constitutional lawyer, U.S. senator from Maryland (1845-49, 1863-68), attorney general under President Zachary Taylor (1849-50), and minister to Great Britain (1868-69). Able to grasp either side of an issue, he was called "the Trimmer" for his ability to bring about ...
British composer and lutenist, who wrote music for a number of plays, including several by William Shakespeare, and was considered one of England's leading lutenists.
American blues composer, guitarist, and singer whose eerie falsetto singing voice and masterful, rhythmic slide guitar influenced both his contemporaries and many later blues and rock musicians.
American businessman, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), and the first African American majority owner of a major professional sports team in the United States.
pioneer in the Mohawk Valley, New York, whose service as colonial superintendent of Indian affairs was largely responsible for keeping the Iroquois neutral and even friendly to the British in the latter stages of the struggle with the French for ...
American professional baseball player who had perhaps the greatest fastball in the history of the game. A right-handed thrower with a sidearm delivery who batted right as well, Johnson pitched for the Washington Senators of the American League from 1907 ...
associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1804 who established the practice of rendering individual opinions-concurring or dissenting-in addition to the majority opinion of the court. A deeply sensitive man and a learned, courageous jurist, he set himself ...
unincorporated territory of the United States in the central Pacific Ocean, about 825 miles (1,330 km) southwest of Honolulu. It consists of four small islands on a raised coral atoll formation that are partially enclosed on the north and west ...
British teacher of calligraphy who had a widespread influence on 20th-century typography and calligraphy, particularly in England and Germany. He has been called the father of the modern revival of lettering.
Irish novelist whose works deal with political and cultural tensions in Ireland, with an emphasis on the problems of the Anglo-Irish. Rich in dialogue, Johnston's novels often concern interpersonal relationships and the difficult transition from childhood to adulthood.
Confederate general who never suffered a direct defeat during the American Civil War (1861-65). His military effectiveness, though, was hindered by a long-standing feud with Jefferson Davis.
British explorer, botanist, and pioneer colonial administrator. Widely traveled in Africa and speaking many African languages, he was closely involved in what has been called the scramble for Africa by 19th-century colonial powers. He published 40 books on African subjects ...
city, seat (1838) of Fulton county, east-central New York, U.S. It lies near the Mohawk River, adjoining Gloversville, 43 miles (69 km) northwest of Albany. It was founded in 1762 by pioneer and colonial administrator Sir William Johnson, whose baronial ...
city, Cambria county, southwestern Pennsylvania, U.S. It lies at the confluence of the Conemaugh River and Stony Creek, 76 miles (122 km) east of Pittsburgh. Johnstown is the centre of a metropolitan area comprising more than 60 townships and boroughs.
state of Malaysia, southernmost state of Peninsular (West) Malaysia. Its 250-mile (400-km) coastline along the Strait of Malacca and South China Sea also winds around the Republic of Singapore's northern border and is dotted with small islands. Johor is generally ...
city, southern West Malaysia. It lies at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula and is separated from Singapore Island by the Johor Strait. At this point, a short rail and road causeway (0.75 mile [1.2 km]) crosses the strait ...
northern arm of the Singapore Strait, 30 mi (50 km) long and 34-3 mi wide, between the Republic of Singapore and the region of Johor at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. It is crossed by a rail and ...
in law, processes whereby additional parties or additional claims are brought into suits because addressing them is necessary or desirable for the successful adjudication of the issues.
in geology, a brittle-fracture surface in rocks along which little or no displacement has occurred. Present in nearly all surface rocks, joints extend in various directions, generally more toward the vertical than to the horizontal. Joints may have smooth, clean ...
in carpentry, junction of two or more members of a framed structure. Joinery, or the making of wooden joints, is one of the principal functions of the carpenter and cabinetmaker. Wood, being a natural material, is not uniform in quality, ...
in anatomy, a structure that separates two or more adjacent elements of the skeleton. Depending on the type of joint, such separated elements may or may not move on one another. Though this discussion is intended to deal with human ...
family in which members of a unilineal descent group (a group in which descent through either the female or the male line is emphasized) live together with their spouses and offspring in one homestead and under the authority of one ...
saclike structure containing thick gelatinous material that appears on the top or underside of the wrist, or less commonly on the top of the foot. The cause is unknown, but trauma (wound or injury) to the tendon sheaths or the ...
a forerunner of the modern corporation that was organized for undertakings requiring large amounts of capital; money was raised by selling shares to investors, who became partners in the venture. One of the earliest joint-stock companies was the Virginia Company, ...
city, northeastern Santa Catarina state, southern Brazil, on the Rio Cachoeira adjacent to Boa Vista, near the end of Baia (bay) de Sao Francisco, at 20 feet (6 metres) above sea level. Established as a city in 1887 from the ...
ceiling or floor support in building construction. Joists-of timber, steel, or reinforced concrete-are laid in a parallel series across or abutting girders or a bearing wall, to which they are attached, usually by metal supports called joist hangers, or anchors.
minor school of Buddhist philosophy introduced into Japan from China during the Nara period (710-784). The school holds that neither the self nor the elements that make up the mental and material world have any permanent, changeless reality and that ...
(Simmondsia chinensis), leathery-leaved shrub in the box family (Buxaceae), native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, the capsules of which yield jojoba oil. The stiff-branched plant, which grows to a height of up to 2 m (7 feet), ...
most important Hungarian novelist of the 19th century. Jokai's collected works (published 1894-98), which did not include his considerable journalistic writing, filled 100 volumes. Early works such as Hetkoznapok (1845; "Weekdays") show the influence of French Romanticism, but his mature ...
institutionalized form of social interaction between two persons or groups in which one is permitted-or even required-to make fun of or tease the other, who, usually, is not permitted to take offense. The joking may be mutual (symmetrical) or formalized ...
river, northeastern Iceland, fed by the northern meltwaters of the Vatna Glacier in east-central Iceland; it flows northward for 128 miles (206 km) to Axar Fjord, an arm of the Greenland Sea. The river skirts the eastern margins of Odadhahraun, ...
city, seat (1845) of Will county, northeastern Illinois, U.S. It lies on the Des Plaines River, about 40 miles (65 km) southwest of downtown Chicago. Settled in 1833, it was initially named Juliet by James B. Campbell, a settler from ...
French physical chemists, husband and wife, who were jointly awarded the 1935 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their discovery of new radioactive isotopes prepared artificially. They were the son-in-law and daughter of Nobel Prize winners Pierre and Marie Curie.
