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Ford, Gerald Rudolph

(Encyclopedia)Ford, Gerald Rudolph, 1913–2006, 38th president of the United States (1974–77), b. Omaha, Nebr. He was originally named Leslie Lynch King, Jr., but his parents were divorced when he was two, and w...

Oates, Joyce Carol

(Encyclopedia)Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938–, American author, b. Lockport, N.Y., B.A. Syracuse Univ., 1960, M.A. Univ. of Wisconsin, 1961. She taught English at the Univ. of Detroit and the Univ. of Windsor, Ontario,...

Nestorian Church

(Encyclopedia)Nestorian Church, officially the Assyrian Church of the East, Christian community of Iraq, Iran, and SW India. It represents the ancient church of Persia and is sometimes also called the East Syrian C...

lobbying

(Encyclopedia)lobbying, practice and profession of influencing governmental decisions, carried out by agents who present the concerns of special interests to legislators and administrators. The term originated in t...

Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre pyĕr tāyärˈ də shärdăNˈ [key], 1881–1955, French paleontologist and philosopher. He entered (1899) the Jesuit order, was ordained (1911), and received a doctorate...

Sung

(Encyclopedia)Sung so͝ong [key], dynasty of China that ruled 960–1279. It was divided into two periods: Northern Sung (907–1126) with its capital at Kaifeng and Southern Sung (1127–1279) with its capital at ...

Rutherford, Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Rutherford, Ernest Rutherford, 1st Baron, 1871–1937, British physicist, b. New Zealand. Rutherford left New Zealand in 1895, having earned three degrees from the Univ. of New Zealand but having fail...

Rich, Adrienne

(Encyclopedia)Rich, Adrienne, 1929–2012, American poet, b. Baltimore, grad. Radcliffe, 1951. From the 1970s her exquisitely wrought verse became looser and more personal as her works increasingly reflected femini...

Chandler, Raymond Thornton

(Encyclopedia)Chandler, Raymond Thornton, 1888–1959, American author, b. Chicago, educated in England. After World War I, he entered the oil business in California. Bankrupt during the Depression, he published hi...

Muñoz Marín, Luis

(Encyclopedia)Muñoz Marín, Luis lo͞oēsˈ mo͞onyōsˈ märēnˈ [key], 1898–1980, Puerto Rican political leader, governor of Puerto Rico (1949–65). He abandoned a career as poet and journalist in New York C...