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Richards, Ann Willis

(Encyclopedia)Richards, Ann Willis, 1933–2006, American politician, b. Lakeview, Tex., as Dorothy Ann Willis. She began her career in politics in the early 1970s after having raised four children. A Democrat, she...

Rittenhouse, David

(Encyclopedia)Rittenhouse, David, 1732–96, American astronomer and instrument maker, b. near Germantown, Pa., self-educated. A clockmaker by trade, he developed great skill in the making of mathematical instrumen...

Seabury, Samuel, American clergyman

(Encyclopedia)Seabury, Samuel, 1729–96, American clergyman, first bishop of the Episcopal Church, b. Connecticut, grad. Yale, 1748. He studied medicine at the Univ. of Edinburgh, then turned to theology and was o...

Chikamatsu, Monzaemon

(Encyclopedia)Chikamatsu, Monzaemon mônˈzäĕmŏnˈ chēˌkämäˈtso͞o [key], 1653–1725, the first professional Japanese dramatist. Chikamatsu wrote primarily for the puppet stage in the Tokugawa shogunate. H...

Clark, Champ

(Encyclopedia)Clark, Champ (James Beauchamp Clark), 1850–1921, American legislator, b. near Lawrenceburg, Ky. After a career as lawyer, newspaper editor, and politician in Missouri, he was (1893–95, 1897–1921...

Cobb, Howell

(Encyclopedia)Cobb, Howell, 1815–68, American politican, b. Jefferson co., Ga. In 1837 he became solicitor general of the western judicial circuit of Georgia, a district populated largely by small farmers of Unio...

Delany, Martin Robinson

(Encyclopedia)Delany, Martin Robinson dəlāˈnē [key], 1812–85, American black leader, b. Charles Town, Va. (now in West Virginia). The son of free blacks, he attended a black school in Pittsburgh and studied m...

Desmoulins, Camille

(Encyclopedia)Desmoulins, Camille kämēˈyə dāmo͞olăNˈ [key], 1760–94, French revolutionary and journalist. His oratory of July 12, 1789, contributed to the storming of the Bastille two days later. His pamp...

Fenton, Reuben Eaton

(Encyclopedia)Fenton, Reuben Eaton, 1819–85, U.S. politician, b. Carroll, N.Y. He was elected to the New York assembly in 1849 and to Congress in 1852. Although he was elected as a Democrat, his position on slave...

ephemeris time

(Encyclopedia)ephemeris time (ET), astronomical time defined by the orbital motions of the earth, moon, and planets. The earth does not rotate with uniform speed, so the solar day is an imprecise unit of time. Ephe...