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Redford, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Redford, Robert, 1937–, American actor and director, b. Santa Monica, Calif., as Charles Robert Redford, Jr. One of Hollywood's superstars, he began his acting career in 1959, scoring his first big ...

altitude

(Encyclopedia)altitude, vertical distance of an object above some datum plane, such as mean sea level or a reference point on the earth's surface. It is usually measured by the reduction in atmospheric pressure wit...

Hepburn, Audrey

(Encyclopedia)Hepburn, Audrey, 1929–93, British film actress, b. Brussels as Audrey Kathleen Ruston. The daughter of an English banker and a Dutch baroness, she and her mother lived in the Netherlands during the ...

Byrd, Harry Flood

(Encyclopedia)Byrd, Harry Flood bûrd [key], 1887–1966, U.S. senator from Virginia (1933–65), b. Martinsburg, W.Va.; brother of Richard E. Byrd. Educated at Shenandoah Academy in Winchester, Va., he became publ...

constellation, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Constellations: Southern sky CE5 Constellations: Southern sky CE5 Constellations: Southern sky constellation, in common usage, group of stars that appear to form a configuration in the...

Letcher, John

(Encyclopedia)Letcher, John, 1813–84, American politician, b. Lexington, Va. He studied law and practiced at Lexington, where he also edited the Jacksonian Democrat Valley Star. In Congress (1851–59), he was kn...

Lewis, Jerry Lee

(Encyclopedia)Lewis, Jerry Lee, 1935–2022, American singer and composer, b. Ferriday, La. Combining country music elements with an energetic performance style, he w...

Belopolsky, Aristarkh Apollonovich

(Encyclopedia)Belopolsky, Aristarkh Apollonovich ərĭˈstärkh əpəlônˈəvĭch byələpôlˈskē [key], 1854–1934, Russian astrophysicist, grad. Moscow Univ. (1877). He worked at the Moscow Observatory and fr...

Praesepe

(Encyclopedia)Praesepe prēsēˈpē [key] [Lat.,=manger], open star cluster in the constellation Cancer; cataloged as M44 or NGC 2632. It was first recorded by Hipparchus (c.150 b.c.). The cluster is often called t...

Gable, Clark

(Encyclopedia)Gable, Clark, 1901–60, American film actor, b. Cadiz, Ohio. He began his career in films in 1930 and soon after became a star. He won an Academy Award in 1934 for his brilliant comic performance in ...