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Dalí, Salvador

(Encyclopedia)Dalí, Salvador sälväthōrˈ dälēˈ, däˈlē [key], 1904–89, Spanish painter. At first influenced by futurism, in 1924 Dalí came under the influence of the Italian painter de Chirico and by 19...

Duchamp, Marcel

(Encyclopedia)Duchamp, Marcel märsĕlˈ düshäNˈ [key], 1887–1968, French painter, brother of Raymond Duchamp-Villon and half-brother of Jacques Villon. Duchamp is noted for his cubist-futurist painting Nude D...

folklore

(Encyclopedia)folklore, the body of customs, legends, beliefs, and superstitions passed on by oral tradition. It includes folk dances, folk songs, folk medicine (the use of magical charms and herbs), and folktales ...

Burton, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Burton, Richard, 1925–84, British actor, b. Pontrhydfen, Wales; his original name was Richard Jenkins. A dark, introspective actor with a splendid speaking voice, Burton specialized in portraying co...

Salomon, Haym

(Encyclopedia)Salomon, Haym hīm [key], 1740–85, American Revolutionary financier, b. Lissa (now Leszno), Poland. A Jewish emigrant from Poland, he was imprisoned (1778) by the British in New York City for aiding...

Choate, Rufus

(Encyclopedia)Choate, Rufus chōt [key], 1799–1859, American lawyer and Congressman, b. Essex co., Mass.; uncle of Joseph Hodges Choate. Admitted to the bar in 1823, Rufus Choate gained national reputation as a l...

Burke, Robert O'Hara

(Encyclopedia)Burke, Robert O'Hara, 1820–61, Irish explorer of Australia. After service in the Belgian and Austrian armies he went (1853) as inspector of police to Melbourne. In 1860, with W. J. Wills and eight o...

Crawford, William Harris

(Encyclopedia)Crawford, William Harris, 1772–1834, American statesman, b. Amherst co., Va. (his birthplace is now in Nelson co.). He moved with his parents to South Carolina and later to Georgia. After studying l...

jade

(Encyclopedia)jade, common name for either of two minerals used as gems. The rarer variety of jade is jadeite, a sodium aluminum silicate, NaAl(SiO3)2, usually white or green in color; the green variety is the more...

Bowles, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Bowles, Paul, 1910–99, American writer and composer, b. New York City. He studied in Paris with Virgil Thomson and Aaron Copland and composed (1930s–40s) a number of modernist operas, ballets, son...