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Ayckbourn, Sir Alan

(Encyclopedia)Ayckbourn, Sir Alan ākˈbôrn [key], 1939–, English playwright and director, b. London. One of Britain's most successful and prolific dramatists, he had his first play produced in 1959 and since th...

Abruzzi

(Encyclopedia)Abruzzi äbro͞otˈtsē [key], region, 4,167 sq mi (10,793 sq km), central Italy, bordering on the Adriatic Sea in the east. L'Aquila is the capital of the region, which i...

Southampton

(Encyclopedia)Southampton, city and unitary authority (2011 pop. 236,882), S England, at the head of Southampton Water. Southampton is Britain's second largest port. The London-Southampton railway, finished in 1840...

Bataan

(Encyclopedia)Bataan bătănˈ, –tänˈ, bätä-änˈ [key], peninsula and province, W Luzon, the...

Monroe, Marilyn

(Encyclopedia)Monroe, Marilyn, 1926–62, American movie actress, b. Los Angeles as Norma Jean Baker or Norma Jeane Mortenson. Raised in orphanages after 1935 and first married at 14, Monroe, who began her career a...

Shropshire

(Encyclopedia)Shropshire shrŏpˈshĭr, –shər [key], county (1991 pop. 401,600), 1,348 sq mi (3,491 sq km), W England; administratively, Shropshire is a unitary authority (since 2009). It is also sometimes calle...

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

(Encyclopedia)Chicago Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1891 when businessman Charles Norman Fay invited the German-born conductor Theodore Thomas to establish and lead a new city orchestra; he conducted it until his ...

Derbyshire

(Encyclopedia)Derbyshire därˈbēshər, –shĭr [key] county, 1,016 sq mi (2,632 sq km), central England. The county seat ...

East Riding of Yorkshire

(Encyclopedia)East Riding of Yorkshire, district and unitary authority, NE England. The district extends from the Yorkshire Wolds (N) to the River Humber (S) and from...

Storm King Art Center

(Encyclopedia)Storm King Art Center, sculpture park and museum in Mountainville, N.Y., some 55 mi (89 km) north of New York City. Founded in 1960, it comprises 500 acres (202 hectares) of lawns, fields, hills, and ...