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Houdini, Harry

(Encyclopedia)Houdini, Harry ho͞odēˈnē [key], 1874–1926, American magician and writer, b. Budapest, Hungary, as Erik Weisz, later modified to Ehrich Weiss; his stage name honors the French magician Houdin. By...

Truth or Consequences

(Encyclopedia)Truth or Consequences, city (1990 pop. 6,221), seat of Sierra co., SW N.Mex., on the Rio Grande between the Black Range (W) and Jornada del Meurto desert basin (E); inc. 1916 as Hot Springs, renamed 1...

Elephanta

(Encyclopedia)Elephanta ĕlĭfănˈtə [key], island, c.2 sq mi (5.2 sq km), in Mumbai harbor, Maharashtra state, W India. It is noted for six Brahmanic caves, carved (8th cent.) from solid rock some 250 ft (76 m) ...

Shackleton, Sir Ernest Henry

(Encyclopedia)Shackleton, Sir Ernest Henry, 1874–1922, British antarctic explorer, b. Ireland. The first of his voyages to Antarctica was made as a member of the expedition (1901–4) of Robert F. Scott. Shacklet...

Flaherty, Robert Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Flaherty, Robert Joseph flăˈərtē [key], 1884–1951, American explorer and film producer. He was born in Michigan and grew up in Canada. He explored (1910–16) subarctic E Canada and in 1922 comp...

Hurt, John

(Encyclopedia)Hurt, John (Sir John Vincent Hurt), 1940–2017, English actor, b. Chesterfield, Derbyshire, grad. Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1962). Known for his sympathetic portrayal of unusual, often unappeali...

Vittorini, Elio

(Encyclopedia)Vittorini, Elio ĕˈlyō vēt-tōrēˈnē [key], 1908–66, Italian novelist, b. Syracuse, Sicily. Between 1934 and 1941 Vittorini translated the works of D. H. Lawrence, Poe, Faulkner, Hemingway, T. ...

Port Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Port Elizabeth, city, now part and seat of Nelson Mandela Bay metropolitan municipality, Eastern Cape prov., SE South Africa, on Algoa Bay, an arm of the Indian Ocean. It is a tourist center and a maj...

Nast, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Nast, Thomas, 1840–1902, American caricaturist, illustrator, and painter, b. Landau, Germany. He was brought to the United States in 1846. He began his career as a draftsman for Frank Leslie's Illus...

Andrić, Ivo

(Encyclopedia)Andrić, Ivo ēˈvō änˈdrĭch [key], 1892–1975, Yugoslav novelist and poet, b. Bosnia. As a student Andrić worked for the independence and unity of the South Slavic peoples, and after the format...

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