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Child, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Child, Sir John, d. 1690, English administrator in India. In 1680 he was appointed the British East India Company's agent at Surat, then the company's main factory (i.e., trading station) in W India. ...

Bandello, Matteo

(Encyclopedia)Bandello, Matteo mät–tĕˈō bändĕlˈlō [key], 1485–1561, Italian storywriter, a Dominican priest. He is famous for his novellas, short tales in imitation of Boccaccio, that provided themes fo...

Ford, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Ford, Henry, 1863–1947, American industrialist, pioneer automobile manufacturer, b. Dearborn, Mich. Henry Ford's son, Edsel Bryant Ford, 1893–1943, b. Detroit, shared in the control of the vast ...

Lyric Opera of Chicago

(Encyclopedia)Lyric Opera of Chicago, opera company founded 1954 as the Lyric Theatre of Chicago; it was renamed prior to its 1956 season. The company performs at the ornate Lyric Opera House, formerly the Civic Op...

Lauder, Estée

(Encyclopedia)Lauder, Estée, 1908?–2004, American cosmetics company founder, b. Corona, Queens, N.Y., as Josephine Esther Mentzer. The daughter of immigrants, she married Joseph Lauter (later changed to Lauder) ...

Heinze, Frederick Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Heinze, Frederick Augustus hīnˈzē [key], 1869–1914, American copper magnate, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He went in 1889 to Butte, Mont., as engineer for a mining company. In 1893 he organized the Montana ...

Barrymore

(Encyclopedia)Barrymore, Anglo-American family of actors. Lionel and Ethel's younger brother, John Barrymore,John Barrymore, 1882–1942, b. Philadelphia, tried his hand at painting and cartooning before turning ...

Norns

(Encyclopedia)Norns, the Norse Fates. Like the Fates of Greek religion and mythology, the Norns spun and wove the web of life. Belief in the Norns was of great importance in Germanic religion and life. It was said ...

midsummer day and midsummer night

(Encyclopedia)midsummer day and midsummer night, names given to the feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24) and the preceding night (St. John's Eve, June 23). Because midsummer is about the time of ...

Lear

(Encyclopedia)Lear lēr [key], legendary English king, supposed descendant, through Locrine and Brut, of Aeneas of Troy. The story of Lear and his three daughters probably originated in early Celtic mythology. Geof...