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Johnson, Sargent

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Sargent, 1888–1967, American sculptor, b. Boston. He moved to N California at age 18 and studied stulpture there. A member of California's New Negro Movement, Johnson was influenced by West...

Key, Ellen

(Encyclopedia)Key, Ellen kā [key], 1849–1926, Swedish author, critic, and ideologue. Believing that women are primarily fitted for motherhood, she deplored feminist claims to equality on the labor market. Her id...

King, Billie Jean

(Encyclopedia)King, Billie Jean, 1943–, American tennis player, b. Long Beach, Calif., as Billie Jean Moffitt. King won 67 tournament titles and 20 Wimbledon titles, including singles in 1966–68, 1972–73, and...

Steffen, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Steffen, Albert älˈbĕrt shtĕfˈən [key], 1884–1963, Swiss novelist, poet, and playwright, who wrote in German. His works are concerned with the martyrdom and redemption of Christ. To Steffen th...

spasm

(Encyclopedia)spasm, involuntary rigid muscle contraction, often persistent and often accompanied by pain. It usually has some underlying physical cause such as disease, strain, or injury to the muscle or nearby ti...

speleology

(Encyclopedia)speleology spēlēŏlˈəjē [key], systematic exploration of caves, popularly called spelunking. It includes the measuring and mapping of caves and reporting on the flora and fauna found in them. One...

Buys Ballot, Christoph Heinrich Diedrich

(Encyclopedia)Buys Ballot, Christoph Heinrich Diedrich krĭsˈtôf hīnˈrĭkh dēdˈrĭkh boisˈ bälōˈ [key], 1817–90, Dutch meteorologist. Director of the Dutch Royal Meteorological Institute after 1854, he ...

Phoenix Park murders

(Encyclopedia)Phoenix Park murders, name given to the assassination on May 6, 1882, of Lord Frederick Cavendish, British secretary for Ireland, and Thomas Henry Burke, his undersecretary, in Phoenix Park, Dublin. T...

Place, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Place, Francis, 1771–1854, English radical reformer. A tailor for many years, he educated himself and made his shop a meeting center for radicals and reformers. He was especially active in the trade...

Wägner, Elin

(Encyclopedia)Wägner, Elin āˈlĭn vĕgˈnĕr [key], 1882–1949, Swedish novelist. Wägner was a leading feminist of her day. In early works such as Pennskaftet [the penholder] (1910), she deals with the social,...