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Nordhoff, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Nordhoff, Charles nôrdˈhŏf [key], 1830–1901, American journalist and author, b. Westphalia. In 1835 he emigrated with his family to Cincinnati. His service (1844–47) in the navy, and later on w...

Ma, Yo-Yo

(Encyclopedia)Ma, Yo-Yo mä [key], 1955–, American cellist, b. Paris. The son of musicologist Hiao-Tsun Ma, who left China in the 1930s, he was a musical prodigy, giving a public recital in Paris at the age of si...

McInerney, Jay

(Encyclopedia)McInerney, Jay (John Barrett McInerney, Jr.), 1955–, American writer, b. Hartford, Conn. After graduating from Williams College (1976), he studied creative writing with Raymond Carver at Syracuse Un...

Miller, Glenn

(Encyclopedia)Miller, Glenn (Alton Glenn Miller), 1904–44, American jazz trombonist, bandleader, and composer, b. Clarinda, Iowa. Playing in Ben Pollack's band by 1927, he was a freelance musician in New York Cit...

Kantrowitz, Adrian

(Encyclopedia)Kantrowitz, Adrian kănˈtrəwĭtsˌ [key], 1918–2008, American surgeon, b. New York City, grad. New York Univ. (1940). The son of a physician, Kantrowitz received his M.D. from the Long Island Coll...

Kidder, Alfred Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Kidder, Alfred Vincent, 1885–1963, American archaeologist, b. Marquette, Mich., grad. Harvard (B.A. 1908; Ph.D. 1914). From 1915 to 1929 he conducted excavations at Pecos, N.Mex., for the Phillips A...

Yamasaki, Minoru

(Encyclopedia)Yamasaki, Minoru mĭnōˈro͞o yämäsäˈkē [key], 1912–86, American architect, b. Seattle. Yamasaki worked for prominent architectural firms in New York City from 1937 until 1949, when he formed ...

Stern, Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Stern, Isaac, 1920–2001, American violinist, b. Kremenets, in what is now Ukraine. Brought to the United States as an infant, Stern began piano lessons at the age of six and violin lessons at eight....

streetcar

(Encyclopedia)streetcar, small, self-propelled railroad car, similar to the type used in rapid-transit systems, that operates on tracks running through city streets and is used to carry passengers. Most often cars ...

Torre, Joe

(Encyclopedia)Torre, Joe (Joseph Paul Torre, Jr.), 1940–, American baseball player and manager, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Torre first played major league ball as a catcher for the Milwaukee Braves (1960–68), then moved...