, American brewery executive, b. Cincinnati. Although he came from a family of brewers, he initially worked for Outward Bound and as a manufacturing cons...

Pynchon, John

(Encyclopedia)Pynchon, John pĭnˈchən [key], c.1626–1703, American colonist and merchant, b. England; son of William Pynchon. He emigrated to Massachusetts Bay colony with his father in 1630. When his father re...

Dallas, George Mifflin

(Encyclopedia)Dallas, George Mifflin, 1792–1864, American statesman, vice president of the United States (1845–49), b. Philadelphia; son of Alexander James Dallas. He read law, was admitted (1813) to the bar, a...

Ghent, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Ghent, Treaty of, 1814, agreement ending the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain. It was signed at Ghent, Belgium, on Dec. 24, 1814, and ratified by the U.S. Senate in Feb., 1815. ...

Barnburners

(Encyclopedia)Barnburners, radical element of the Democratic party in New York state from 1842 to 1848, opposed to the conservative Hunkers. The name derives from the fabled Dutchman who burned his barn to rid it o...

McDuffie, George

(Encyclopedia)McDuffie, George, 1790–1851, American politician, b. Columbia co., Ga. He was a member of the South Carolina legislature and served (1821–34) in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he quickly...

Berkshire Hills

(Encyclopedia)Berkshire Hills bûrkˈshər, –shĭr [key], mountainous region of wooded hills with many small lakes and streams, W Mass. The Berkshires are a southern extension of the Green Mts., but the name is g...

Neptune, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Neptune, in astronomy, 8th planet from the sun at a mean distance of about 2.8 billion mi (4.5 billion km) with an orbit lying between those of Uranus and the dwarf planet Pluto; its period of revolut...

Durant, William James

(Encyclopedia)Durant, William James, 1885–1981, American historian and essayist, b. North Adams, Mass. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1917 and published his doctoral dissertation, Philosophy and the Socia...