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Hines, Earl “Fatha”

(Encyclopedia) Hines, Earl “Fatha” (Earl Kenneth Hines)Hines, Earl “Fatha”fäˈᵺə [key], 1903–83, American jazz pianist, b. Duquesne, Pa. The son of musicians, he played jazz piano in big bands as a…

killdeer

(Encyclopedia) killdeer, common North American shorebird related to the plover and the sandpiper. It is about 10 in. (25 cm) in length and its plumage is grayish brown with a double black band across…

cat's-eye

(Encyclopedia) cat's-eye, gemstone that displays a thin band of reflected light on its surface when cut as a cabochon. Its name is derived from its supposed resemblance to the eye of a cat. The…

Clothes Words

Bandannas Bandanna is the Hindu word for tie-dye. In the 1700s bandannas were imported to England from India. They were square cloths with dark red or blue backgrounds sprinkled with white or…

Bluebeard

(Encyclopedia) Bluebeard, nickname of the chevalier Raoul in a story by Charles Perrault. In the story Bluebeard's seventh wife, Fatima, yielding to curiosity, opens a locked door and discovers the…

Shaw, Run Run

(Encyclopedia) Shaw, Run Run, 1907–2014, Chinese film mogul, best known of the six Shaw brothers who founded an Asian movie empire. In Shanghai, he and his elder brother Runme Shaw made their first…

Merman, Ethel

(Encyclopedia) Merman, Ethel, 1908–84, American musical comedy star, b. Astoria, N.Y., originally named Ethel Zimmerman. Merman's theater debut was in George and Ira Gershwin's Girl Crazy (1930).…

Marseillaise

(Encyclopedia) MarseillaiseMarseillaisemärˌsəlāzˈ [key] [Fr.,=of Marseille], the French national anthem, written and composed in 1792 for the army of the Rhine by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle, a…

Berlichingen, Götz von

(Encyclopedia) Berlichingen, Götz vonBerlichingen, Götz vongötsˈ fən bĕrˈlĭkhĭng-ən [key], 1480–1562, German knight and adventurer. The head of a band of free soldiers, he lost (1504) his right hand…

Pearl Jam

alternative rock band One of several Seattle-based grunge bands, Pearl Jam found a following during the 1990s. The group's first album, Ten (1991), established the band with songs such as “ Alive”…