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Lerner, Alan Jay

(Encyclopedia)Lerner, Alan Jay, 1918–86, American lyricist and librettist, b. New York City. After two years as a radio scriptwriter, Lerner began an association with the composer Frederick Loewe that resulted in...

Gould, Stephen Jay

(Encyclopedia)Gould, Stephen Jay, 1941–2002, American paleontologist and science writer, b. Queens, New York; grad. Antioch College (B.S., 1963), Columbia Univ. (Ph.D., 1967). With Niles Eldredge, Gould proposed ...

Madison, James

(Encyclopedia)Madison, James, 1751–1836, 4th President of the United States (1809–17), b. Port Conway, Va. When Jefferson triumphed in the election of 1800, Madison became (1801) his secretary of state. He se...

Greek Anthology

(Encyclopedia)Greek Anthology, a collection of short epigrammatic poems representing Greek literature from the 7th cent. b.c. to the 10th cent. a.d. It contains more than 6,000 poems on a variety of subjects by som...

Fisk, James

(Encyclopedia)Fisk, James, 1834–72, American financial speculator, b. Pownal, Vt. In his youth he worked for a circus and as a wagon peddler of merchandise. During the Civil War he became wealthy purchasing cotto...

magic, in entertainment

(Encyclopedia)magic, in entertainment, the seeming manipulation and supernatural control of the natural world for the amusement and amazement of an audience. Entertainment magic can be divided into four main catego...

Rockefeller, John Davison

(Encyclopedia)Rockefeller, John Davison, 1839–1937, American industrialist and philanthropist, b. Richford, N.Y. He moved (1853) with his family to a farm near Cleveland and at age 16 went to work as a bookkeeper...

Governors Island

(Encyclopedia)Governors Island, 173 acres (70 hectares), in Upper New York Bay, S of Manhattan island, SE N.Y. Bought from the Native Americans by the Dutch in 1637, it was the site of an early New Netherlands sett...

Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund

(Encyclopedia)Adorno, Theodor Wiesengrund tāədôrˌ vēˈzəngro͝ond ädôrˈnō [key], 1903–69, German philosopher, born as Theodor Adorno Wiesengrund. Forced into exile by the Nazis (1933), he spent 16 years...

crow, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)crow, partially migratory black bird, genus Corvus, of the same family as the raven, the magpie, the jay, and the rook and the jackdaw of Europe. The American, or common, crow, C. brachyrhynchos, abou...
 

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