(Encyclopedia) Lang Lang, 1982–, Chinese virtuoso pianist. A child prodigy, he studied at the Central Music Conservatory, Beijing, and the Curtis Institute, Philadelphia. Noted for the romantic,…
(Encyclopedia) Kramer, Jack (John Albert Kramer), 1921–2009, American tennis player, b. Las Vegas, Nev. He excelled at tennis while still in high school. Kramer and Frederick (Ted) Schroeder won the…
(Encyclopedia) Tillerson, Rex Wayne, 1952–, American business executive and government official, b. Wichita Falls, Tex., B.S. Univ. of Texas, Austin, 1975. He joined the Exxon Corp. in 1975 as a…
(Encyclopedia) Godwin, Parke, 1816–1904, American journalist, b. Paterson, N.J. He became associated while working on the New York Evening Post with William Cullen Bryant, whose daughter he married.…
(Encyclopedia) Gratian, fl. 1140, Italian legal scholar, founder of the science of canon law. Almost nothing is known of his life beyond the fact that he was a monk, almost certainly Camaldolite, and…
(Encyclopedia) Foster, Rube (Andrew Bishop Foster), 1879–1930, African-American baseball player and executive, b. Calvert, Tex. Known as “the father of black baseball,” he turned professional with…
(Encyclopedia) ammonium group, in chemistry, a positively charged nitrogen atom joined by single bonds to four other atoms or groups. The simplest ammonium group, NH4+, is formed by protonation of…
(Encyclopedia) alloyalloyălˈoi, əloiˈ [key] [O. Fr.,=combine], substance with metallic properties that consists of a metal fused with one or more metals or nonmetals. Alloys may be a homogeneous…
(Encyclopedia) whelk, large marine gastropod snail found in temperate waters. The whelk is sometimes eaten, but when food is plentiful, fishermen frequently use it for bait. Whelks are scavengers and…
(Encyclopedia) Ahidjo, AhmadouAhidjo, Ahmadouämäˈdō ähēˈj&oobreve; [key], 1924–89, president of Cameroon (1960–82). A Muslim Fulani chief's son, he served with the French during World War II.…
