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Hancock, John

(Encyclopedia)Hancock, John, 1737–93, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Braintree, Mass. From an uncle he inherited Boston's leading mercantile firm, and n...

Giles, William Branch

(Encyclopedia)Giles, William Branch jīlz [key], 1762–1830, American statesman, b. Amelia co., Va. After practicing as a lawyer in Petersburg, Va., he entered the U.S. House of Representatives as an Anti-Federali...

De Mille, Cecil B.

(Encyclopedia)De Mille, Cecil B. (Cecil Blount De Mille), 1881–1959, American movie director and producer, b. Ashfield, Mass. In 1914, together with Samuel Goldwyn, he made the first feature-length film in Hollyw...

America, in music

(Encyclopedia)America, in music, a patriotic hymn of the United States. The words (beginning “My country, 'tis of thee”) were written in 1832 by Samuel Francis Smith while he was a theological student in Andove...

Bourbaki, Nicolas

(Encyclopedia)Bourbaki, Nicolas, pseudonym under which a group of 20th cent. mathematicians has written a series of treatises on pure mathematics. The mathematicians have all been associated with the Ecole Normale ...

Story, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Story, Joseph, 1779–1845, American jurist, associate justice of the Supreme Court (1811–45), b. Marblehead, Mass. Admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1801, he practiced law in Salem and was sever...

parapsychology

(Encyclopedia)parapsychology, study of mental phenomena not explainable by accepted principles of science. The organized, scientific investigation of paranormal phenomena began with the foundation (1882) of the Soc...

American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations

(Encyclopedia)American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), a federation of autonomous labor unions in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, and U.S. dependencies, formed in ...

Mancini, Pasquale Stanislao

(Encyclopedia)Mancini, Pasquale Stanislao päskwäˈlā stänēzläˈō mänchēˈnē [key], 1817–88, Italian jurist and public official. After taking part in the Revolution of 1848 in Naples he fled to Turin, wh...

Erskine, Thomas, 1st Baron Erskine

(Encyclopedia)Erskine, Thomas, 1st Baron Erskine, 1750–1823, British jurist, b. Edinburgh. He was admitted to the bar in 1778. His eloquence and forensic skill won Erskine an enormous practice, during which he ma...