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Ripley, Robert LeRoy

(Encyclopedia)Ripley, Robert LeRoy, 1890–1949, American cartoonist, b. Santa Rosa, Calif., as Leroy Robert Ripley. The creator of the Believe It or Not! newspaper cartoon, Ripley began his career at 16 as a sport...

Permian Basin

(Encyclopedia)Permian Basin or West Texas Basin, extensive sedimentary basin, West Texas and SE New Mexico. Covering an area of more than 75,000 sq mi (194,000 sq km), its main components are the Midland Basin on t...

Steinbrenner, George Michael, 3d

(Encyclopedia)Steinbrenner, George Michael, 3d, 1930–2010, American businessman, principal owner of the New York Yankees (1973–2010), b. Rocky River, Ohio, grad. Williams College (B.A., 1952). A wealthy shippin...

airmail

(Encyclopedia)airmail, transport of mail by airplanes. Demonstration flights that showed the feasibility of carrying mail by air were made in Great Britain and in the United States in 1911. In the United States, af...

Levitt, William Jaird

(Encyclopedia)Levitt, William Jaird lĕvˈət [key], 1907–94, American builder, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. After studying at New York Univ., he (and his brother) joined his father's construction company; it became (1929) ...

Pennsylvania Railroad

(Encyclopedia)Pennsylvania Railroad, former U.S. transportation company; inc. 1846 by the Pennsylvania legislature. It opened in 1854 as a single-track line between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Beginning in 1857, t...

Ross, Harold Wallace

(Encyclopedia)Ross, Harold Wallace, 1892–1951, American editor, b. Aspen, Colo. He founded the New Yorker in 1925 and was its influential managing editor until his death. Ross quit school at the age of 14 to work...

Bel Geddes, Norman

(Encyclopedia)Bel Geddes, Norman gĕdˈēz [key], 1893–1958, American designer, b. Adrian, Mich. as Norman Melancton Geddes. He began his career in 1918 as a scene designer for the Metropolitan Opera. He became k...

Perret, Auguste

(Encyclopedia)Perret, Auguste ōgüstˈ pĕrāˈ [key], 1874–1954, French architect. He left the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris to join the family construction firm with his brother Gustave, and began to exper...

warbler

(Encyclopedia)warbler, name applied in the New World to members of the wood warbler family (Parulidae) and in the Old World to a large family (Sylviidae) of small, drab, active songsters, including the hedge sparro...