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Smithsonian Institution

(Encyclopedia)Smithsonian Institution, research and education center, mainly at Washington, D.C.; founded 1846 under the terms of the will of James Smithson of London, who in 1829 bequeathed his fortune to the Unit...

Wood, Leonard

(Encyclopedia)Wood, Leonard, 1860–1927, American general and administrator, b. Winchester, N.H. After practicing medicine briefly in Boston, he entered the army in 1885 and was made an assistant surgeon; in 1891 ...

little magazine

(Encyclopedia)little magazine, term used to designate certain magazines that have as their purpose the publication of art, literature, or social theory by comparatively little-known writers. The little-magazine m...

Claude Lorrain

(Encyclopedia)Claude Lorrain zhəlāˈ [key], 1600–1682, French painter, b. Lorraine. Claude was the foremost landscape painter of his time. In Rome at about 12 years of age he was employed as a pastry cook for t...

Havel, Václav

(Encyclopedia)Havel, Václav vätsˈläv hävĕl [key], 1936–2011, Czech dramatist and essayist, president of Czechoslovakia (1989–92) and the Czech Republic (1993–2003). The most original Czech dramatist to ...

Hay-Pauncefote Treaties

(Encyclopedia)Hay-Pauncefote Treaties hā-pônsˈfo͝ot [key], negotiated in 1899 and 1901 by Secretary of State John Hay, for the United States, and Lord Pauncefote of Preston, British ambassador to the United Sta...

Mobile, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Mobile mōbēlˈ, mōˈbēlˌ [key], city (1990 pop. 196,278), seat of Mobile co., SW Ala., at the head of Mobile Bay and at the mouth of the Mobile River; inc. 1814. Lying on one of the continent's g...

Plath, Sylvia

(Encyclopedia)Plath, Sylvia, 1932–63, American poet, b. Boston. Educated at Smith College and Cambridge, Plath published poems even as a child and won many academic and literary awards. Her first volume of poetry...

warbler

(Encyclopedia)warbler, name applied in the New World to members of the wood warbler family (Parulidae) and in the Old World to a large family (Sylviidae) of small, drab, active songsters, including the hedge sparro...

Troy , cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Troy. 1 City (1990 pop. 13,051), seat of Pike co., SE Ala., on the Conecuh River; inc. 1843. Products include lumber and wood items, textiles, truck bodies, feed, plastics, and pecans. Troy Univ. and ...