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Bering, Vitus Jonassen

(Encyclopedia)Bering, Vitus Jonassen vēˈto͝os yōˈnäsən bārˈĭng [key], 1681–1741, Danish explorer in Russian employ. In 1725 he was selected by Peter I to explore far NE Siberia. Having finally moved men...

Romans

(Encyclopedia)Romans, letter of the New Testament, written by St. Paul, probably from Corinth before his last trip to Jerusalem, c.a.d. 58. It is a treatise addressed to the Christian church at Rome, apparently to ...

ballad

(Encyclopedia)ballad, in literature and music, short, narrative poem or song usually relating a single, dramatic event. Two forms of the ballad are often distinguished—the folk ballad, dating from about the 12th ...

Naipaul, V. S.

(Encyclopedia)Naipaul, V. S. (Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul) nīpôlˈ [key], 1932–2018, English writer, b. Chaguanas, Trinidad; grad. University College, Oxford, 1953. Naipul, whose family descended from Ind...

Queens

(Encyclopedia)Queens, borough of New York City (1990 pop. 1,951,598), land area c.109 sq mi (293 sq km), on the western portion of Long Island, SE N.Y., coextensive with Queens co.; settled by the Dutch 1635, estab...

Lee, Robert Edward

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Robert Edward, 1807–70, general in chief of the Confederate armies in the American Civil War, b. Jan. 19, 1807, at Stratford, Westmoreland co., Va.; son of Henry (“Light-Horse Harry”) Lee. ...

Eijkman, Christiaan

(Encyclopedia)Eijkman, Christiaan krĭsˈtyän īkˈmän [key], 1858–1930, Dutch physician. He was head of the Pathological Institute of Batavia and later (1898–1928) professor of hygiene at the Univ. of Utrech...

Hodges, Luther Hartwell

(Encyclopedia)Hodges, Luther Hartwell, 1898–1974, American politician, U.S. Secretary of Commerce (1961–65), b. Pittsylvania co., Va. From 1919 to 1950 he pursued a successful career in the textile industry. Af...

Grey, Zane

(Encyclopedia)Grey, Zane, 1872–1939, American writer of Western stories, b. Zanesville, Ohio, as Pearl Zane Gray, grad. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1896. His melodramatic tales of the West and Southwest are vivid in t...

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