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James A. Garfield, 1880.
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(born July 31, 1822, Haverstraw, N.Y., U.S.—died Jan. 18, 1903, Ringwood, N.J.) U.S. industrialist and politician. A graduate of Columbia College (now part of Columbia University) in 1842, he formed an iron-making business with Edward and Peter Cooper in New York City in 1845; he later helped establish the Cooper Union school (1859). During the American Civil War, he produced gun-barrel iron for the government without taking a profit. In 1870 he produced the first commercial-grade steel in the U.S. In 1871 he helped Samuel Tilden oust the “Tweed ring” (see William Magear Tweed) from control of the Tammany Hall Democratic organization and the municipal government of New York City. He later served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1875–79, 1881–86). As mayor of New York (1887–88), he initiated major reforms that broke Tammany Hall's influence.
Learn more about Hewitt, Abram S(tevens) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
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James A. Garfield, 1880.
Learn more about Garfield, James A(bram) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born July 31, 1822, Haverstraw, N.Y., U.S.—died Jan. 18, 1903, Ringwood, N.J.) U.S. industrialist and politician. A graduate of Columbia College (now part of Columbia University) in 1842, he formed an iron-making business with Edward and Peter Cooper in New York City in 1845; he later helped establish the Cooper Union school (1859). During the American Civil War, he produced gun-barrel iron for the government without taking a profit. In 1870 he produced the first commercial-grade steel in the U.S. In 1871 he helped Samuel Tilden oust the “Tweed ring” (see William Magear Tweed) from control of the Tammany Hall Democratic organization and the municipal government of New York City. He later served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1875–79, 1881–86). As mayor of New York (1887–88), he initiated major reforms that broke Tammany Hall's influence.
Learn more about Hewitt, Abram S(tevens) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Sept. 25, 1750, Wehrau, Saxony—died June 30, 1817, Freiberg) German geologist. In opposition to the Plutonists, or Vulcanists, who argued that granite and many other rocks were of igneous origin, he founded the Neptunist school, which proclaimed that all rocks resulted from precipitation from oceans that had, he theorized, once completely covered the Earth. He rejected uniformitarianism. His brilliant lecturing and personal charm won him many students, who, though many eventually discarded his theories, would not renounce them while Werner lived.
Learn more about Werner, Abraham Gottlob with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born July 22, 1888, Priluka, Ukraine, Russian Empire—died Aug. 16, 1973, Hyannis, Mass., U.S.) Ukrainian-born U.S. biochemist. He became a U.S. citizen in 1916 and spent most of his career at Rutgers University. After the discovery of penicillin, he played a major role in initiating a calculated, systematic search for antibiotics (a term he coined in 1941) among microorganisms. His 1943 discovery of streptomycin, the first specific agent effective in the treatment of tuberculosis, brought him a 1952 Nobel Prize. Waksman also isolated and developed several other antibiotics, including neomycin, that have been used in treating many infectious diseases of humans, domestic animals, and plants.
Learn more about Waksman, Selman (Abraham) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Jan. 7, 1851, County Dublin, Ire.—died March 9, 1941, Camberley, Surrey, Eng.) Anglo-Irish civil servant and linguist. While holding a succession of British government posts in Bengal (1873–98), Grierson carried out pioneering research on South Asian, particularly Indo-Aryan, languages. In 1898 he began work on the 19-volume Linguistic Survey of India and spent the next 30 years publishing data on hundreds of languages and dialects. His work was of enormous value; nevertheless, his hypothetical linguistic constructs such as “Rajasthani,” “Bihari,” and “Lahnda” misled most nonspecialists.
