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Swinburne, Algernon Charles

(Encyclopedia)Swinburne, Algernon Charles, 1837–1909, English poet and critic. His poetry is noted for its vitality and for the music of its language. After attending Eton (1849–53) and Oxford (1856–60) he se...

Sontag, Susan

(Encyclopedia)Sontag, Susan sŏnˈtäg [key], 1933–2004, American writer and critic, b. New York City. She grew up in Arizona and California, studied philosophy at the Univ. of Chicago, Harvard, and Oxford, absor...

sign language

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Manual alphabet sign language, gestural communication used as an alternative or replacement for speech. Sign languages resemble oral languages in every way other than their modality. As with o...

siege

(Encyclopedia)siege, assault against a city or fortress with the purpose of capturing it. The history of siegecraft parallels the development of fortification and, later, artillery. In early times battering rams an...

Pamuk, Orhan

(Encyclopedia)Pamuk, Orhan ôrˈhän päˈmo͞ok [key], 1952–, Turkey's most celebrated contemporary novelist, studied Robert College (now Univ. of the Bosporus) and İstanbul Univ. Pamuk uses a variety of formal...

Whittier, John Greenleaf

(Encyclopedia)Whittier, John Greenleaf hwĭtˈēər [key], 1807–92, American Quaker poet and reformer, b. near Haverhill, Mass. Whittier was a pioneer in regional literature as well as a crusader for many humanit...

sea level

(Encyclopedia)sea level, the level of the sea, which serves as the datum used for measurement of land elevations and ocean depths. Theoretically, one would expect sea level to be a fixed and permanent horizontal su...

Ducommun, Élie

(Encyclopedia)Ducommun, Élie ālēˈ dükômöNˈ [key], 1833–1906, Swiss journalist and pacifist. He organized (1891) the International Peace Bureau at Bern and shared the 1902 Nobel Peace Prize with C. A. Goba...

Foster, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Foster, Charles, 1828–1904, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury (1891–93), b. Seneca co., Ohio. He was long identified with the business interests of Fostoria, Ohio—named for C. W. Foster, his father...

Healy, George Peter Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Healy, George Peter Alexander, 1813–94, American painter, b. Boston. He began painting portraits at the age of 18 and, disregarding background, concentrated on producing a good likeness. Examples of...