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layering

(Encyclopedia)layering, horticultural practice of propagating a plant by rooting a branch before severing it from the mother plant. Typically the branch is bent and a section that has been slit or broken on the und...

Lee, Ann

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Ann, 1736–84, English religious visionary, founder of the Shakers in America. Born in Manchester, she worked there in the cotton factories and then became a cook. In 1762 she was married to Abr...

Kollwitz, Käthe Schmidt

(Encyclopedia)Kollwitz, Käthe Schmidt kāˈtə shmĭt kôlˈvĭts [key], 1867–1945, German graphic artist and sculptor. She first gained a reputation with her illustrations for Hauptmann's Weavers and Zola's Ger...

Bachofen, Johann Jakob

(Encyclopedia)Bachofen, Johann Jakob bäkōˈfən [key], 1815–87, Swiss legal historian and antiquarian. Bachofen studied in Berlin, Göttingen, Paris, and Cambridge, and accepted only honorary offices in order t...

Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Benjamin [Heb.,=son of fortune], younger son of Jacob and Rachel, eponymous ancestor of one of the 12 tribes of Israel. His mother, dying, named him Benoni bĕnōˈnī [key] [Heb.,=son of my sorrow]. ...

Bush, Barbara

(Encyclopedia)Bush, Barbara, 1925–2018, b. New York City as Barbara Pierce; wife of George H. W. Bush and mother of George W. Bush. She studied briefly at Smith College before marrying (1945); the Bushes ultimate...

Britannicus

(Encyclopedia)Britannicus (Claudius Tiberius Germanicus Britannicus) brĭtănˈĭkəs [key], a.d. 41?–a.d. 55, Roman prince, son of Claudius I and Messalina, so called in honor of Claudius' conquests in Britain. ...

Biddle, George

(Encyclopedia)Biddle, George, 1885–1973, American painter and writer on art, b. Philadelphia. After studying abroad Biddle settled in the 1930s in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., where he devoted himself to paintings of ...

Beard, James

(Encyclopedia)Beard, James, 1903–85, American cooking teacher and cookbook author, b. Portland, Oreg. His interest in food was encouraged by his mother, who had been a hotel proprietor. He was a syndicated column...

Thutmose IV

(Encyclopedia)Thutmose IV thŏthˈmēz, tōtˈmĕs [key], reigned c.1406–1398 b.c., king of ancient Egypt, of the XVIII dynasty, son and successor of Amenhotep II. He invaded Asia and Nubia, and formed alliances ...