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Manasseh ben Israel

(Encyclopedia)Manasseh ben Israel, 1604–57, Jewish scholar and communal leader, b. Portugal. Early in his life he settled in Amsterdam, where he became a rabbi and started (1627) the first Hebrew press there. He ...

Bechet, Sidney

(Encyclopedia)Bechet, Sidney bəshāˈ [key], 1897–1959, American jazz musician, b. New Orleans, La. He began his professional career with his brother Leonard's band in 1911. Later he played with many other bands...

Leslie, David

(Encyclopedia)Leslie, David, d. 1682, Scottish military commander. After serving in the Swedish army, he was a major general under his uncle, Alexander Leslie, 1st earl of Leven, in the Scottish army that joined th...

Magdalen Islands

(Encyclopedia)Magdalen Islands ēl-də-lä-mädlĕnˈ [key], group of nine main islands and numerous islets (1991 pop. 13,991), Que., Canada, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence N of Prince Edward Island. They were discove...

Eyjafjallajökull

(Encyclopedia)Eyjafjallajökull āˈyäfyätläyöˌkŭtl [key], glacier, S Iceland, near the coast. Roughly 39 sq mi (100 sq km) in area, it covers an active volcano, 5,466 ft (1,666 m) high, also known by the sam...

Marquis, Don

(Encyclopedia)Marquis, Don (Donald Robert Perry Marquis) märˈkwĭs [key], 1878–1937, American author, b. Walnut, Ill. In 1912 he began the humorous column “The Sun Dial” in the New York Sun and later conduc...

Hughes, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hughes, Richard, 1900–1976, English novelist. After graduating from Oxford in 1922, he helped found the Portmadoc Players and was for a time vice president of the Welsh National Theatre. In addition...

Hilliard, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Hilliard, Nicholas, 1537–1619, English miniature painter, son of a goldsmith. Trained first as a jeweler, he was court painter to Elizabeth and to James I. The first true miniaturist in England, Hil...

Mirrlees, Sir James Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Mirrlees, Sir James Alexander, 1936–2018, Scottish economist, Ph.D. He taught at Cambridge (1963–69, 1995–2003), Oxford (1969–95), and Chinese University of Hong Kong (2002–18). Building on ...

compressed air

(Encyclopedia)compressed air, air whose volume has been decreased by the application of pressure. Air is compressed by various devices, including the simple hand pump and the reciprocating, rotary, centrifugal, and...