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Tannenbaum, Frank

(Encyclopedia)Tannenbaum, Frank, 1893–1969, American historian, b. Austria. He received his Ph.D. from the Brookings School of Economics in 1927. After an early career as a labor leader, journalist, and economic ...

Buckner, Simon Bolivar

(Encyclopedia)Buckner, Simon Bolivar, 1823–1914, Confederate general, b. Hart co., Ky., grad. West Point, 1844. In 1860, Buckner, a Louisville businessman, secured passage of a bill creating a large Kentucky mili...

Pincay, Laffit Alejandro, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Pincay, Laffit Alejandro, Jr. läfˈēt älākhänˈdrō pēnˈkī, pĭnˈ– [key], 1946–, Panamanian jockey, b. Panama City. He began racing in Panama and came to the United States in 1965. Known ...

Williams, William Sherley

(Encyclopedia)Williams, William Sherley, 1787–1849, American trader and trapper, known as Old Bill Williams, b. Rutherford co., N.C. Much of his early life was spent in Missouri, where he was a traveling preacher...

WAC

(Encyclopedia)WAC (Women's Army Corps), U.S. army organization created (1942) during World War II to enlist women as auxiliaries for noncombatant duty in the U.S. army. Before 1943 it was known as the Women's Auxil...

medlar

(Encyclopedia)medlar mĕdˈlər [key], small deciduous tree (Mespilus germanica) of the family Rosaceae (rose family), native to Europe and Asia. It has luxuriant foliage and large white or pinkish flowers; in the ...

tigernut

(Encyclopedia)tigernut, nearly cosmopolitan perennial (Cyperus esculentum) of the family Cyperaceae (sedge family) of the same genus as the papyrus plant. The tigernut has been cultivated since early times (chiefly...

Töpffer, Rodolphe

(Encyclopedia)Töpffer, Rodolphe rôdôlfˈ töpˈfər [key], 1799–1846, Swiss artist and writer, b. Geneva. Often called the father of the comic strip (or the graphic novel), he wanted to be a painter but found ...

Rocky Mountain spotted fever

(Encyclopedia)Rocky Mountain spotted fever, infectious disease caused by a rickettsia. The bacterium is harbored by wild rodents and other animals and is carried by infected ticks of several species that attach the...

Alcestis

(Encyclopedia)Alcestis ălsĕsˈtĭs [key], in Greek mythology, daughter of Pelias. She was won in marriage by Admetus, who fulfilled her father's condition that her suitor come for her in a chariot pulled by a wil...