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Edward Bancroft
Edward Bancroft 1744-1821, spy in the American Revolution, b. Westfield, Mass. While living in London, he became a friend of Benjamin Franklin and in the Revolution began to operate as an American secret agent. He reported to the American commissioners in France, but, unknown to them, he was a doub...
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Office of War Information
Office of War Information (OWI), U.S. agency created (1942) during World War II to consolidate government information services. The OWI absorbed the functions of the Office of Facts and Figures, the Office of Government Reports, the division of information of the Office for Emergency Management, an...
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Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope 1840-97, American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, b. Philadelphia, studied at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and at the Smithsonian Institution. His large collection of fossil mammals is now at the American Museum of Natural History. His many published ...
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unidentified flying object
unidentified flying object or UFO, an object or light reportedly seen in the sky whose appearance, trajectory, and general dynamic and luminescent behavior do not readily suggest a logical, conventional explanation. Some of these phenomena have been photographed and others correlated with radar...
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Gulf War syndrome
Gulf War syndrome popular name for a variety of ailments experienced by veterans after the Persian Gulf War . Symptoms reported include nausea, cramps, rashes, short-term memory loss, fatigue, difficulty in breathing, headaches, joint and muscle pain, and birth defects. Ailments have been reported...
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Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army (IRA), nationalist organization devoted to the integration of Ireland as a complete and independent unit. Organized by Michael Collins from remnants of rebel units dispersed after the Easter Rebellion in 1916 (see Ireland ), it was composed of the more militant members of t...
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Food and Agriculture Organization
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), specialized agency of the United Nations, established in 1945. The organization is governed by a conference composed of the entire membership (189 nations plus the European Union), which meets at least once biennially, and by a council of 49 members. Each re...
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McDonald Observatory
McDonald Observatory astronomical observatory located on Mt. Locke, near Fort Davis, Tex.; founded in 1932, sponsored by the Univ. of Texas in cooperation with the Univ. of Chicago. Its equipment includes 107-in. (272-cm), 82-in. (208-cm), 32-in. (81-cm), and 30-in. (76-cm) reflecting telescopes. T...
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Adolph S. Ochs
Adolph S. Ochs , 1858-1935, American newspaper publisher, b. Cincinnati. Starting as a newsboy in Knoxville, Tenn., he became a printer's apprentice, compositor, and, in 1878, publisher of the Chattanooga Times. In 1896 he acquired the then failing New York Times and made it one of the greatest ...
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Bill Gates
Bill Gates (William Henry Gates 3d), 1955-, American business executive, b. Seattle, Wash. At the age of 19, Gates founded (1974) the Microsoft Corp., a computer software firm, with Paul Allen. They began by purchasing the rights to convert an existing software package. In 1980 they agreed to produ...
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