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Babson, Roger Ward

(Encyclopedia)Babson, Roger Ward, 1875–1967, American businessman and statistician, b. Gloucester, Mass. In 1904 he founded the Babson Statistical Organization, Inc., whose business and financial statistics, publ...

Miocene epoch

(Encyclopedia)Miocene epoch mīˈəsēn [key], fourth epoch of the Tertiary period in the Cenozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), lasting from around 24.6 to 5.1 mill...

Fischer, Ernst Otto

(Encyclopedia)Fischer, Ernst Otto, 1918–2007, German chemist, Ph.D. Technical Univ. of Munich (TUM), 1952. Fischer was a professor at TUM (1954–57) and the Univ. of Munich (1957–64). He returned to TUM in 196...

grackle

(Encyclopedia)grackle, common name applied to some members of the New World family Icteridae, which also includes blackbirds, orioles, meadowlarks, cowbirds, and others. The plumage of the purple, or common, grackl...

Gaines, George Strother

(Encyclopedia)Gaines, George Strother, c.1784–1873, Alabama pioneer, b. Stokes co., N.C.; brother of Edmund Pendleton Gaines. From 1806 to 1819 he was U.S. factor and Indian agent at Saint Stephens, a strategic p...

Morton, Rosalie Slaughter

(Encyclopedia)Morton, Rosalie Slaughter, 1876–1955, American surgeon, b. Lynchburg, Va., M.D. Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania, 1897. She was the first woman faculty member of both the New York Polyclinic ...

Bartram, William

(Encyclopedia)Bartram, William, 1739–1823, American naturalist, b. Philadelphia; son of John Bartram. He is known chiefly for his Travels (1791), in which he describes his journey (1773–77) through the Carolina...

Reyles, Carlos

(Encyclopedia)Reyles, Carlos kärˈlōs rāˈlās [key], 1868–1938, Uruguayan novelist. A wealthy breeder of horses, Reyles traveled extensively and devoted himself to writing. His impassioned, naturalistic novel...

De Soto, Hernando

(Encyclopedia)De Soto, Hernando dĭsōˈtō, Span. ĕrnänˈdō dā sōˈtō [key], c.1500–1542, Spanish explorer. After serving under Pedro Arias de Ávila in Central America and under Francisco Pizarro in Peru,...

Cotton, John

(Encyclopedia)Cotton, John, 1584–1652, Puritan clergyman in England and Massachusetts, b. Derbyshire, educated at Cambridge. Imbued with Puritan doctrines, he won many followers during his 20 years as vicar of th...