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Cosby, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Cosby, Bill (William Henry Cosby, Jr.) kŏzˈbē [key], 1937–, American actor and comedian, b. Philadelphia. He became known as a comedian and was subsequently the first African-American actor to st...

Ter Borch, Gerard

(Encyclopedia)Ter Borch or Terborch, Gerard gāˈrärt tərbôrkhˈ [key], 1617–81, Dutch genre and portrait painter. He studied with his father and traveled throughout Europe, showing extraordinary precocity in ...

Brazelton, T. Berry

(Encyclopedia)Brazelton, T. Berry (Thomas Berry Brazelton Jr.), 1918–2018, American pediatrician and author, b. Waco, Tex., grad. Princeton, 1940, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia 1943. Brazelton was ...

White, E. B.

(Encyclopedia)White, E. B. (Elwyn Brooks White), 1899–1985, American writer, b. Mt. Vernon, N.Y., grad. Cornell, 1921. A witty, satiric observer of contemporary society, White was a member of the staff of the ear...

Welch, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Welch, Jack (John Francis Welch, Jr.), 1935–2020, American business executive, b. Salem, Mass., grad. Univ. of Massachusetts (1957); Univ. of Illinois (M.S., 1958; Ph.D., chemical engineering, 1960)...

Hobbes, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Hobbes, Thomas hŏbz [key], 1588–1679, English philosopher, grad. Magdalen College, Oxford, 1608. For many years a tutor in the Cavendish family, Hobbes took great interest in mathematics, physics, ...

Juárez, Benito

(Encyclopedia)Juárez, Benito bānēˈtō hwäˈrās [key], 1806–72, Mexican liberal statesman and national hero. Revered by Mexicans as one of their greatest political figures, Juárez, with great moral courage ...

Clinton, Hillary Rodham

(Encyclopedia)Clinton, Hillary Rodham rŏdˈəm [key], 1947–, U.S. senator and secretary of state, wife of President Bill Clinton, b. Chicago, grad. Wellesley College (B.A. 1969), Yale Law School (LL.B., 1973). A...

Zapata, Emiliano

(Encyclopedia)Zapata, Emiliano āmēlyäˈnō säpäˈtä [key], c.1879–1919, Mexican revolutionary, b. Morelos. Zapata was of almost pure native descent. A tenant farmer, he occupied a social position between th...

McClatchy, J. D.

(Encyclopedia)McClatchy, J. D. (Joseph Donald McClatchy, Jr.), 1945–2018, American poet, b. Bryn Mawr, Pa., B.A. Georgetown Univ., 1967, Ph.D. Yale, 1974. His first collection of poems, Scenes from Another Life (...

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