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Walker, Madam C. J.

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Madam C. J., 1867–1919, African-American entrepeneur, b. Delta, La., as Sarah Breedlove. Thought to be America's first black female millionaire, this daughter of ex-slaves was orphaned at 7,...

Walker, Sir John Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Walker, Sir John Ernest, 1941–, English biochemist, Ph.D. Oxford, 1969. He has been a researcher at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge since 1974. In 1997 Walk...

Bush, George Herbert Walker

(Encyclopedia)Bush, George Herbert Walker, 1924–2018, 41st President of the United States (1989–93), b. Milton, Mass., B.A., Yale Univ., 1948. Bush's handling of domestic affairs was less successful. The savi...

Bahía, Islas de la

(Encyclopedia)Bahía, Islas de la ēzˈläs ᵺā lä bäēˈə [key], or Bay Islands, archipelago (1996 est. pop. 28,448), 144 sq mi (373 sq km), off the north coast of Honduras, in the Caribbean Sea. The archipel...

San Juan del Norte

(Encyclopedia)San Juan del Norte sän hwän dĕl nôrˈtā [key], small town, SE Nicaragua, on the Caribbean Sea. Small quantities of bananas and hardwoods are exported. Also called Greytown, it was occupied (1848)...

Granada, city, Nicaragua

(Encyclopedia)Granada gränäˈᵺä [key], city, W Nicaragua, on Lake Nicaragua. It is Nicaragua's third l...

Sheeler, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Sheeler, Charles, 1883–1965, American painter and photographer, b. Philadelphia, studied at the School of Industrial Art there and later at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts under William M....

León, city, Nicaragua

(Encyclopedia)León, city (1995 pop. 125,117), W Nicaragua. It is Nicaragua's second largest city and the rail and commercial center between Corinto and Managua. It was founded in 1524 on Lake Managua by Francisco ...

Vanderbilt, Cornelius

(Encyclopedia)Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 1794–1877, American railroad magnate, b. Staten Island, N.Y. As a boy he ferried freight and passengers from Staten Island to Manhattan, and he soon gained control of most of ...

Walras, Léon

(Encyclopedia)Walras, Léon, 1834–1910, French economist. After abandoning his studies in mining engineering, he became a freelance journalist, advancing the causes of economic and social reform. He later became ...

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