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Brown, Samuel Robbins

(Encyclopedia)Brown, Samuel Robbins, 1810–80, American missionary and educator, b. East Windsor, Conn. As a missionary (1839–47) to China, he took charge of a school founded by the Morrison Educational Associat...

Brown, Walter Folger

(Encyclopedia)Brown, Walter Folger fōlˈjər [key], 1869–1961, American cabinet officer, b. Massillon, Ohio. A lawyer of Toledo, Ohio, he became prominent in Republican politics and was (1927–29) Assistant Sec...

Brown, William Wells

(Encyclopedia)Brown, William Wells, 1814–84, African-American abolitionist, writer, and doctor, b. near Lexington, Ky. Born into slavery, the child of a black slave mother and a white slaveholding father, Brown f...

brown recluse spider

(Encyclopedia)brown recluse spider or violin spider, poisonous nocturnal spider, Loxoceles reclusa, most common in the SE and S central United States. Adults are 3⁄8 in. (10 mm) long and are light brown with a da...

Brown Swiss cattle

(Encyclopedia)Brown Swiss cattle, one of the oldest breeds of cattle, originating in Switzerland where the cows were used as triple-purpose animals (dairy, beef, and draft). They are large, fleshy, and slow-maturin...

Blackwell, Henry Brown

(Encyclopedia)Blackwell, Henry Brown, 1825–1909, American reformer, b. Bristol, England; brother of Elizabeth Blackwell. He was an abolitionist and later, with his wife, Lucy Stone, a worker for woman suffrage. ...

Abbott, Lyman

(Encyclopedia)Abbott, Lyman, 1835–1922, American clergyman and editor, b. Roxbury, Mass., son of Jacob Abbott. He was ordained a minister in 1860 and was pastor in several churches before succeeding Henry Ward Be...

Gimbel

(Encyclopedia)Gimbel gĭmˈbəl [key], family of American merchants and philanthropists. Adam Gimbel, 1815–96, b. Bavaria, emigrated (1835) to the United States and traveled up and down the Mississippi River pedd...

Jacobi, Carl Gustav Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Jacobi, Carl Gustav Jacob kärl go͝osˈtäf yäˈkôp yäkôˈbē [key], 1804–51, German mathematician. He was an outstanding teacher and was professor of mathematics at Königsberg (1827–42) and...

Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival

(Encyclopedia)Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, summer dance concert series held annually near Lee, Mass., in the Berkshires. The site, originally an 18th-century farm, was purchased by the American modern dancer Ted ...