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Leslie, David

(Encyclopedia)Leslie, David, d. 1682, Scottish military commander. After serving in the Swedish army, he was a major general under his uncle, Alexander Leslie, 1st earl of Leven, in the Scottish army that joined th...

Ward, Lester Frank

(Encyclopedia)Ward, Lester Frank, 1841–1913, American sociologist and paleontologist, b. Joliet, Ill. Largely self-educated, he eventually took degrees in medicine and law. He worked as a government geologist and...

evangelist

(Encyclopedia)evangelist ĭvănˈjəlĭst [key] [Gr.,=Gospel], title given to saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the authors of the four Gospels. The four evangelists are often symbolized respectively by a man, ...

Sancar, Aziz

(Encyclopedia)Sancar, Aziz, 1946–, Turkish-American biochemist and molecular biologist, M.D. Istanbul Univ., 1969, Ph.D. Univ. of Texas at Dallas, 1977. From 1977to 1982, Sancar was a researcher at the Yale Schoo...

Díaz del Castillo, Bernal

(Encyclopedia)Díaz del Castillo, Bernal bārnälˈ dēˈäth dĕl kästēˈlyō [key], c.1492–1581, Spanish conquistador and chronicler. He had served in the New World under various commanders—Pedro Arias de �...

Ailey, Alvin, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Ailey, Alvin, Jr. āˈlē [key], 1931–89, American modern dancer and choreographer, b. Rogers, Tex. Ailey studied in Los Angeles with Lester Horton, whose strong, dramatic style and views about mult...

modern dance

(Encyclopedia)modern dance, serious theatrical dance forms that are distinct from both ballet and the show dancing of the musical comedy or variety stage. By the late 20th cent., distinctions among modern da...

kite, in aviation and recreation

(Encyclopedia)kite, in aviation, aircraft restrained by a towline and deriving its lift from the aerodynamic action of the wind flowing across it. Commonly the kite consists of a light framework upon which paper, s...

Gray, Elisha

(Encyclopedia)Gray, Elisha, 1835–1901, American inventor, b. Barnesville, Ohio. He patented many electrical devices, most of them having to do with the telegraph. His telautograph (1888) for transmitting handwrit...

folkways

(Encyclopedia)folkways, term coined by William Graham Sumner in his treatise Folkways (1906) to denote those group habits that are common to a society or culture and are usually called customs. The word provided a ...