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Milne, A. A.

(Encyclopedia)Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander Milne) mĭln, mĭl [key], 1882–1956, English author. Milne began his literary career as a journalist and later became a regular contributor to Punch. He is best known fo...

Parker, Charlie “Bird”

(Encyclopedia)Parker, Charlie “Bird” (Charles Christopher Parker, Jr.), 1920–55, American musician and composer, b. Kansas City, Kans. He began playing alto saxophone in 1933 and, shifting from one band to an...

Gadsden, James

(Encyclopedia)Gadsden, James gădzˈdən [key], 1788–1858, American railroad promoter and diplomat, b. Charleston, S.C.; grandson of Christopher Gadsden. He served in the War of 1812, under Andrew Jackson against...

Handy, W. C.

(Encyclopedia)Handy, W. C. (William Christopher Handy), 1873–1958, American songwriter and band leader, b. Florence, Ala. Largely self-taught, Handy began his career as a cornet player in a minstrel show in 1896,...

Adams, Franklin Pierce

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Franklin Pierce, pseud. F. P. A., 1881–1960, American columnist and author, b. Chicago. He began (1903) work as a columnist on the Chicago Journal and continued it on the New York Evening Mai...

World's Columbian Exposition

(Encyclopedia)World's Columbian Exposition, held at Chicago, May–Nov., 1893, in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Authorized (1890) by Congress, it was pl...

Kyd, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Kyd or Kid, Thomas, 1558–94, English dramatist, b. London. The son of a scrivener, he evidently followed his father's profession for a few years. In the 1580s he began writing plays. His literary fa...

Ashmole, Elias

(Encyclopedia)Ashmole, Elias ăshmōˈlēən [key], the first such public institution in England. He later donated his library to Oxford, and the whole was housed in a building erected by Sir Christopher Wren. The ...

Mathewson, Christy

(Encyclopedia)Mathewson, Christy (Christopher Mathewson) măthˈəsən, –yəsən [key], 1880–1925, American baseball player, b. Factoryville, Pa., grad. Bucknell Univ., 1902. A righthander, he joined the Cincin...

Sargent, Thomas John

(Encyclopedia)Sargent, Thomas John, 1943–, American economist, b. Pasadena, Calif., Ph.D. Harvard (1968). He has been on the faculty at the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1970–71), Univ. of Minnesota (1971–87), Univ....