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Whitney, Eli

(Encyclopedia)Whitney, Eli, 1765–1825, American inventor of the cotton gin, b. Westboro, Mass., grad. Yale, 1792. When he was staying as tutor at Mulberry Grove, the plantation of Mrs. Nathanael Greene, Whitney w...

blowfly

(Encyclopedia)blowfly, name for flies of the family Calliphoridae. Blowflies are about the same size as, and resemble, the housefly; because they are usually metallic blue or green they are also called bluebottle o...

Weir, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Weir, Peter wēr [key], 1944–, Australian film director, b. Sydney. His early work helped to bring Australian film to world attention; his later films, made in Hollywood, mingle American movie techn...

golf

(Encyclopedia)golf, game of hitting a small hard ball with specially made clubs over an outdoor course sometimes (particularly if it is near the coast) called a links. The object is to deposit the ball in a specifi...

liqueur

(Encyclopedia)liqueur lĭkûrˈ [key], strong alcoholic beverage made of almost neutral spirits, flavored with herb mixtures, fruits, or other materials, and usually sweetened. The name derives from the Latin word ...

liquid crystal

(Encyclopedia)liquid crystal, liquid whose component particles, atoms or molecules, tend to arrange themselves with a degree of order far exceeding that found in ordinary liquids and approaching that of solid cryst...

Micheaux, Oscar Devereaux

(Encyclopedia)Micheaux, Oscar Devereaux, 1884–1951, American filmmaker and author, b. Metropolis, Ill. The son of former slaves, Micheaux first worked as a Pullman porter, then was a homesteader in South Dakota. ...

armyworm

(Encyclopedia)armyworm, larva, or caterpillar, of a moth, Pseudaletia unipuncta or Mythimna unipuncta, found in North America E of the Rocky Mts.; also known as the common, or true, armyworm. When numerous, armywor...

Lewis, C. S.

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples Lewis), 1898–1963, English author, b. Belfast, Ireland. A fellow and tutor of English at Magdalen College, Oxford, from 1925 to 1954, C. S. Lewis was noted equally for hi...

Kony, Joseph Rao

(Encyclopedia)Kony, Joseph Rao, 1964?–, Ugandan rebel and war criminal. His cousin, Alice Lakwena, led the Holy Spirit Movement against (1986–87) Uganda's President Museveni, and when she was defeated, Kony for...