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Simon, Neil

(Encyclopedia)Simon, Neil (Marvin Neil Simon), 1927–2018, American playwright, b. the Bronx, New York City. His plays, nearly all of them popular with audiences, if not always with critics, are comedies treating ...

Crane, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Crane, Stephen, 1871–1900, American novelist, poet, and short-story writer, b. Newark, N.J. Often designated the first modern American writer, Crane is ranked among the authors who introduced realis...

index, in publishing

(Encyclopedia)index, of a book or periodical, a list, nearly always alphabetical, of the topics treated. This list is usually at the back of a book, and the table of contents is in the front. The index seeks to dir...

Homer

(Encyclopedia)Homer, principal figure of ancient Greek literature; the first European poet. The Odyssey is written in 24 books and begins nearly ten years after the fall of Troy. In the first part, Telemachus, Od...

Ibsen, Henrik

(Encyclopedia)Ibsen, Henrik hĕnˈrĭk ĭbˈsən [key], 1828–1906, Norwegian dramatist and poet. His early years were lonely and miserable. Distressed by the consequences of his family's financial ruin and on his...

Hazlitt, William

(Encyclopedia)Hazlitt, William, 1778–1830, English essayist. The son of a reform-mindeed Unitarian minister, he abandoned the idea of entering the clergy and took up painting, philosophy, and later journalism. He...

Zapata, Emiliano

(Encyclopedia)Zapata, Emiliano āmēlyäˈnō säpäˈtä [key], c.1879–1919, Mexican revolutionary, b. Morelos. Zapata was of almost pure native descent. A tenant farmer, he occupied a social position between th...

Isabella I

(Encyclopedia)Isabella I or Isabella the Catholic, 1451–1504, Spanish queen of Castile and León (1474–1504), daughter of John II of Castile. In 1469 she married Ferdinand of Aragón (later King Ferdinand II of...

Marshall, George Catlett

(Encyclopedia)Marshall, George Catlett, 1880–1959, American general and cabinet member, b. Uniontown, Pa. A career army officer, Marshall graduated from the Virginia Military Institute. He first distinguished him...

Webster, Noah

(Encyclopedia)Webster, Noah, 1758–1843, American lexicographer and philologist, b. West Hartford, Conn., grad. Yale, 1778. After serving in the American Revolution, Webster practiced law in Hartford. His Grammati...