(Encyclopedia) Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan, 1896–1953, American author, b. Washington, D.C., grad. Univ. of Wisconsin, 1918. She was a journalist until 1928, when she moved to the Florida backwoods,…
From ancient times to the present, certain birds have been considered both symbols and forecasters of events. These eight birds, from every part of the world, have been especially important.…
Filipinotowns by David Johnson Guide to Asian-American Enclaves IntroductionChinatownsFilipinotowns Nihonmachi (Japantowns)Little IndiasKoreatownsLittle Saigons In the 1700s Filipino…
European explorerBorn: 1451Birthplace: Genoa, Italy Christopher Columbus left home in Genoa, Italy, as a teenager to become a sailor on the Mediterranean Sea. In the late 1470s he settled in Lisbon…
Some of the galaxy's best space-related movies by Beth Rowen and Mark Zurlo Related Links Irish Movies SlideshowThe Presidency on FilmDinosaur MoviesDisney Movies Slideshow…
(Encyclopedia) Thousand and One Nights or Arabian Nights, series of anonymous stories in Arabic, considered as an entity to be among the classics of world literature. The cohesive plot device…
(Encyclopedia) Alberti, RafaelAlberti, Rafaelräfäĕlˈ [key]Alberti, Rafael älbĕrˈtē [key], 1902–99, Spanish poet. After abandoning an earlier career as a painter, Alberti published his first book,…
(Encyclopedia) Turner, Ted (Robert Edward Turner 3d), 1938–, American television network executive, b. Cincinnati. After inheriting his father's billboard company, he founded (1976) a television…
Eratosthenes 276–195 B.C. This Greek astronomer was the first to measure the size of Earth accurately. He determined that the earth's polar diameter was about 7,850 miles. (In fact, the distance is…
Sources: NASA and the International Astronomical Union. News Flash (August 24, 2006)—Pluto Demoted! Read About It Here. Misleading reports that Pluto was about to lose its status as a planet in…
