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Smithson Tennant
Smithson Tennant 1761-1815, English chemist. In 1796 he proved, by burning a diamond, that the diamond consists solely of carbon. In 1804 he announced his discovery of osmium and iridium.
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Magic Johnson
Magic Johnson (Earvin Johnson, Jr.), 1959-, African-American basketball player, b. Lansing, Mich. After winning the national championship with Michigan State Univ. (1979), he joined the Los Angeles Lakers and with them won five National Basketball Association championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987-8...
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Canadian National Railway
Canadian National Railway rail system in Canada and the United States, extending from coast to coast in Canada with many branch lines in each province and in the United States. The system began as an amalgamation of five separate railroad enterprises that were unified in 1922 under the ownership of...
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Manuel I
Manuel I 1469-1521, king of Portugal (1495-1521), successor of John II. Manuel's reign was most notable for the successful continuation of Portugal's overseas enterprises. John had planned the expedition in search of a sea route to India and had appointed Vasco da Gama to head it, but it was under ...
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zaibatsu
zaibatsu [Jap.,=money clique], the great family-controlled banking and industrial combines of modern Japan. The leading zaibatsu (called keiretsu after World War II) are Mitsui, Mitsubishi, Dai Ichi Kangyo, Sumitomo, Sanwa, and Fuyo. They gained a position in the Japanese economy with no exact para...
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Jan Masaryk
Jan Masaryk , 1886-1948, Czechoslovak diplomat, son of Thomas G. Masaryk. He was (1925-38) Czechoslovak minister to Great Britain, and in London he became (1940) foreign minister in the Czechoslovak government in exile headed by Eduard Beneš after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. Duri...
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Americana
Americana term used to describe material printed in or about the Americas, or written by Americans; usually restricted to the formative period in the history of the two continents. Thus the letter written by Columbus in 1493 in which he announces the discovery of the Indies is the earliest item. ...
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Angelus
Angelus [Lat.,=angel], daily prayer of the Roman Catholic Church, said usually three times daily, as announced by a bell, traditionally at six in the morning, at noon, and at six in the evening. It is said in honor of the Incarnation and consists of three repetitions of the Hail Mary together with ...
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Bay Psalm Book
Bay Psalm Book common hymnal of the Massachusetts Bay colony. Written by Richard Mather, John Eliot, and Thomas Weld, it was published in 1640 at Cambridge as The Whole Book of Psalms Faithfully Translated into English Metre. The announced effort of the authors to make a literal rendering at the ...
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Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn
Jacobus Cornelius Kapteyn , 1851-1922, Dutch astronomer. He was an authority on the Milky Way, of which he made notable statistical studies; he constructed a model of the galaxy known as the "Kapteyn universe." He computed the positions of the stars of the Southern Hemisphere photographed by Sir...
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