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Harding, Warren Gamaliel

(Encyclopedia)Harding, Warren Gamaliel gəmāˈlēəl [key], 1865–1923, 29th President of the United States (1921–23), b. Blooming Grove (now Corsica), Ohio. After study (1879–82) at Ohio Central College, he ...

Bechet, Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Bechet, Sidney bəshāˈ [key], 1897–1959, American jazz musician, b. New Orleans, La. He began his professional career with his brother Leonard's band in 1911. Later he played with many other bands...

charcoal

(Encyclopedia)charcoal, substance obtained by partial burning or carbonization (destructive distillation) of organic material. It is largely pure carbon. The entry of air during the carbonization process is control...

hardwood

(Encyclopedia)hardwood: see wood.

Dance, George

(Encyclopedia)Dance, George, the elder, 1695–1768, English architect. Among his public buildings in London, the most important is the Mansion House (1739–52), an example of the neo-Palladian style. He built the...

Brent, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)Brent, Margaret, 1600?–1671?, early American feminist, b. Gloucester, England. With her two brothers and a sister, she left England to settle (1638) in St. Marys City, Md., where she acquired an ext...

annual rings

(Encyclopedia)annual rings, the growth layers of wood that are produced each year in the stems and roots of trees and shrubs. In climates with well-marked alternations of seasons (either cold and warm or wet and dr...

brazilwood

(Encyclopedia)brazilwood, common name for several trees of the family Leguminosae (pulse family) whose wood yields a red dye. The dye has largely been replaced by synthetic dyes for fabrics, but it is still used in...

ebony

(Encyclopedia)ebony, common name for members of the Ebenaceae, a family of trees and shrubs widely distributed in warmer climates and in the tropics. The principal genus, Diospyros, includes both ebony and persimmo...

Tindemans, Leo

(Encyclopedia)Tindemans, Leo (Leonard Clemence Tindemans), 1922–2014, Belgian stateman. He studied economics at the universities of Antwerp and Ghent, and in 1958 became head of the Flemish Christian Democrats. F...