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Tompion, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tompion, Thomas, 1639?–1713, English clockmaker. When the Royal Observatory at Greenwich was established in 1676, Tompion was chosen to make two clocks, to be wound only once a year, which proved to...

Puerto Rico

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Puerto Rico rēˈkō [key], island (2015 est. pop. 3,674,000), 3,508 sq mi (9,086 sq km), West Indies, c.1,000 mi (1,610 km) SE of Miami, Fla. Officially known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Ric...

Hamill, Pete

(Encyclopedia)Hamill, Pete (Wlliam Peter Hamill Jr.), 1935–2020, American journalist and author, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He served in the U.S. Navy (1952–56) and worked as a graphic designer (1957–60) before being ...

Niue

(Encyclopedia)Niue nēo͞oˈā [key], coral island (2015 est. pop. 2,000), c.100 sq mi (260 sq km), South Pacific, freely associated with New Zealand. Alofi is the capital. The inhabitants are mainly Protestant Pol...

Radcliffe

(Encyclopedia)Radcliffe, town (1991 pop. 27,664), Bury metropolitan district, N England, in the Greater Manchester metropolitan area. Industries include cotton and rayon mills and chemical, engineering, and paper p...

Selwyn, George Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Selwyn, George Augustus sĕlˈwĭn [key], 1809–78, English prelate. In 1841 he was appointed to the colonial diocese of New Zealand, becoming the first Anglican bishop of the island. Having prepared...

Pelli, César

(Encyclopedia)Pelli, César, 1926–2019, American architect, b. Tucumán, Argentina. Pelli graduated (1949) from the Univ. of Tucumán, immigrated (1952) to the United States, and subsequently attended (1952–54)...

Piscator, Erwin

(Encyclopedia)Piscator, Erwin pĭskäˈtôr [key], 1893–1966, German theatrical director and producer who, with Bertolt Brecht, was the foremost exponent of epic theater, a genre that emphasizes the sociopolitica...

fasting

(Encyclopedia)fasting, partial or temporary abstinence from food, a widely used form of asceticism. Among the stricter Jews the principal fast is the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur; in Islam the faithful fast all ...

Cox, Bobby

(Encyclopedia)Cox, Bobby (Robert Joseph Cox), 1941–, American baseball player and manager, b. Tulsa, Okla. A third baseman who had a lackluster major-league career in two seasons (1968–69) with the New York Yan...