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Preemption Act

(Encyclopedia)Preemption Act, statute passed (1841) by the U.S. Congress in response to the demands of the Western states that squatters be allowed to preempt lands. Pioneers often settled on public lands before th...

Balfour, Arthur James Balfour, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Balfour, Arthur James Balfour, 1st earl of bălˈfo͝or [key], 1848–1930, British statesman; nephew of the 3d marquess of Salisbury. He entered parliament as a Conservative in 1874 and served as sec...

Joachim, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Joachim, Joseph yōˈsĕf yōˈäkhĭm [key], 1831–1907, Hungarian violinist; friend of Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Schumann. In his long career his performances of violin masterpieces came to be accep...

Ristić, Jovan

(Encyclopedia)Ristić or Ristich, Jovan both: yōˈvän rēˈstĭch [key], 1831–99, Serbian statesman. A leader of the liberal party, he was repeatedly foreign minister and was three times premier (1873, 1878–8...

Cox, Samuel Sullivan

(Encyclopedia)Cox, Samuel Sullivan, 1824–89, American statesman and legislator, b. Zanesville, Ohio. He traveled widely, practiced law, and was a newspaper editor before serving (1857–65) as a Congressman from ...

Riefenstahl, Leni

(Encyclopedia)Riefenstahl, Leni (Berta Helene Amalie Riefenstahl) lāˈnē rēˈfənshtälˌ, bĕrˈtə hālāˈnə ämälˈyə [key], 1902–2003, German filmmaker, b. Berlin. First a dancer, then an actress, she ...

Heemskerck, Maarten van

(Encyclopedia)Heemskerck, Maarten van märˈtən vän hāmsˈkĕrk [key], 1498–1574, Dutch painter. His family name was van Veen. He studied in Haarlem under Scorel and in Rome from 1532 to 1534. His Italianate p...

Nikisch, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Nikisch, Arthur ärˈto͝or nēˈkĭsh [key], 1855–1922, Hungarian conductor and violinist, grad. Vienna Conservatory, 1873. He played in Wagner's orchestra at the dedication of the Festspielhaus at...

Wagner, Adolf Heinrich Gotthilf

(Encyclopedia)Wagner, Adolf Heinrich Gotthilf äˈdôlf hīnˈrĭkh gôtˈhĭlf vägˈnər [key], 1835–1917, German economist and socialist, studied at Göttingen and Heidelberg. He taught economics at several un...

Chain, Ernst Boris

(Encyclopedia)Chain, Ernst Boris, 1906–79, English biochemist, b. Berlin, Germany. In 1933 he left Germany and went to England, where he conducted research at Cambridge from 1933 to 1935 and at Oxford from 1935; ...

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