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de Candolle, Augustin Pyrame

(Encyclopedia)de Candolle, Augustin Pyrame də käNdōlˈ [key], 1778–1841, Swiss botanist. Considered the most important Swiss botanist of his era, de Candolle wrote on a wide variety of botanical topics, from m...

Stuck, Hudson

(Encyclopedia)Stuck, Hudson, 1863–1920, American missionary and explorer, b. London, England. He emigrated to the United States in 1885, graduated from the Univ. of the South (1892), and was dean (1894–1904) of...

Sorenstam, Annika

(Encyclopedia)Sorenstam, Annika, 1970–, Swedish golfer. Acclaimed by many as golf's greatest female player, she dominated the game in the late 1990s and early 2000s. She played for the Swedish national team (1987...

micrometer

(Encyclopedia)micrometer mīkrŏmˈətər, mīˈkrōmēˌtər [key]. 1 Instrument used for measuring extremely small distances. Typical examples are devices used in astronomical telescopes to measure the apparent d...

Virginius affair

(Encyclopedia)Virginius affair, 1873, incident that came near to causing war between the United States and Spain. The Virginius, a filibustering ship, was fraudulently flying the American flag and carrying arms to ...

Chikamatsu, Monzaemon

(Encyclopedia)Chikamatsu, Monzaemon mônˈzäĕmŏnˈ chēˌkämäˈtso͞o [key], 1653–1725, the first professional Japanese dramatist. Chikamatsu wrote primarily for the puppet stage in the Tokugawa shogunate. H...

Anderson, John Bayard

(Encyclopedia)Anderson, John Bayard, 1922–2017, U.S. politician, b. Rockford, Ill., grad. Univ. of Illinois (B.A. 1939, J.D. 1946), Harvard law school (LL.M. 1949). After serving in the army (1943–45) and pract...

Gretzky, Wayne

(Encyclopedia)Gretzky, Wayne (Wayne Douglas Gretzky), 1961–, Canadian ice hockey player, b. Brantford, Ont. He played with the Edmonton Oilers (1978–88), Los Angeles Kings (1988–96), St. Louis Blues (1996), a...

Dove, Rita

(Encyclopedia)Dove, Rita, 1952–, American poet, b. Akron, Ohio, studied Iowa Writers' Workshop (M.F.A., 1977). Her first poetry collection, Ten Poems, was published in 1977. Her verse is at once concise, precise,...

hand, foot, and mouth disease

(Encyclopedia)hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), infectious viral disease that most commonly occurs in children under five years of age. Symptoms include fever, poor appetite, and a sore throat, followed by pain...