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Safra

(Encyclopedia) Safra, family of Brazilian bankers with Sephardic Jewish roots. They began as merchant bankers in Syria and Lebanon, financing caravans throughout the Middle East. The Safras are also noted philanthro...

American

(Encyclopedia) American, river, 30 mi (48 km) long, rising in N central Calif. in the Sierra Nevada and flowing SW into the Sacramento River at Sacramento. The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill (see Sutter, John Au...

Jacobi, Carl Gustav Jacob

(Encyclopedia) Jacobi, Carl Gustav Jacob kärl go͝osˈtäf yäˈkôp yäkôˈbē [key], 1804–51, German mathematician. He was an outstanding teacher and was professor of mathematics at Königsberg (1827–42) and...

Adams, John, American composer

(Encyclopedia) Adams, John (John Coolidge Adams), 1947–, American composer, b. Worcester, Mass. A clarinetist, he studied composition at Harvard (B.A. 1969, M.A. 1971). Often regarded as the most outstanding, tech...

Russian American Company

(Encyclopedia) Russian American Company, colonial trading company, chartered by Czar Paul I in 1799. The charter granted the merchant-dominated company monopoly trading privileges in Russian America, which included ...

New York Public Library

(Encyclopedia) New York Public Library, free library supported by private endowments and gifts and by the city and state of New York. It is the one of largest libraries in the world. The library was created by a 189...

Rogers, John, American sculptor

(Encyclopedia) Rogers, John, 1829–1904, American sculptor, b. Salem, Mass. Trained as an engineer, he was forced by failing eyesight to work as a machinist. He began modeling in clay as a pastime and studied sculp...

Jenkins, John, American pioneer, 1728–85

(Encyclopedia) Jenkins, John, 1728–85, American pioneer, b. probably Connecticut. In 1753, Jenkins explored the Wyoming Valley for the proposed Susquehanna Company. A settlement (1762) under his leadership was des...
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