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exploration

(Encyclopedia)exploration, travel to a part of the earth that is relatively unknown to the traveler's culture, historically often motivated by a desire for colonization, conquest, or trade. See also space explorati...

Rainey, Gertrude "Ma"

(Encyclopedia)Rainey, Gertrude "Ma," 1886–1939, African-American blues singer and songwriter, b. Columbus, Ga., as Gertrude Melissa Nix Pridgett. Rainey's place and...

Martin, Glenn Luther

(Encyclopedia)Martin, Glenn Luther, 1886–1955, American aviation pioneer, b. Macksburg, Iowa. Martin built his first airplane in 1909, and in 1912 set the world over-water record, flying from mainland California ...

Herndon, William Henry

(Encyclopedia)Herndon, William Henry, 1818–91, friend, law partner, and biographer of Abraham Lincoln, b. Greensburg, Ky. In 1844 he became the junior member of the Springfield, Ill., law firm of Lincoln and Hern...

Schiff, Adam Bennett

(Encyclopedia) Schiff, Adam Bennett, 1960- , American politician, b. Framingham, Ma., Stanford Univ. (B.A., 1982), Harvard Law School (J.D., 1985). ...

Northrop, John Knudson

(Encyclopedia)Northrop, John Knudson, 1895–1981, American aviation pioneer, inventor, and executive, b. Newark, N.J. He worked for the Loughead Aircraft Manufacturing Co. (1916–20) as a draftsman, designing sea...

Mnuchin, Steven Terner

(Encyclopedia)Mnuchin, Steven Terner məno͞ochən [key], 1962–, U.S. business leader, b. New York City, grad. Yale, 1985. An investment banker, he joined Goldman Sachs in 1985, becoming a partner in 1994 and exe...

McClatchy, J. D.

(Encyclopedia)McClatchy, J. D. (Joseph Donald McClatchy, Jr.), 1945–2018, American poet, b. Bryn Mawr, Pa., B.A. Georgetown Univ., 1967, Ph.D. Yale, 1974. His first collection of poems, Scenes from Another Life (...

Harris, Kamala Devi

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Kamala Devi käˈmələ dāˈvē [key], 1964–, Vice President of the United States (2021–), b. Oakland, Calif., B.A. Howard Univ., 1986, J.D. Univ. of California, Hastings, 1989. The child...

Flavin, Dan

(Encyclopedia)Flavin, Dan flāˈvĭn [key], 1933–96, American sculptor, b. New York City. In the early 1960s, Flavin experimented with fluorescent lights, bending them into complex, angular shapes. His sculptures...