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California, University of

(Encyclopedia)California, University of, at ten campuses, main campus at Berkeley; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1868, opened 1869 when it took over the College of California (est. 1853 a...

United States Naval Observatory

(Encyclopedia)United States Naval Observatory, a federal astronomical observatory, located in Washington, D. C. It evolved from the Navy's oldest scientific institution, the Depot of Charts and Instruments, founded...

Biddle, Nicholas, American financier

(Encyclopedia)Biddle, Nicholas, 1786–1844, American financier, b. Philadelphia. After holding important posts in the American legations in France and England, he returned to the United States in 1807 and became o...

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

(Encyclopedia)Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, philanthropic institution founded in 1994 by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, to improve the lives of the poor throughout the world, primarily th...

Deloria, Vine Victor Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Deloria, Vine, Jr., 1933–2005, American author, theologian, historian, and activist, b. Marin, S.Dak. Considered by some to be the leading intellectua...

Chautauqua movement

(Encyclopedia)Chautauqua movement, development in adult education somewhat similar to the lyceum movement. It derived from an institution at Chautauqua, N.Y. There, in 1873, John Heyl Vincent and Lewis Miller propo...

Gilman, Daniel Coit

(Encyclopedia)Gilman, Daniel Coit, 1831–1908, American educator, first president of Johns Hopkins Univ., b. Norwich, Conn., grad. Yale, 1852. After serving as attaché (1853–55) of the American legation at St. ...

Naoroji, Dadabhai

(Encyclopedia)Naoroji, Dadabhai däˈdəbəhī närōˈjē [key], 1825–1917, Indian nationalist leader. The son of a Parsi priest, at 27 he became professor of mathematics at Elphinstone Institution, Bombay (now ...

Vienna Philharmonic

(Encyclopedia)Vienna Philharmonic, symphony orchestra in Vienna, Austria, founded 1842 and based at the Weiner Musikverein. The orchestra is a self-governing institution whose members are selected exclusively from ...

Rutgers University

(Encyclopedia)Rutgers University, main campus at New Brunswick, N.J.; land-grant and state supported; coeducational except for Douglass College; chartered 1766 as Queen's College, opened 1771. Rutgers was the eig...