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Kirke, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Kirke, Sir David kûrk [key], 1597–1655?, English merchant adventurer, b. France. In 1627 he and his brothers Lewis and Thomas sailed on a fleet outfitted by their father, Gervase Kirke, and Sir Wil...

Stein, Clarence

(Encyclopedia)Stein, Clarence, 1882–1975, American architect, b. New York City, studied architecture at Columbia and the École des Beaux-Arts. Stein worked in the office of Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, where he as...

Burns, Ken

(Encyclopedia)Burns, Ken (Kenneth Lauren Burns), 1953–, American documentary filmmaker, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Hampshire College (1975). Acting as producer, director, and cinematographer, Burns typically explor...

Hebrides, the

(Encyclopedia)Hebrides, the hĕbˈrĭdēz [key], Western Isles, or Western Islands, group of more than 50 islands, W and NW Scotland. Less than a fifth of the islands are inhabited. The Outer Hebrides (sometimes al...

Johnson, Philip Cortelyou

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Philip Cortelyou, 1906–2005, American architect, museum curator, and historian, b. Cleveland, grad. Harvard Univ. (B.A., 1927). One of the first Americans to study modern European architect...

object-oriented programming

(Encyclopedia)object-oriented programming, a modular approach to computer program (software) design. Each module, or object, combines data and procedures (sequences of instructions) that act on the data; in traditi...

Natchez Trace

(Encyclopedia)Natchez Trace, road, from Natchez, Miss., to Nashville, Tenn., of great commercial and military importance from the 1780s to the 1830s. It grew from a series of Native American trails used in the 18th...

McLaughlin, Andrew Cunningham

(Encyclopedia)McLaughlin, Andrew Cunningham məgläkˈlĭn [key], 1861–1947, American educator and historian, b. Beardstown, Ill., grad. Univ. of Michigan (B.A., 1882; LL.B., 1885). He taught history at the Univ....

Maury, Matthew Fontaine

(Encyclopedia)Maury, Matthew Fontaine fŏntānˈ môrˈē [key], 1806–73, American hydrographer and naval officer, b. near Fredericksburg, Va. Appointed a midshipman in 1825, he saw varied sea duty until a stagec...

Tiffany, Louis Comfort

(Encyclopedia)Tiffany, Louis Comfort, 1848–1933, American artist, decorative designer, and art patron, b. New York City; son of Charles Lewis Tiffany. He studied painting with Inness and in Paris and painted oils...