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King, B. B.

(Encyclopedia)King, B. B., 1925–2015, African-American blues singer and guitarist, b. near Indianola, Miss., as Riley B. King. He grew up poor in the Mississippi Delta region, began playing the guitar at 12, was ...

Traven, B.

(Encyclopedia)Traven, B., 1890–1969, German language novelist. During his life Traven refused to divulge any information concerning himself. His birth name is still uncertain, as is his birthplace. As Ret Marut h...

Cornell, Alonzo B.

(Encyclopedia)Cornell, Alonzo B. kôrnĕlˈ [key], 1832–1904, American businessman and politician, b. Ithaca, N.Y. Cornell was a director (1868–69) and vice president (1870–76) of the Western Union Telegraph ...

Habibie, B. J.

(Encyclopedia)Habibie, B. J. (Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie), 1936–2019, Indonesian aeronautical engineer and political leader. Educated in Germany, he worked as an aerospace engineer for Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm ...

Lewis, Edward B.

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Edward B., 1918–2004, American geneticist, b. Wilkes-Barre, Pa., grad. California Institute of Technology (Ph.D. 1942). After serving as a meteorologist with the U.S. Army Air Corps during Wo...

Mandelbrot, Benoît B.

(Encyclopedia)Mandelbrot, Benoît B. bənwäˈ mănˈdəlbrōˌ, Fr. mäNdĕlbrôˈ [key], 1924–2010, French-American mathematician, b. Warsaw, Poland, Ph.D. Univ. of Paris, 1952. Largely self-taught and consider...

Kitaj, R. B.

(Encyclopedia)Kitaj, R. B. (Ronald Brooks Kitaj) kĭtīˈ [key], 1932–2007, American painter, b. Chagrin Falls, Ohio. In 1958 he moved to London, where he attended the Ruskin School, Oxford, and the Royal College...

Yeats, W. B.

(Encyclopedia)Yeats, W. B. (William Butler Yeats), 1865–1939, Irish poet and playwright, b. Dublin. The greatest lyric poet Ireland has produced and one of the major figures of 20th-century literature, Yeats was ...

Yehoshua, A. B.

(Encyclopedia)Yehoshua, A. B. (Abraham, or Avraham, “Bulli” Yehoshua), 1936–, Israeli writer.He has taught at several schools, and since 1967 has lived in Haifa, where he teaches at the city's university. One...

White, E. B.

(Encyclopedia)White, E. B. (Elwyn Brooks White), 1899–1985, American writer, b. Mt. Vernon, N.Y., grad. Cornell, 1921. A witty, satiric observer of contemporary society, White was a member of the staff of the ear...