(Encyclopedia) Branson, Sir Richard (Richard Charles Nicholas Branson), 1950–, British business mogul and adventurer. He left school at 16 to start his first business, the magazine Student. In 1970…
(Encyclopedia) Chadwick, Lynn (Lynn Russell Chadwick), 1914–2003, English sculptor. After studying architecture, Chadwick began his career as a sculptor in 1945, working largely in metal. He came to…
(Encyclopedia) Salomon, HaymSalomon, Haymhīm [key], 1740–85, American Revolutionary financier, b. Lissa (now Leszno), Poland. A Jewish emigrant from Poland, he was imprisoned (1778) by the British in…
(Encyclopedia) Taylor, Joseph Hooton, Jr., 1941–, American astrophysicist, b. Philadelphia, Ph.D. Harvard, 1968. Taylor was a professor at the Univ. of Massachusetts at Amherst from 1969 to 1980,…
determined U.S. senators, shepherded through the Senate in April a sweeping campaign-finance bill that bans soft money, or unlimited contributions to parties; limits advertising by…
(Encyclopedia) Sontag, HenrietteSontag, Henriettehĕnrēĕtˈə zônˈtäk [key], later Contessa RossiSontag, Henriettekôntĕsˈsä rôsˈsē [key], 1806–54, German operatic soprano, studied at the Prague…
(Encyclopedia) Rye House Plot, 1683, conspiracy to assassinate Charles II of England and his brother James, duke of York (later James II), as they passed by Rumbold's Rye House in Hertfordshire on…
(Encyclopedia) Spencer, George John Spencer, 2d Earl, 1758–1834, British public official. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1780 but in 1783 inherited the earldom. In 1794, William Pitt…
(Encyclopedia) fire, the phenomenon of combustion as seen in light, flame, and heat. One of the basic tools of human culture, its use is extremely ancient, predating the existence of Homo sapiens by…
(Encyclopedia) Chamberlain, Wilt (Wilton Norman Chamberlain), 1936–99, American basketball player, b. Philadelphia. At the Univ. of Kansas he was a two-time All-American center. During 14 seasons in…
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