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Orangeburg

(Encyclopedia)Orangeburg, city (1990 pop. 13,739), seat of Orangeburg co., central S.C., on the North Fork of the Edisto River; settled 1732, inc. as a city 1883. It is the trade and processing center of a cotton a...

Gibson, Josh

(Encyclopedia)Gibson, Josh (Joshua Gibson) 1911–47, American baseball player, b. Buena Vista, Ga. A catcher and the long-time batterymate of Satchel Paige, Gibson was called “the Babe Ruth of the Negro Leagues....

Leonard, Buck

(Encyclopedia)Leonard, Buck (Walter Fenner Leonard), 1907–1997, African-American baseball player, b. Rocky Mount, N.C. Beginning in 1933, he played semiprofessional ball with the Baltimore Stars and the Brooklyn ...

Mainbocher

(Encyclopedia)Mainbocher mĕnˌbōshāˈ [key] (Main Rousseau Bocher), 1891–1976, American fashion designer, b. Chicago. He was known for his expensive, elegant evening clothes; cardigan sweaters with jeweled but...

platform tennis

(Encyclopedia)platform tennis, version of lawn tennis played on an elevated wooden or aluminum court that is one fourth the size of a standard court, usually by doubles teams. Unlike lawn tennis, platform tennis al...

Tomsk

(Encyclopedia)Tomsk tŏmsk, Rus. tômsk [key], city (1989 pop. 502,000), capital of Tomsk region, W central Siberian Russia, on the Tom River. It is a major river port and freight transit point, and is a regional h...

Best, George

(Encyclopedia)Best, George, 1946–2005, Northern Irish soccer play, b. Belfast. Regarded as the greatest player ever in British soccer, he was signed by Manchester United in 1961. He first played for the team in 1...

scarab beetle

(Encyclopedia)scarab beetle or scarab, name for members of a large family of heavy-bodied, oval beetles (the Scarabaeidae), with about 30,000 species distributed throughout most of the world and over 1,200 in North...

Killebrew, Harmon Clayton

(Encyclopedia)Killebrew, Harmon Clayton, 1936–2011, American baseball player, b. Payette, Idaho. A soft-spoken slugger nicknamed “Killer,” he played in the American League, beginning (1954) with the Washingto...

lightning

(Encyclopedia)lightning, electrical discharge accompanied by thunder, commonly occurring during a thunderstorm. The discharge may take place between one part of a cloud and another part (intracloud), between one cl...