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Hesse, Hermann

(Encyclopedia)Hesse, Hermann hĕsˈə [key], 1877–1962, German novelist and poet. A pacifist, he went to Switzerland at the outbreak of World War I and became (1923) a Swiss citizen. The spiritual loneliness of ...

Hitchcock, Sir Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Hitchcock, Sir Alfred, 1899–1980, English-American film director, writer, and producer, b. London. Hitchcock began his career as a director in 1925 and became prominent with The 39 Steps (1935) and ...

Houdini, Harry

(Encyclopedia)Houdini, Harry ho͞odēˈnē [key], 1874–1926, American magician and writer, b. Budapest, Hungary, as Erik Weisz, later modified to Ehrich Weiss; his stage name honors the French magician Houdin. By...

Jenghiz Khan

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Empire of Jenghiz Khan (1227) Jenghiz Khan jĕngˈgĭs, gĕngˈgĭs kän [key], Mongolian Chinggis Khaan, 1167?–1227, Mongol conqueror, originally named Temujin. He succeeded his father, Yek...

Wenders, Wim

(Encyclopedia)Wenders, Wim, 1945–, German filmmaker, b. Düsseldorf. During the late 1960s he attended film school and worked as a film critic in Munich. Wenders first attracted attention with The Goalie's Anxiet...

L'Amour, Louis

(Encyclopedia)L'Amour, Louis, 1908–88, American writer of western fiction, b. Jamestown, N.Dak., as Louis Dearborn LaMoore. He began writing in the 1940s, contributing stories to magazines under the name Tex Burn...

Compton, Arthur Holly

(Encyclopedia)Compton, Arthur Holly, 1892–1962, American physicist, b. Wooster, Ohio, grad. College of Wooster (B.S., 1913), Ph.D. Princeton, 1916. He was professor and head of the department of physics at Washin...

Fairbanks, Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Fairbanks, Douglas, 1883–1939, American movie actor, b. Denver. From 1901 to 1914, Fairbanks appeared on stage in light comedies. In 1915 he began making movies, becoming the swashbuckling hero of h...

Andrade, Carlos Drummond de

(Encyclopedia)Andrade, Carlos Drummond de əndrädˈ [key], 1902–87, Brazilian poet. The son of landowners, he worked as a journalist before earning (1925) a degree in pharmacology. In 1928 Andrade became a civil...

open education

(Encyclopedia)open education, also known as open classroom, type of educational reform. The central tenet of this informal system is that children want to learn and will do so naturally if left to their own initiat...