Learn more about Grierson, Sir George Abraham with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born July 22, 1888, Priluka, Ukraine, Russian Empire—died Aug. 16, 1973, Hyannis, Mass., U.S.) Ukrainian-born U.S. biochemist. He became a U.S. citizen in 1916 and spent most of his career at Rutgers University. After the discovery of penicillin, he played a major role in initiating a calculated, systematic search for antibiotics (a term he coined in 1941) among microorganisms. His 1943 discovery of streptomycin, the first specific agent effective in the treatment of tuberculosis, brought him a 1952 Nobel Prize. Waksman also isolated and developed several other antibiotics, including neomycin, that have been used in treating many infectious diseases of humans, domestic animals, and plants.
Learn more about Waksman, Selman (Abraham) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
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Self-portrait by Camille Pissarro, oil on canvas, 1903; in the Tate Gallery, London.
Learn more about Pissarro, (Jacob-Abraham-) Camille with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born April 1, 1908, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died June 8, 1970, Menlo Park, Calif.) U.S. psychologist. He taught at Brooklyn College (1937–51) and Brandeis University (1951–69). A practitioner of humanistic psychology, he is known for his theory of “self-actualization.” In Motivation and Personality (1954) and Toward a Psychology of Being (1962), Maslow argued that each person has a hierarchy of needs that must be satisfied, ranging from basic physiological requirements to love, esteem, and, finally, self-actualization. As each need is satisfied, the next higher level in the emotional hierarchy dominates conscious functioning.
Learn more about Maslow, Abraham H(arold) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
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Abraham Lincoln, 1863.
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(born Oct. 29, 1837, Maassluis, Neth.—died Nov. 8, 1920, The Hague) Dutch theologian and politician. After serving as a pastor (1863–74), he founded a Calvinist-oriented newspaper (1872) and was elected to the national assembly (1874). He formed the Anti-Revolutionary Party, the first organized Dutch political party, and built up a lower-middle-class following with a program that combined orthodox religious positions and a progressive social agenda. To provide Calvinist training for pastors, he founded the Free University at Amsterdam (1880), and in 1892 he founded the Reformed Churches in The Netherlands. As prime minister of The Netherlands (1901–05), he advocated a wider franchise and broader social benefits.
Learn more about Kuyper, Abraham with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born 1907, Warsaw, Pol., Russian Empire—died Dec. 23, 1972, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Polish-born U.S. Jewish philosopher and theologian. He studied at the University of Berlin and taught Jewish studies in Germany until he was deported by the Nazis in 1938. After coming to the U.S., he taught at Hebrew Union College and later at Jewish Theological Seminary. His goal was to devise a modern philosophy of religion based on ancient and medieval Judaic traditions, and he emphasized Judaism's prophetic and mystical aspects. Emphasizing social action as an expression of pious ethical concerns, he worked for black civil rights and against the Vietnam War. His writings include Man Is Not Alone (1951) and God in Search of Man (1956).
Learn more about Heschel, Abraham Joshua with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Jan. 7, 1851, County Dublin, Ire.—died March 9, 1941, Camberley, Surrey, Eng.) Anglo-Irish civil servant and linguist. While holding a succession of British government posts in Bengal (1873–98), Grierson carried out pioneering research on South Asian, particularly Indo-Aryan, languages. In 1898 he began work on the 19-volume Linguistic Survey of India and spent the next 30 years publishing data on hundreds of languages and dialects. His work was of enormous value; nevertheless, his hypothetical linguistic constructs such as “Rajasthani,” “Bihari,” and “Lahnda” misled most nonspecialists.
Learn more about Grierson, Sir George Abraham with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 24, 1810, Frankfurt am Main, Ger.—died Oct. 23, 1874, Berlin) German Jewish theologian. He served as rabbi in Wiesbaden from 1832 and in Breslau 1838–63. He helped found a theological journal in 1835 and served as its editor. Geiger urged the need for simplified ritual, liturgy in one's native language, and emphasis on the prophetic writings as the core of Judaism, and he stressed the process of change and growth in Jewish religious consciousness, a basic idea in Reform Judaism.
Learn more about Geiger, Abraham with a free trial on Britannica.com.
