(Encyclopedia) Millay, Edna St. VincentMillay, Edna St. Vincentmĭlāˈ [key], 1892–1950, American poet, b. Rockland, Maine, grad. Vassar College, 1917. One of the most popular poets of her era, Millay…
(Encyclopedia) Rodgers, Richard Charles, 1902–79, American composer, b. New York City. Rodgers studied at Columbia and the Institute of Musical Art, New York City. He met both of his future…
(Encyclopedia) Bellow, Saul, 1915–2005, American novelist, b. Lachine, Que., as Solomon Bellow, grad. Northwestern Univ., 1937. Born of Russian-Jewish parents, he grew up in the slums of Montreal and…
(Encyclopedia) complex variable analysis, branch of mathematics that deals with the calculus of functions of a complex variable, i.e., a variable of the form z=x+iy, where x and y are real and i=−1 (…
(Encyclopedia) Daley, Richard Joseph, 1902–76, U.S. political leader, b. Chicago. Admitted to the bar in 1933, he entered politics and served as a Democrat in the state assembly (1936–38) and the…
(Encyclopedia) PompeiiPompeiipŏmpāˈ, Ital. pōmpĕˈē [key], ancient city of S Italy, a port near Naples and at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius. Possibly an old Oscan settlement, it was a Samnite city for…
(Encyclopedia) fullerene, any of a class of carbon molecules in which the carbon atoms are arranged into 12 pentagonal faces and 2 or more hexagonal faces to form a hollow sphere, cylinder, or…
(Encyclopedia) Doniphan, Alexander WilliamDoniphan, Alexander Williamdŏnˈĭfən [key], 1808–87, American lawyer and soldier, b. Mason co., Ky. He began (1830) to practice law in Lexington, Mo., and…
(Encyclopedia) Star-Spangled Banner, The, American national anthem, beginning, “O say can you see by the dawn's early light.” The words were written by Francis Scott Key, a young Washington attorney…