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Astor, John Jacob, 1822–90, American financier

(Encyclopedia)Astor, John Jacob, 1822–90, American financier, b. New York City, educated at Columbia and Göttingen universities and at Harvard law school; son of William Backhouse Astor (1792–1875). He served ...

Lake Placid

(Encyclopedia)Lake Placid, village (1990 pop. 2,485), Essex co., NE N.Y.; settled 1850, inc. 1900. In the Adirondack Mts. at an altitude of 1,800 ft (549 m), the village surrounds Mirror Lake. It is a famous resort...

Erskine, John, American educator, author, and musician

(Encyclopedia)Erskine, John, 1879–1951, American educator, author, and musician, b. New York City, grad. Columbia (B.A., 1900; Ph.D., 1903). He taught first at Amherst (1903–9) and then at Columbia, becoming pr...

Astor, John Jacob, 1763–1848, American merchant

(Encyclopedia)Astor, John Jacob ăsˈtər [key], 1763–1848, American merchant, b. Walldorf, near Heidelberg, Germany. At the age of 16 he went to England, and five years later, in 1784, he arrived in Baltimore, p...

Franklin, John Hope

(Encyclopedia)Franklin, John Hope, 1915–2009, the dean of 20th-century African-American historians, b. Rentiesville, Okla., grad. Fisk Univ. (A.B., 1935), Harvard (M.A., 1936; Ph.D., 1941). Franklin served on the...

Morton, John, political leader in the American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Morton, John, c.1724–1777, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Chester co., Pa. He was a member of the Pennsylvania assembly (1756–66, 1769�...

Native American Church

(Encyclopedia)Native American Church, Native American religious group whose beliefs blend fundamentalist Christian elements with pan–Native American moral principles. The movement began among the Kiowa about 1890...

Burns, John

(Encyclopedia)Burns, John, 1858–1943, British union leader and politician. A factory worker as a child, he was largely self-educated and was led by his reading to radical socialism. Burns became an outstanding or...

Frazee, John

(Encyclopedia)Frazee, John frāˈzē [key], 1790–1852, American pioneer sculptor, b. Rahway, N.J. Without formal instruction, he advanced from tombstone cutting to portrait busts, including those of Daniel Webste...

Hay, John Milton

(Encyclopedia)Hay, John Milton, 1838–1905, American author and statesman who was an important political figure from the mid-19th cent. into the early 20th cent.; b. Salem, Ind., grad. Brown. He practiced law at S...