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Albert Gallatin, portrait by Rembrandt Peale, 1805; in Independence National Historical Park, elipsis
Learn more about Gallatin, (Abraham Alfonse) Albert with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Nov. 13, 1866, Louisville, Ky., U.S.—died Sept. 21, 1959, Falls Church, Va.) U.S. educator. He taught high school for almost 20 years. When the Carnegie Foundation asked him to evaluate the 155 U.S. and Canadian medical colleges, his report (1910) had a sensational impact; many of the colleges he severely criticized closed, and others revised their policies and curricula. Flexner thereafter channeled over half a billion dollars from the Rockefeller Foundation into improving U.S. medical education. In 1930 he founded the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., to which he brought some of the world's outstanding scientists.
Learn more about Flexner, Abraham with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born 1618, London—died July 28, 1667, Chertsey, Eng.) British poet and essayist. He was a fellow at the University of Cambridge but was ejected for his political opinions during the English Civil Wars; he joined the queen's court, performing Royalist missions until 1656. In his poetic works—which include The Mistress (1647, 1656), the unfinished epic Davideis (1656), and Pindarique Odes (1656), in which he adapted the Pindaric ode to English verse—he used grossly elaborate, fanciful, poetic language that was more decorative than expressive. In his retirement he wrote sober, reflective essays.
Learn more about Cowley, Abraham with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Dec. 19, 1852, Strelno, Prussia—died May 9, 1931, Pasadena, Calif., U.S.) Prussian-born U.S. physicist. His family immigrated to the U.S. in 1854. He studied at the U.S. Naval Academy and in Europe and later taught principally at the University of Chicago (1892–1931), where he headed the physics department. He invented the interferometer, with which he used light to make extremely precise measurements. He is best remembered for the Michelson-Morley experiment, undertaken with Edward W. Morley (1838–1923), which established that the speed of light is a fundamental constant. Using a more refined interferometer, Michelson measured the diameter of the star Betelgeuse, the first substantially accurate determination of the size of a star. In 1907 he became the first American scientist to receive a Nobel Prize.
Learn more about Michelson, A(lbert) A(braham) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
Plateau located west of the old walled city of Quebec, Canada. On Sept. 13, 1759, it was the scene of the decisive battle of the French and Indian War, in which the British under James Wolfe defeated the French under the marquis de Montcalm. U.S. forces held the plateau (1775–76) in their siege of Quebec during the American Revolution. It is now a park within Quebec city limits.
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Abraham Lincoln, 1863.
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(born Oct. 29, 1837, Maassluis, Neth.—died Nov. 8, 1920, The Hague) Dutch theologian and politician. After serving as a pastor (1863–74), he founded a Calvinist-oriented newspaper (1872) and was elected to the national assembly (1874). He formed the Anti-Revolutionary Party, the first organized Dutch political party, and built up a lower-middle-class following with a program that combined orthodox religious positions and a progressive social agenda. To provide Calvinist training for pastors, he founded the Free University at Amsterdam (1880), and in 1892 he founded the Reformed Churches in The Netherlands. As prime minister of The Netherlands (1901–05), he advocated a wider franchise and broader social benefits.
Learn more about Kuyper, Abraham with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born 1907, Warsaw, Pol., Russian Empire—died Dec. 23, 1972, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Polish-born U.S. Jewish philosopher and theologian. He studied at the University of Berlin and taught Jewish studies in Germany until he was deported by the Nazis in 1938. After coming to the U.S., he taught at Hebrew Union College and later at Jewish Theological Seminary. His goal was to devise a modern philosophy of religion based on ancient and medieval Judaic traditions, and he emphasized Judaism's prophetic and mystical aspects. Emphasizing social action as an expression of pious ethical concerns, he worked for black civil rights and against the Vietnam War. His writings include Man Is Not Alone (1951) and God in Search of Man (1956).
