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yucca

(Encyclopedia)yucca yŭkˈə [key], any plant of the genus Yucca, stiff-leaved stemless or treelike succulents of the family Liliaceae (lily family), native chiefly to the tablelands of Mexico and the American Sout...

Webb, Beatrice Potter

(Encyclopedia)Webb, Beatrice Potter, 1858–1943, English socialist economist; daughter of a wealthy industrialist. She took an early interest in social problems and worked with Charles Booth on his survey of worki...

interior decoration

(Encyclopedia)interior decoration, adornment of the interior of a building, public or domestic, comprising interior architecture, finishing, and furnishings. Asian and classical cultures used the decorative arts to...

impeachment

(Encyclopedia)impeachment, in Great Britain and United States, formal accusation issued by a legislature against a public official charged with crime or other serious misconduct. In a looser sense the term is somet...

Du Bois, W. E. B.

(Encyclopedia)Du Bois, W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt Du Bois) dəboisˈ [key], 1868–1963, American civil-rights leader and author, b. Great Barrington, Mass., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1890; M.A., 1891; Ph.D., 18...

Faulkner, William

(Encyclopedia)Faulkner, William, 1897–1962, American novelist, b. New Albany, Miss., one of the great American writers of the 20th cent. Born into an old Southern family named Falkner, he changed the spelling of ...

Williamsburg

(Encyclopedia)Williamsburg, historic city (1990 pop. 11,530), seat of James City co., SE Va., on a peninsula between the James and York rivers; settled 1632 as Middle Plantation, laid out and renamed 1699, inc. 172...

Aspin, Les

(Encyclopedia)Aspin, Les (Leslie Aspin, Jr.), 1938–95, U.S. politician and government official, b. Milwaukee, Wis. Running as a Democrat opposed to the Vietnam War, he won election as a U.S. Representative from W...

Marino, Dan

(Encyclopedia)Marino, Dan (Daniel Constantine Marino, Jr.) mərēˈnō [key], 1961–, American football player, b. Pittsburgh. After starring as an All-American quarterback at the Univ. of Pittsburgh, he joined (1...

Johnson, Magic

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Magic (Earvin Johnson, Jr.), 1959–, African-American basketball player, b. Lansing, Mich. After winning the national championship with Michigan State Univ. (1979), he joined the Los Angeles...