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Backus, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Backus, Isaac băkˈəs [key], 1724–1806, American clergyman, leader among New England Baptists and a champion of religious freedom, b. Norwich, Conn. Converted in the Great Awakening, he joined the...

North, Douglass Cecil

(Encyclopedia)North, Douglass Cecil, 1920–2015, American economic historian, b. Cambridge, Mass., Ph.D. Univ. of California, Berkeley, 1952. North was on the faculty at the Univ. of Washington, Seattle (1950–83...

estuary

(Encyclopedia)estuary ĕsˈcho͝oĕrˌē [key], partially enclosed coastal body of water, having an open connection with the ocean, where freshwater from inland is mixed with saltwater from the sea. One type of est...

Paleocene epoch

(Encyclopedia)Paleocene epoch pāˈlēəsēnˌ [key], first epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time (see geologic timescale) between 60 to 66 million years ago. In W North America, the upl...

Natives, North American

(Encyclopedia)Natives, North American, peoples who occupied North America before the arrival of the Europeans in the 15th cent. They have long been known as Indians because of the belief prevalent at the time of Co...

De Sanctis, Francesco

(Encyclopedia)De Sanctis, Francesco fränchāsˈkō dā sängkˈtēs [key], 1817–83, Italian historian and literary critic. He was one of the founders of modern Italian literary criticism. He suffered imprisonmen...

Cremin, Lawrence Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Cremin, Lawrence Arthur krĕmˈĭn [key], 1925–91, American educator and historian, b. New York City. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1949 and began teaching at Teachers College, Columbia. He...

Dearborn

(Encyclopedia)Dearborn, city (2020 pop. 109,976), Wayne co., SE Mich., on the River Rouge, adjoining Detroit; settled 1795, consolidated with the city of Fordson in 1...

Ferguson, Adam

(Encyclopedia)Ferguson, Adam fûrˈgəsən [key], 1723–1816, Scottish philosopher and historian. He was professor of philosophy at the Univ. of Edinburgh (1759–85). His Essay on the History of Civil Society (17...

Harnack, Adolf von

(Encyclopedia)Harnack, Adolf von äˈdôlf fən härˈnäk [key], 1851–1930, German theologian and church historian. He was professor of church history successively in the universities of Leipzig, Giessen, Marbur...