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Patton, George Smith, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Patton, George Smith, Jr., 1885–1945, American general, b. San Gabriel, Calif. A graduate of West Point (1909), he served in World War I and was wounded while commanding a tank brigade in France. Su...

Lusitania, ship

(Encyclopedia)Lusitania, liner under British registration, sunk off the Irish coast by a German submarine on May 7, 1915. In the sinking, 1,198 persons lost their lives, 128 of whom were U.S. citizens. A warning to...

Göttingen

(Encyclopedia)Göttingen götˈĭng-ən [key], city, Lower Saxony, central Germany, on the Leine River. It is ...

wild rice

(Encyclopedia)wild rice, tall aquatic plant (Zizania aquatica) of the family Poaceae (grass family), of a genus separate from common rice (Oryza). Wild rice (called also Canada rice, Indian rice, and water oats) is...

solar cell

(Encyclopedia)solar cell, semiconductor devised to convert light to electric current. It is a specially constructed diode, usually made of forms of crystalline silicon or of thin films (as of copper indium gallium ...

Earhart, Amelia

(Encyclopedia)Earhart, Amelia ârˈhärt [key], 1897–1937, American aviator, b. Atchison, Kans. She was the first woman to cross the Atlantic by airplane (1928) and the first woman to make a solo flight across th...

Ondaatje, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Ondaatje, Michael (Philip Michael Ondaatje) ändätˈchā [key], 1943–, Canadian writer, b. Colombo, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon). Immigrating (1962) to Canada, he attended the Univ. of Toronto (B.A., 19...

Quemoy

(Encyclopedia)Quemoy kĭmoiˈ [key], Chin. Chinmen, Kinmen, or Jinmen, Taiwanese island group (2010 pop. 56,703), Taiwan Strait, just off Fujian prov., China, and c.150 mi (240 km) W of Taiwan. The group consists o...

López, Francisco Solano

(Encyclopedia)López, Francisco Solano lōˈpās [key], 1826?–1870, president of Paraguay (1862–70). He was the son of Carlos Antonio López, who made him a brigadier general at 18. Appointed head of a diploma...

Hersey, John Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hersey, John Richard hûrˈsē [key], 1914–93, American author, b. China, grad. Yale, 1936, where he later taught writing (1965–84); studied Cambridge. Reflecting his experiences as a war correspo...