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Banneker, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Banneker, Benjamin, 1731–1806, African-American inventor, astronomer, and mathematician, b. Baltimore co., Md., at what is now Ellicott's Mills. A free black, Banneker was essentially self-taught. H...

Sabin, Albert Bruce

(Encyclopedia)Sabin, Albert Bruce sāˈbĭn [key], 1906–93, American physician and microbiologist, b. Bialystock, Russia, grad. New York Univ. (B.S., 1928; M.D., 1931). He emigrated to the United States in 1921 a...

Harpestreng, Henrik

(Encyclopedia)Harpestreng, Henrik, or Henricus Dacus, d. 1244, Danish herbalist and medical writer. He probably studied at the medical school in Salerno, and was a canon at Roskilde Cathedral, then Denmark's eccles...

Wilkinson, James

(Encyclopedia)Wilkinson, James, 1757–1825, American general and one of the most corrupt and devious officers in the nation's early army, b. Calvert co., Md. Abandoning his medical studies in 1776 to join the army...

Leidy, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Leidy, Joseph līˈdē [key], 1823–91, American scientist, b. Philadelphia, grad. Univ. of Pennsylvania medical school. From 1853 he taught anatomy at his alma mater. He was also professor of natura...

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke

(Encyclopedia)Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, case decided in 1978 by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court held in a closely divided decision that race could be one of the factors considered in choos...

socialized medicine

(Encyclopedia)socialized medicine, publicly administered system of national health care. The term is used to describe programs that range from government operation of medical facilities to national health-insurance...

Derain, André

(Encyclopedia)Derain, André äNdrāˈ dərăNˈ [key], 1880–1954, French painter. He studied for a short time under Carrière. Derain's friendship with Vlaminck and Matisse led to his association c.1905 with the...

Copperheads

(Encyclopedia)Copperheads, in the American Civil War, a reproachful term for those Northerners sympathetic to the South, mostly Democrats outspoken in their opposition to the Lincoln administration. They were espec...

Hooks, Benjamin Lawson

(Encyclopedia)Hooks, Benjamin Lawson, 1925–2010, African-American civil-rights leader, b. Memphis, Tenn. In 1972 President Nixon named Hooks, a lawyer, Baptist minister, and former Tennessee county criminal court...