Learn more about Heschel, Abraham Joshua with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born April 1, 1908, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died June 8, 1970, Menlo Park, Calif.) U.S. psychologist. He taught at Brooklyn College (1937–51) and Brandeis University (1951–69). A practitioner of humanistic psychology, he is known for his theory of “self-actualization.” In Motivation and Personality (1954) and Toward a Psychology of Being (1962), Maslow argued that each person has a hierarchy of needs that must be satisfied, ranging from basic physiological requirements to love, esteem, and, finally, self-actualization. As each need is satisfied, the next higher level in the emotional hierarchy dominates conscious functioning.
Learn more about Maslow, Abraham H(arold) with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Sept. 25, 1750, Wehrau, Saxony—died June 30, 1817, Freiberg) German geologist. In opposition to the Plutonists, or Vulcanists, who argued that granite and many other rocks were of igneous origin, he founded the Neptunist school, which proclaimed that all rocks resulted from precipitation from oceans that had, he theorized, once completely covered the Earth. He rejected uniformitarianism. His brilliant lecturing and personal charm won him many students, who, though many eventually discarded his theories, would not renounce them while Werner lived.
Learn more about Werner, Abraham Gottlob with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born May 24, 1810, Frankfurt am Main, Ger.—died Oct. 23, 1874, Berlin) German Jewish theologian. He served as rabbi in Wiesbaden from 1832 and in Breslau 1838–63. He helped found a theological journal in 1835 and served as its editor. Geiger urged the need for simplified ritual, liturgy in one's native language, and emphasis on the prophetic writings as the core of Judaism, and he stressed the process of change and growth in Jewish religious consciousness, a basic idea in Reform Judaism.
Learn more about Geiger, Abraham with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born Nov. 13, 1866, Louisville, Ky., U.S.—died Sept. 21, 1959, Falls Church, Va.) U.S. educator. He taught high school for almost 20 years. When the Carnegie Foundation asked him to evaluate the 155 U.S. and Canadian medical colleges, his report (1910) had a sensational impact; many of the colleges he severely criticized closed, and others revised their policies and curricula. Flexner thereafter channeled over half a billion dollars from the Rockefeller Foundation into improving U.S. medical education. In 1930 he founded the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., to which he brought some of the world's outstanding scientists.
Learn more about Flexner, Abraham with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(born 1618, London—died July 28, 1667, Chertsey, Eng.) British poet and essayist. He was a fellow at the University of Cambridge but was ejected for his political opinions during the English Civil Wars; he joined the queen's court, performing Royalist missions until 1656. In his poetic works—which include The Mistress (1647, 1656), the unfinished epic Davideis (1656), and Pindarique Odes (1656), in which he adapted the Pindaric ode to English verse—he used grossly elaborate, fanciful, poetic language that was more decorative than expressive. In his retirement he wrote sober, reflective essays.
Learn more about Cowley, Abraham with a free trial on Britannica.com.
(flourished early 2nd millennium BC) First of the Hebrew patriarchs, revered by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Genesis tells how Abraham, at 75, left Ur with his barren wife, Sarai (later Sarah), and others to found a new nation in Canaan. There God made a covenant with him, promising that his descendants would inherit the land and become a great nation. Abraham fathered Ishmael by Sarah's maidservant Hagar; Sarah herself bore Isaac, who inherited the covenant. Abraham's faith was tested when God ordered him to sacrifice Isaac; he was prepared to obey but God relented. In Judaism he is a model of virtue, in Christianity he is the father of all believers, and in Islam he is an ancestor of Muhammad and a model (in Sufism) of generosity.
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According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.3 square miles (13.6 km²), of which, 5.1 square miles (13.1 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square mile (0.5 km²) of it (3.61%) is water.
There were 1,617 households out of which 42.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.9% were married couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 14.2% were non-families. 11.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.37 and the average family size was 3.67.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 32.8% under the age of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 24.3% from 25 to 44, 14.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $22,532, and the median income for a family was $23,956. Males had a median income of $19,044 versus $18,188 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $8,195. About 32.4% of families and 41.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 56.8% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.
In addition, residents are allowed to apply to magnet schools operated by the South Texas Independent School District.