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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...

Drude, Paul Karl Ludwig

(Encyclopedia)Drude, Paul Karl Ludwig poul kärl lo͝otˈvĭkh dro͞oˈdə [key], 1863–1906, German physicist. Drude first experimented with the physical determinants of optical constants, measuring the optical c...

Grimaldi, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Grimaldi, Joseph grĭmălˈdē [key], 1779–1837, English pantomime actor and clown. He made his debut at the age of three in Robinson Crusoe at Sadler's Wells, London. For many years he performed th...

Kaye, Nora

(Encyclopedia)Kaye, Nora (Nora Koreff), 1920–87, American ballerina, b. New York City. Kaye studied with Michel Fokine and Antony Tudor. She joined the Ballet Theatre in 1940 and scored a major triumph in 1942 in...

Bregenz

(Encyclopedia)Bregenz brāˈgĕnts [key], city, capital of Vorarlberg province, extreme W Austria, on Lake ...

Brill, Abraham Arden

(Encyclopedia)Brill, Abraham Arden, 1874–1948, American psychiatrist, b. Austria, grad. New York Univ., 1901, M.D. Columbia, 1903. He came to the United States alone at the age of 13. After studies with C. G. Jun...

Budge, Don

(Encyclopedia)Budge, Don (John Donald Budge), 1915–2000, American tennis player, b. Oakland, Calif. A powerful, consistent player, Budge was the first person to capture the sport's grand slam, winning the Austral...

Pire, Georges Henri

(Encyclopedia)Pire, Georges Henri zhôrzh äNrēˈ pēr [key], 1910–69, Belgian priest. He entered a Dominican monastery at the age of 18 and was ordained in 1934. He taught moral philosophy and sociology and dur...

Blessington, Marguerite, countess of

(Encyclopedia)Blessington, Marguerite, countess of, 1789–1849, English author and famous beauty, b. Ireland. At the age of 14 she was forced by her father into marriage with Capt. Maurice St. Leger Farmer, a sadi...

extinction

(Encyclopedia)extinction, in biology, disappearance of species of living organisms. Extinction usually occurs as a result of changed conditions to which the species is not suited. If no member of the affected speci...