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chapbook

(Encyclopedia)chapbook, one of the pamphlets formerly sold in Europe and America by itinerant agents, or “chapmen.” Chapbooks were inexpensive—in England often costing only a penny—and, like the broadside, ...

Goddard, John

(Encyclopedia)Goddard, John gŏdˈərd [key], 1724–85, American furniture maker, b. Dartmouth, Mass. He worked in Newport, R.I., and is recognized as having been one of the finest cabinetmakers in early America. ...

Davis, Benjamin Oliver

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Benjamin Oliver, 1877–1970, American general, b. Washington, D.C. After studying (1897–98) at Howard Univ., Davis served as a lieutenant in the Spanish-American War and in 1899 enlisted in ...

Finley, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Finley, Samuel, 1715–66, Presbyterian minister, president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), b. Ireland. He went to North America in 1734 and is believed to have studied under William Ten...

Dare, Virginia

(Encyclopedia)Dare, Virginia, b. 1587, first white child of English parents to be born in America. She was the daughter of Ananias and Elenor Dare, members of Sir Walter Raleigh's ill-fated colony that settled Roan...

Otis, Bass

(Encyclopedia)Otis, Bass, 1784–1861, American portrait painter and mezzotint engraver, b. Bridgewater, Mass. He probably produced the first lithograph in America, a portrait of the Rev. Abner Kneeland, in a volum...

Fremantle

(Encyclopedia)Fremantle frēˈmănˌtəl, frĭmˈəntəl [key], city, Western Australia, SW Austral...

Hiawatha

(Encyclopedia)Hiawatha hīˈəwäˈthə [key], fl. c.1550, legendary chief of the Onondaga of North America. He is credited with founding the Iroquois Confederacy. He is the hero of the well-known poem by Henry Wad...

hominy

(Encyclopedia)hominy [Algonquian], hulled corn with the germ removed and served either ground or whole. The pioneers in North America prepared it by soaking the kernels in weak wood lye until the hulls floated to t...

domino theory

(Encyclopedia)domino theory, the notion that if one country becomes Communist, other nations in the region will probably follow, like dominoes falling in a line. The analogy, first applied (1954) to Southeast Asia ...