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Mielziner, Jo

(Encyclopedia)Mielziner, Jo mēlzēˈnər [key], 1901–76, American theatrical scene designer, b. Paris. Mielziner made his Broadway design debut in 1924 with The Guardsman. He designed sets, and usually the light...

loon

(Encyclopedia)loon, common name for migratory aquatic birds found in fresh- and saltwater in the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere. Its strange, laughing call carries for great distances. Like the grebes, loo...

Southcott, Joanna

(Encyclopedia)Southcott, Joanna southˈkət [key], 1750–1814, English religious visionary. Uneducated, even illiterate, she spent her earlier years in domestic service. She began c.1792 to claim the gift of proph...

Woodward, C. Vann

(Encyclopedia)Woodward, C. Vann (Comer Vann Woodward), 1908–99, American historian, b. Vanndale, Ark. He graduated from Emory Univ. (1930), received his Ph.D. in history from the Univ. of North Carolina (1937), a...

Stanwyck, Barbara

(Encyclopedia)Stanwyck, Barbara, 1907–90, American stage, film, and television actress, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Ruby Stevens. She started as a chorus girl, was in the Ziegfeld Follies (1923–24) and performed on B...

Henry I, king of France

(Encyclopedia)Henry I, c.1008–1060, king of France (1031–60), son and successor of King Robert II. To defend his throne against his mother, his brothers Robert and Eudes, and subsequently against the count of B...

Ditmars, Raymond Lee

(Encyclopedia)Ditmars, Raymond Lee dĭtˈmärz [key], 1876–1942, American naturalist and author, b. Newark, N.J., grad. Barnard Military Academy, 1891. His early skill in preparing insect collections led to his f...

Holiday, Billie

(Encyclopedia)Holiday, Billie, 1915–59, American singer, b. Baltimore. Her original name was Eleanora Fagan. She began singing professionally in 1930, and after performing with numerous bands—especially those o...

Anderson, Laurie

(Encyclopedia)Anderson, Laurie, 1947–, American performance artist, b. Chicago. Originally a sculptor, she was influenced by Philip Glass and other avant-garde composers in the early 1970s and soon turned to the ...

Krasznahorkai, Lázló

(Encyclopedia)Krasznahorkai, Lázló, 1954–, Hungarian writer known for his strange, bleak, obsessive, and surreal novels, short stories, and film scripts. Usually marked by grim rural settings, and often featuri...