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kite, in aviation and recreation

(Encyclopedia)kite, in aviation, aircraft restrained by a towline and deriving its lift from the aerodynamic action of the wind flowing across it. Commonly the kite consists of a light framework upon which paper, s...

Kildare, Thomas Fitzgerald, 10th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Kildare, Thomas Fitzgerald, 10th earl of, 1513–37, Irish nobleman, called Silken Thomas. When his father, the 9th earl and lord deputy of Ireland, was summoned to London on charges of maladministrat...

Antarctic Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Antarctic Peninsula, glaciated mountain region of W Antarctica, extending c.1,200 mi (1,930 km) N toward South America. In the south, volcanic peaks rise to c.11,000 ft (3,350 m); other volcanic cones...

McGraw, John Joseph

(Encyclopedia)McGraw, John Joseph məgrôˈ [key], 1873–1934, American baseball manager, b. Cortland co., N.Y. He began playing professional baseball in 1890 and was (1891–1900) the star third baseman of the re...

Lamar, Mirabeau Buonaparte

(Encyclopedia)Lamar, Mirabeau Buonaparte mĭrˈəbōˌ bōˈnəpärtˌ [key], 1798–1859, president of the Texas republic (1838–41), b. Warren co., Ga. He went to Texas (1835), joined the revolutionaries, and to...

White, Ellen Gould (Harmon)

(Encyclopedia)White, Ellen Gould (Harmon), 1827–1915, leader of the Seventh-day Adventists, b. Gorham, Maine. Converted at the age of 15 to the beliefs of the Adventists, she began to receive visions accepted as ...

Maugham, Somerset

(Encyclopedia)Maugham, Somerset (William Somerset Maugham) môm [key], 1874–1965, English writer, b. Paris. He was noted as an expert storyteller and a master of the technique of fiction. An introverted child aff...

Warton, Thomas, the elder, c.1688–1745, English poet

(Encyclopedia)Warton, Thomas, the elder, c.1688–1745, English poet, father of Joseph and Thomas Warton. He was professor of poetry at Oxford from 1718 to 1728. His collected poems, edited by Joseph Warton, and pu...

Leland, Charles Godfrey

(Encyclopedia)Leland, Charles Godfrey hänsˈ brītmän [key], 1824–1903, American author, b. Philadelphia, grad. College of New Jersey (now Princeton), 1845, studied at Heidelberg, Munich, and Paris. While edito...

Páez, José Antonio

(Encyclopedia)Páez, José Antonio hōsāˈ äntōˈnyō päˈās [key], 1790–1873, Venezuelan revolutionist, president, and caudillo. He boldly led (1810–19) a band of llaneros [plainsmen] in skillful guerrill...