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Hewes, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Hewes, Joseph hyo͞oz [key], 1730–79, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Kingston, N.J. He moved (1760) to Edenton, N.C., and became a wealthy...

Hanson, John

(Encyclopedia)Hanson, John, 1715–83, first “President of the United States in Congress Assembled,” b. Charles co., Maryland. He served in the Maryland provincial legislature, was active in the patriot cause i...

Harrison, Benjamin, political leader in the American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Harrison, Benjamin, 1726?–1791, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Charles City co., Va. As a member (1749–75) of the house of burgesses, he...

Browne, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Browne, Thomas, d. 1825, Loyalist commander in the American Revolution. A resident of Augusta, Ga., he was the victim of colonist violence in 1775, when he was tarred and feathered for ridiculing the ...

Wind River Range

(Encyclopedia)Wind River Range, part of the Rocky Mts., W Wyo., running southeastward c.120 mi (190 km) and constituting part of the Continental Divide. Gannett Peak (13,804 ft/4,207 m) is the highest point in Wyom...

Rush, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Rush, Benjamin, 1745?–1813, American physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Byberry (now part of Philadelphia), Pa., grad. College of New Jersey (now Princeton, 1760), M.D. Univ. o...

Duer, William

(Encyclopedia)Duer, William do͞oˈər, dyo͞oˈ– [key], 1747–99, political leader in the American Revolution and financier, b. Devonshire, England. He served for a time as aide-de-camp to Robert Clive in India...

subduction zone

(Encyclopedia)subduction zone, large-scaled narrow region in the earth's crust where, according to plate tectonics, masses of the spreading oceanic lithosphere bend downward into the earth along the leading edges o...

Wegener, Alfred Lothar

(Encyclopedia)Wegener, Alfred Lothar älˈfrĕt lōtärˈ vĕgˈənər [key], 1880–1930, German geologist, meteorologist, and Arctic explorer. Early in his life, he was on the staff of the aeronautical observator...

Alexander I, czar of Russia

(Encyclopedia)Alexander I, 1777–1825, czar of Russia (1801–25), son of Paul I (in whose murder he may have taken an indirect part). In the first years of his reign the liberalism of his Swiss tutor, Frédéric ...