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Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, 5th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Selkirk, Thomas Douglas, 5th earl of, 1771–1820, Scottish philanthropist, founder of the Red River Settlement. Emigration to America seemed to him the best solution for the poverty of his countrymen...

McLoughlin, John

(Encyclopedia)McLoughlin, John məglŏkhˈlĭn, –glôfˈlĭn [key], 1784–1857, Canadian-American fur trader in Oregon, b. Rivière du Loup, near Quebec. A physician and then a trader, he was (1824–46) chief a...

Knopf, Alfred A.

(Encyclopedia)Knopf, Alfred A. (Alfred Abraham Knopf) kənŏpfˈ, nŏpf [key], 1892–1984, American publisher, b. New York City. After working (1912–14) for the Doubleday, Page Publishing Company, he founded (19...

Hershey, Milton Snavely

(Encyclopedia)Hershey, Milton Snavely, 1857–1945, American manufacturer and philanthropist, b. near Derry Church (now Hershey), Pa. The son of Mennonite farmers, at 15 he was apprenticed to a confectioner in Lanc...

Karsavina, Tamara

(Encyclopedia)Karsavina, Tamara təmäˈrə Kərsäˈvyĭnə [key], 1885–1978, Russian prima ballerina. Karsavina was trained in the Imperial Theatre School and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, making her...

Keith, Minor Cooper

(Encyclopedia)Keith, Minor Cooper, 1848–1929, American magnate, a founder of the United Fruit Company, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. In the face of incredible hardships he built (1871–90) a railroad from the port of Limón...

MacInnes, Colin

(Encyclopedia)MacInnes, Colin məkĭnˈəs [key], 1914–76, English novelist, b. London. Son of the novelist Angela Thirkell, MacInnes was educated in Australia and served in the British intelligence corps during ...

Martínez Sierra, Gregorio

(Encyclopedia)Martínez Sierra, Gregorio grāgōˈrēō märtēˈnĕth syāˈrä [key], 1881–1947, Spanish dramatist, novelist, and poet. His masterpiece is Canción de cuna (1911, tr. The Cradle Song, 1917), but...

Rowe, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Rowe, Nicholas rō [key], 1674–1718, English dramatist. An ardent Whig, he was able to gain various government posts during the course of his life. In 1715 he became poet laureate. His first two pla...

chronicle plays

(Encyclopedia)chronicle plays, dramas based upon 16th-century chronicles in English, particularly those of Edward Hall and Raphael Holinshed. These plays became very popular late in the reign of Elizabeth I, when, ...