Search

Search results

Displaying 171 - 180

Welles, Orson

(Encyclopedia) Welles, Orson, 1915–85, American actor, director, and producer, b. Kenosha, Wis. From childhood he evinced a precocious talent and lofty sense of self-assurance in theatrical matters.…

Exeter Book

(Encyclopedia) Exeter Book, manuscript volume of Old English religious and secular poetry, of various dates of composition, compiled c.975 and given to Exeter Cathedral by Bishop Leofric (d. 1072).…

Majuba Hill

(Encyclopedia) Majuba HillMajuba Hillməj&oomacr;ˈbə [key], E KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in the Drakensberg Range. On Feb. 27, 1881, a British force of 500 was routed there by Boer (Afrikaner)…

Oldham, John, English poet and satirist

(Encyclopedia) Oldham, John, 1653–83, English poet and satirist. His best-known works are the ironical Satires against the Jesuits (1681) and A Satire against Virtue (1679). He was much admired by…

Boston Latin School

(Encyclopedia) Boston Latin School, at Boston; opened 1635 as a school for boys; one of the oldest free public schools in the United States. Many famous men attended the school, including five…

Smith, Bessie

(Encyclopedia) Smith, Bessie, 1894–1937, American singer, b. Chattanooga, Tenn. About 1910 Smith became the protégée of Gertrude (Ma) Rainey, one of…

Lang, Fritz

(Encyclopedia) Lang, FritzLang, Fritzläng [key], 1890–1976, German-American film director, b. Vienna. His silent and early sound films, notably the iconic masterpiece Metropolis (1926) with its…

Hughes, Howard Robard

(Encyclopedia) Hughes, Howard Robard, 1905–76, U.S. business executive, b. Houston. As a young man he inherited (1925) the patent rights to an oil tool drill, which, manufactured by the Hughes Tool…

Malamud, Bernard

(Encyclopedia) Malamud, BernardMalamud, Bernardmălˈəməd [key], 1914–86, American author, b. New York City, grad. College of the City of New York (B.A., 1936), Columbia (M.A., 1942). His works…

Oswald, Lee Harvey

(Encyclopedia) Oswald, Lee Harvey, 1939–63, presumed assassin of John F. Kennedy, b. New Orleans. Oswald spent most of his boyhood in Fort Worth, Tex. Later, he attended a Dallas high school, and…