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Poindexter, George

(Encyclopedia)Poindexter, George poinˈdĕkˌstər [key], 1779–1853, American political leader, b. Louisa co., Va. After practicing law in Virginia, he moved (1802) to Mississippi. As attorney general of Mississi...

Spotsylvania

(Encyclopedia)Spotsylvania spŏtˌsĭlvāˈnyə [key], rural county (1990 pop. 57,403), NE Va., formerly part of the estate of Alexander Spotswood, colonial governor of Virginia. It was the scene of several major e...

Bell, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Bell, Andrew, 1753–1832, British educator, b. St. Andrews, Scotland. After seven years in Virginia as a tutor, he returned to England, was ordained a deacon, and later (1789) became superintendent o...

Bradford, John

(Encyclopedia)Bradford, John, 1749–1830, pioneer printer of Kentucky, b. Virginia. He moved to Kentucky c.1779. Although he had no previous practical experience, he issued at Lexington on Aug. 11, 1787, the first...

birthwort

(Encyclopedia)birthwort bûrthˈwûrt, –wôrt [key], common name for the Aristolochiaceae, a family of shrubs and woody climbing vines found in the tropics and other warm regions. The largest genus, Aristolochia,...

Sylvester, James Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Sylvester, James Joseph, 1814–97, English mathematician. He studied at Cambridge for four years after 1831, but because degrees were limited to members of the Church of England and he was a Jew, he ...

Cavendish, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Cavendish, Thomas, 1560–92, English navigator. He commanded a ship in the flotilla under Sir Richard Grenville sent (1585) by Sir Walter Raleigh to establish the first colony in Virginia. In 1586, i...

Rimini

(Encyclopedia)Rimini rēˈmēnē [key], anc. Ariminum, city (1991 pop. 127,960), in Emilia-Romagna, N central Italy, on the Adriatic Sea. It is a highly diversified industrial, commercial, and railroad center and a...

surfing

(Encyclopedia)surfing, sport of gliding on a breaking wave. Surfers originally used long, cumbersome wooden boards but now ride lightweight synthetic boards that allow a greater degree of maneuverability. Boards ar...

Flagler, Henry Morrison

(Encyclopedia)Flagler, Henry Morrison, 1830–1913, American financier and real-estate developer, b. Hopewell, near Canandaigua, N.Y. As a youth he struck out for himself in Ohio. After trying the grain and salt bu...
 

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