(Encyclopedia) glass snake, common name for the snakelike legless lizards of the genus Ophisaurus found in the S and central United States and in Eurasia. The shiny, scaled body is gray or greenish…
(Encyclopedia) Gay, John, 1685–1732, English playwright and poet, b. Barnstaple, Devon. Educated at the local grammar school, he was apprenticed to a silk mercer for a brief time before commencing…
(Encyclopedia) Marciano, RockyMarciano, Rockymärsēäˈnō [key], 1924–69, American boxer, b. Brockton, Mass. His real name was Rocco Francis Marchegiano. Failing to become a professional baseball player…
(Encyclopedia) Laurel and Hardy, American film comedy team. The duo consisted of Stan Laurel, 1890–1965, b. Ulverson, England, whose real name was Arthur Stanley Jefferson; and Oliver Hardy, 1892–…
(Encyclopedia) pathology, study of the cause of disease and the modifications in cellular function and changes in cellular structure produced in any cell, organ, or part of the body by disease. The…
(Encyclopedia) Perino del VagaPerino del Vagapārēˈnō dĕl väˈgä [key] or Pierino del VagaPierino del Vagapyārēˈnō [key], 1500–1547, Italian mannerist painter, whose real name was Perino or Pierino…
(Encyclopedia) Tyner, McCoy (Alfred McCoy Tyner), 1938–2020, American jazz pianist, b. Philadelphia. He played with Art Farmer and Benny Golson's Jazztet (1959–60), then with John Coltrane's quartet…
(Encyclopedia) Calamity JaneCalamity Janekəlămˈĭtē jānˈ [key], c.1852–1903, American frontier character, b. Princeton, Mo. Her real name was Martha Jane Canary, and the origin of her nickname is…
(Encyclopedia) Billy the Kid, 1859–81, American outlaw, b. New York City. His real name was probably Henry McCarty; he was known as William H. Bonney. His family moved to Kansas and then to New…
(Encyclopedia) black codes, in U.S. history, series of statutes passed by the ex-Confederate states, 1865–66, dealing with the status of the newly freed slaves. They varied greatly from state to…