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Crespi, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Crespi, Juan krāsˈpē [key], 1721–82, Spanish explorer in the Southwest, a Franciscan. He came to America in 1749, and in 1767 he went to the peninsula of California in charge of Mission Purísim...

Young, John Watts

(Encyclopedia)Young, John Watts, 1930–2018, American astronaut, b. San Francisco. A Navy test pilot, he joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's astronaut program in 1962. Young served as pilot ...

San Luis Obispo

(Encyclopedia)San Luis Obispo săn lo͞oˈĭs ōbĭsˈpō [key], city (1990 pop. 41,958), seat of San Luis Obispo co., S Calif., near San Luis Obispo Bay; inc. 1856. Printing and publishing, machinery, medical good...

Feller, Bob

(Encyclopedia)Feller, Bob (Robert William Andrew Feller), 1918–2010, American baseball player, b. Van Meter, Iowa. Famous for his blazing fastball, he also had extraordinary curveballs and sinkers in his repertoi...

James, Thomas, American fur trader and pioneer

(Encyclopedia)James, Thomas, 1782–1847, American fur trader and pioneer, b. Maryland. He accompanied the 1809 expedition of the Missouri Fur Company up the Missouri River. He left the expedition at the Mandan vil...

Johnson, Walter Perry

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Walter Perry, 1887–1946, American baseball player, b. Humboldt, Kans. He began playing with the Washington Senators of the American League in 1907. A right-handed pitcher, he won 417 games ...

Stevens, Phineas

(Encyclopedia)Stevens, Phineas, 1707–56, American colonial soldier, b. Sudbury, Mass. He moved with his family to Rutland (now Rutland, Vt.) and in 1723 was captured and imprisoned by the St. Francis Indians. Upo...

Seton, Ernest Thompson

(Encyclopedia)Seton, Ernest Thompson, 1860–1946, American writer and artist, b. England. His name was originally Ernest Seton Thompson. His stories and paintings of wildlife, especially Wild Animals I Have Known ...

Native American music

(Encyclopedia)Native American music. The music of Native North Americans is primarily a vocal art, usually choral, although some nations favor solo singing. Native American music is entirely melodic; there is no ha...

Das, Chitta Ranjan

(Encyclopedia)Das, Chitta Ranjan chĭtˈtə rŭnˈjən däs [key], 1870–1925, Indian political leader. A lawyer who opposed British rule and defended many Indian nationalists, he idealized traditional Indian life...