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custom

(Encyclopedia)custom, habitual group pattern of behavior that is transmitted from one generation to another and is not biologically determined. Since societies are perpetually changing, no matter how slowly, all cu...

Albanese, Licia

(Encyclopedia)Albanese, Licia, 1909–2014, Italian-American soprano. A lirico-spinto soprano, whose silvery voice was suited to lyric and somewhat heavier roles, she specialized in Puccini and was particularly kno...

Hooker, John Lee

(Encyclopedia)Hooker, John Lee, 1917–2001, American blues singer and guitarist, b. near Clarksdale, Miss. From a cotton-sharecropping family, he learned the blues from his stepfather and various visiting Delta bl...

Hernández, Miguel

(Encyclopedia)Hernández, Miguel ārnänˈdĕs [key], 1910–42, Spanish poet, b. Orihuela. A completely self-taught writer, he absorbed the influence of the poets of the Golden Age and of the generation of Garcí...

González Prada, Manuel

(Encyclopedia)González Prada, Manuel mänwĕlˈ gōnsäˈlĕs präˈᵺä [key], 1848–1918, Peruvian writer and political reformer, b. Lima. One of the most brilliant figures in Spanish-American letters, he was ...

Miró Ferrer, Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)Miró Ferrer, Gabriel fĕrĕrˈ [key], 1879–1930, Spanish novelist and short-story writer. One of the Generation of '98, he achieved his powerful individual style through unusual combinations of wor...

Baroja y Nessi, Pío

(Encyclopedia)Baroja y Nessi, Pío pēˈō bärōˈhä ē nāsˈsē [key], 1879–1956, Spanish novelist from the Basque Country, member of the group of writers known as the Generation of '98. He left medicine to d...

Allen, Paul Gardner

(Encyclopedia)Allen, Paul Gardner, 1953–2018, American business executive and philanthropist, b. Seattle. He dropped out of Washington State Univ. (1974) and with his friend Bill Gates co-founded (1975) Microsoft...

Amadi, Elechi

(Encyclopedia)Amadi, Elechi, 1934–2016, Nigerian novelist, one of the first generation of African novelists who wrote in English; grad. University College, Ibadan. An Ikwerre, he is best known for the novel The C...

Fosse, Bob

(Encyclopedia)Fosse, Bob (Robert Louis Fosse) fôˈsē, fŏsˈē [key], 1927–87, American choreographer and director, b. Chicago. Generally recognized as the most talented and influential theatrical choreographer...