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Březina, Otakar

(Encyclopedia)Březina, Otakar ôˈtäkär brzhĕˈzĭnä [key], 1868–1929, Czech lyric poet, leader of the Czech symbolists, whose original name was Václav Jebavý. The first collection of his poetry, Tajemné ...

Brooklyn Bridge

(Encyclopedia)Brooklyn Bridge, vehicular suspension bridge, New York City, southernmost of the bridges across the East River, between lower Manhattan and Brooklyn; built 1869–83. The achievement of J. A. Roebling...

Cain, James Mallahan

(Encyclopedia)Cain, James Mallahan, 1892–1977, American novelist, b. Annapolis, Md., grad. Washington College, 1910. He taught journalism (1924–25), wrote political commentaries for the New York World (1924–3...

Penn Central Company

(Encyclopedia)Penn Central Company, former U.S. transportation company, formed in 1968 by the merger of the New York Central RR and the Pennsylvania RR. By the early 1970s the railroad was bankrupt; in 1976 the U.S...

Petrov, Yevgeny Petrovich

(Encyclopedia)Petrov, Yevgeny Petrovich yĭvgāˈnyē pētrôˈvĭch pētrôfˈ [key], 1903–42, Russian writer and journalist; brother of the dramatist Valentin P. Katayev. His original name was Yevgeny Petrovich...

Pitman, Sir Isaac

(Encyclopedia)Pitman, Sir Isaac, 1813–97, English inventor of phonographic shorthand. In Stenographic Soundhand (1837) he set forth a shorthand system based on phonetic rather than orthographic principles; adapte...

carol

(Encyclopedia)carol, popular hymn, of joyful nature, in celebration of an occasion such as May Day, Easter, or Christmas. The earliest English carols date from the 15th cent. The carol is characterized by simplicit...

Blair, James

(Encyclopedia)Blair, James, 1656–1743, Church of England clergyman, missionary to colonial Virginia, and founder of the College of William and Mary, b. Scotland. At the request of the bishop of London, Blair trav...

Abbot, George

(Encyclopedia)Abbot, George, 1562–1633, archbishop of Canterbury. He was one of the collaborators (from the Univ. of Oxford) on the Authorized Version of the Bible and was an authority on geography. He became arc...

Cooper, James Fenimore

(Encyclopedia)Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789–1851, American novelist, b. Burlington, N.J., as James Cooper. He was the first important American writer to draw on the subjects and landscape of his native land in ord...