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Obama, Barack

(Encyclopedia)Obama, Barack (Barack Hussein Obama 2d), bəräkˈ ho͞osānˈ ōbäˈmə [key], 1961–, 44th president of the United States (2009–17), b. Honolulu, grad. Columbia (B.A. 1983), Harvard Law School ...

Pan, in Greek religion and mythology

(Encyclopedia)Pan păn [key], in Greek religion and mythology, pastoral god of fertility. He was worshiped principally in Arcadia, and one legend states that he was the son of Hermes, another Arcadian god. Pan was ...

Mann, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Mann, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh män [key], 1871–1950, German novelist; older brother of Thomas Mann. He was a prolific author; themes of social criticism dominate his works. The Poor (1917, tr. 1917) an...

Kingsley, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Kingsley, Charles, 1819–75, English author and clergyman. Ordained in 1842, he became vicar of Eversley in Hampshire in 1844. From 1848 to 1852 he published tracts advocating Christian socialism. Th...

Pulaski, Casimir

(Encyclopedia)Pulaski, Casimir käzēˈmyĕsh po͞oläˈskē [key], 1745–1779, Polish patriot and military commander in the American Revolution. Born in Podolia of a noble family, he participated with his father ...

Berger, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Berger, Thomas bûrˈgər [key], 1924–2014, American novelist, b. Cincinnati, grad. Univ. of Cincinnati (B.A., 1948). He is known for bitterly comic novels that often deal with the chasm he perceive...

grape

(Encyclopedia)grape, common name for the Vitaceae, a family of mostly climbing shrubs, widespread in tropical and subtropical regions and extending into the temperate zones. The woody vines, or lianas, climb by mea...

Whitewater, in U.S. history

(Encyclopedia)Whitewater, popular name for a failed 1970s Arkansas real estate venture by the Whitewater Development Corp., in which Gov. (later President) Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, were pa...

Tammany

(Encyclopedia)Tammany tămˈənē [key] or Tammany Hall, popular name for the Democratic political machine in Manhattan. Tammany suffered a telling defeat in the election of 1932 and did not regain its former s...

La Follette, Robert Marion

(Encyclopedia)La Follette, Robert Marion ləfŏlˈĭt [key], 1855–1925, American political leader, U.S. Senator from Wisconsin (1906–25), b. Primrose, Wis. Robert La Follete's wife, Belle Case La Follette, 18...