(Virginia Rowlands)actressBorn: 6/19/1934Birthplace: Cambria, Wisconsin Rowlands has sustained a long career in television, film, and theater. She appeared in the TV shows The Alfred Hitchcock Hour…
(Encyclopedia) Larra, Mariano José deLarra, Mariano José demäryäˈnō hōsāˈ ᵺā läˈrä [key], 1809–37, Spanish satirist, b. Madrid. Using several pseudonyms, Larra wrote a series of satirical articles on…
(Encyclopedia) Trudeau, Garry BeekmanTrudeau, Garry Beekmantr&oomacr;ˈdō [key], 1948–, American political cartoonist, b. New York City. Since its debut in 1969, his comic strip “Doonesbury” has…
(Encyclopedia) Basie, Count (William Basie)Basie, Countbāˈsē [key], 1904–84, American jazz pianist, bandleader, and composer, b. Red Bank, N.J. After working in dance halls and vaudeville in New York…
(Encyclopedia) block book. Before and after the invention of printing from movable types in the mid-15th cent., some books were printed in Europe from engraved wooden blocks, with one block for each…
(Encyclopedia) Farmer, Fannie Merritt, 1857–1915, American cookbook author and teacher and writer on cookery, b. Boston. A paralytic stroke prevented her from attending college, and she turned to…
(Betty Joan Perske)actressBorn: 9/16/1924Birthplace: New York City She began her career as a model, gracing the cover of Harper's Bazaar at age 19, before moving on to acting. She landed a starring…
(Encyclopedia) AlcaeusAlcaeusălsēˈəs [key], c.620–c.580 b.c., Greek lyric poet of Lesbos. An aristocrat, he was often embroiled in political battles with the ruling tyrants. He wrote drinking songs,…
(Encyclopedia) Chamisso, Adelbert von (Louis Charles Adelaide de Chamisso)Chamisso, Adelbert vonäˈdəlbĕrt fən shəmĭˈsō [key], 1781–1838, German poet and naturalist, b. Château de Boncourt, France. He…