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Franklin Institute

(Encyclopedia)Franklin Institute, in Philadelphia; chartered and opened 1824 “for the promotion of the mechanic arts,” the first of its kind in the country. It was named for Benjamin Franklin. Since the 19th ce...

pentathlon

(Encyclopedia)pentathlon pĕntăthˈlən [key], composite athletic event. In ancient Greece it comprised leaping, foot racing, wrestling, discus throwing, and casting the javelin. The modern pentathlon, an Olympic ...

Pindling, Sir Lynden Oscar

(Encyclopedia)Pindling, Sir Lynden Oscar, 1930–2000, prime minister of the Bahamas (1967–92). The son of a policeman, he received a law degree (1952) from London Univ. As leader of the Progressive Liberal party...

Menchú, Rigoberta

(Encyclopedia)Menchú, Rigoberta rēˌgōbĕrˈtä mĕncho͞oˈ [key], 1959–, Guatemalan social reformer. Of Mayan descent, she and her family were caught in Guatemala's bloody civil war. Protesters against human...

Scruggs, Earl Eugene

(Encyclopedia)Scruggs, Earl Eugene, 1924–2012, American banjo player, b. Flint Hill, N.C. He developed a distinctive syncopated, three-finger style on the five-string banjo that changed the way it is played. From...

Santiago de los Caballeros

(Encyclopedia)Santiago de los Caballeros dā lōs käbäyāˈrōs [key], city (1993 pop. 364,859), N Dominican Republic, on the Yaque del Norte River. The second most important city in the country, it is a rail and...

viper

(Encyclopedia)viper, any of a large number of heavy-bodied, poisonous snakes of the family Viperidae, characterized by erectile, hypodermic fangs. The fangs are folded back against the roof of the mouth except when...

Elgon, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Elgon, Mount ĕlˈgŏn [key], extinct volcano, central Africa, on the Kenya-Uganda border. Its highest peak is Wagagai (14,178 ft/4,321 m). The inhabitants of Mt. Elgon's densely populated lower slope...

Norris, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Norris, Edwin, 1795–1872, English philologist. Norris wrote a number of articles on little-known languages of Asia and Africa. His most important work was his uncompleted Assyrian Dictionary (3 vol....

Pan-Africanism

(Encyclopedia)Pan-Africanism, general term for various movements in Africa that have as their common goal the unity of Africans and the elimination of colonialism and white supremacy from the continent. However, on...