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time and motion study

(Encyclopedia)time and motion study, analysis of the operations required to produce a manufactured article in a factory, with the aim of increasing efficiency. Each operation is studied minutely and analyzed in ord...

Henschel, Sir George

(Encyclopedia)Henschel, Sir George hĕnˈshəl [key], 1850–1934, German-English conductor, composer, and baritone. His first appearance (1877) in England was as a singer, and there he and his wife inaugurated (c....

Old Vic

(Encyclopedia)Old Vic, London repertory company and theater. The Old Vic theater opened in 1818 as the Coburg, and was renamed the Royal Victoria in 1833, soon familiarized to the Old Vic. In 1914 it became a Shake...

Hammett, Dashiell

(Encyclopedia)Hammett, Dashiell dəshēlˈ [key], 1894–1961, American writer, b. St. Mary's co., Maryland. After a variety of jobs, including several years working as a detective for the Pinkerton agency, beginni...

Blitzstein, Marc

(Encyclopedia)Blitzstein, Marc (Marcus Samuel Blitzstein), 1905–64, American composer, pianist, and librettist, b. Philadelphia. After attending the Univ. of Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of Music, he stu...

Davis, Bette

(Encyclopedia)Davis, Bette bĕtˈē [key], 1908–89, American film actress, b. Lowell, Mass., as Ruth Elizabeth Davis. One of the most durable stars of the American screen, she made her debut in 1931. With a strik...

Wyler, William

(Encyclopedia)Wyler, William, 1902–1981, American film director, producer, and writer, b. Mülhausen, Germany (now Mulhouse, France) as Willi Wilder. He came to the United States (1920) at the invitation of Carl ...

Wilbur, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Wilbur, Richard, 1921–2017, American poet and translator, b. New York City, B.A. Amherst, 1942, M.A. Harvard, 1947. A virtuoso craftsman who wrote with grace and precision in traditional verse forms...

Griffith, D. W.

(Encyclopedia)Griffith, D. W. (David Llewelyn Wark Griffith), 1875–1948, American movie director and producer, b. La Grange, Ky. Griffith was the first major American film director. He began his film career as an...

Sandburg, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Sandburg, Carl, 1878–1967, American poet, journalist, and biographer, b. Galesburg, Ill. The son of poor Swedish immigrants, he left school at the age of 13 and became a day laborer. He served in th...

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