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Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence

(Encyclopedia)Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence mĕkˈlənbûrgˌ [key], resolution alleged to have been proclaimed at Charlotte, N.C., by the citizens of Mecklenburg co. on May 20, 1775. Although North Carol...

Henson, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Henson, Jim (James Maury Henson), 1936–90, American puppeteer, creator of the Muppets, b. Greenville, Miss., grad. Univ. of Maryland (A.B., 1960). In 1954 he got his first job as a local television ...

Chase, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Chase, Samuel, 1741–1811, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1796–1811), b. Somerset co., Md. A la...

Gibson, John Bannister

(Encyclopedia)Gibson, John Bannister, 1780–1853, American jurist, b. Westover Mills, Pa.; nephew of the American frontiersman John Gibson. He studied law, was unsuccessful in practice, and served (1810–12) with...

Alito, Samuel Anthony, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Alito, Samuel Anthony, Jr. əlēˈtō [key], 1950–, U.S. government official and judge, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (2006–), b. Trenton, N.J., grad. Pr...

Sutherland, George

(Encyclopedia)Sutherland, George, 1862–1942, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1922–38), b. Buckinghamshire, England. He was taken by his family to Springville, Utah from England in 1864. After study...

Leo IV, Byzantine emperor

(Encyclopedia)Leo IV (Leo the Khazar), d. 780, Byzantine emperor (775–80), son and successor of Constantine V. He owed his nickname to his mother, a Khazar princess. Leo tempered the iconoclastic excesses of his ...

Chambers, Whittaker

(Encyclopedia)Chambers, Whittaker, 1901–61, U.S. journalist and spy, b. Philadelphia. He joined the U.S. Communist party in 1925 and wrote for its newspaper before engaging (1935–38) in espionage for the USSR. ...

Shriver, Eunice Mary Kennedy

(Encyclopedia)Shriver, Eunice Mary Kennedy, 1921–2009, American philanthropist and advocate for the intellectually disabled, b. Brookline, Mass., grad. Stanford (1943); she was a daughter of Joseph P. Kennedy and...

Tyson, Mike

(Encyclopedia)Tyson, Mike (Michael Gerald Tyson), 1966–, American boxer, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. At the age of 12, Tyson was sent to reform school, where he began to box. In a whirlwind career begun in 1985 when he tur...