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Decapolis

(Encyclopedia)Decapolis dēkăpˈəlĭs [key] [Gr.,=ten cities], confederacy of 10 ancient cities, all E of the Jordan, except Scythopolis. The others were (according to Pliny) Dion, Pella, Gadara, Hippos, Gerasa, ...

Galanos, James

(Encyclopedia)Galanos, James gəlänˈōs [key], 1925–2016, American fashion designer, b. Philadelphia, settled in California 1945. His luxurious, expensive clothing, created with the most exacting workmanship, w...

Drexel, Anthony Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Drexel, Anthony Joseph drĕkˈsəl [key], 1826–93, American banker and philanthropist, b. Philadelphia. He entered (1838) at an early age the well-known banking firm of Drexel and Company, founded b...

Wiggin, Kate Douglas (Smith)

(Encyclopedia)Wiggin, Kate Douglas (Smith), 1856–1923, American author and educator, b. Philadelphia. In San Francisco she organized the first free kindergartens on the Pacific coast (1878) and with her sister es...

Wright, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Wright, Joseph, 1756–93, American portrait painter, b. Bordentown, N.J., son of Patience Lovell Wright. He studied under Benjamin West in London, where he painted the prince of Wales (later George I...

Biddle, James

(Encyclopedia)Biddle, James, 1783–1848, U.S. naval officer and diplomat, b. Philadelphia. He became a midshipman in 1800. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he was first lieutenant on the Wasp; he later commande...

Venturi, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Venturi, Robert, 1925–2018, American architect and architectural theorist, b. Philadelphia, grad. Princeton (B.A., 1947; M.F.A., 1950). An important and highly influential theorist, Venturi inveighe...

Dallas, George Mifflin

(Encyclopedia)Dallas, George Mifflin, 1792–1864, American statesman, vice president of the United States (1845–49), b. Philadelphia; son of Alexander James Dallas. He read law, was admitted (1813) to the bar, a...

Gimbel

(Encyclopedia)Gimbel gĭmˈbəl [key], family of American merchants and philanthropists. Adam Gimbel, 1815–96, b. Bavaria, emigrated (1835) to the United States and traveled up and down the Mississippi River pedd...

Wilson, James, American jurist

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, James, 1742–98, American jurist, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. near St. Andrews, Scotland. He studied at the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh and, after emigrating to Pe...