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Taylor, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Tom, 1817–80, English dramatist and editor. His most famous play is Our American Cousin (1858), performed at Ford's Theater in Washington, D. C., when Lincoln was assassinated. Of his more t...

Rowley, William

(Encyclopedia)Rowley, William rouˈlē [key], 1585?–1642?, English playwright and actor. He collaborated with many noted dramatists, including Dekker, Ford, and Webster; his best work, notably The Changeling (162...

Laird, Melvin Robert

(Encyclopedia)Laird, Melvin Robert, 1922–2016, American politician, U.S. secretary of defense (1969–73), b. Omaha, Nebr. After serving (1942–46) in the navy during World War II, he entered politics as a Repub...

Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich

(Encyclopedia)Rockefeller, Nelson Aldrich, 1908–79, U.S. public official, governor of New York (1959–73), Vice President of the United States (1974–77), b. Bar Harbor, Maine; grandson of John D. Rockefeller. ...

Cuchulain

(Encyclopedia)Cuchulain kəho͝olˈən, –ho͞oˈlən [key], Irish legendary hero of Ulster, of prodigious strength and remarkable beauty. He is the central figure of the Ulster legends, the greatest work of which...

Fromentin, Eugène

(Encyclopedia)Fromentin, Eugène özhĕnˈ frômäNtăNˈ [key], 1820–76, French painter and art critic. After studying in Paris, he traveled in Algeria and painted North African subjects. His Quarry and Fellah W...

River Rouge

(Encyclopedia)River Rouge ro͞ozh [key], city (1990 pop. 11,314), Wayne co., SE Mich., an industrial suburb of Detroit, on the Detroit and Rouge rivers; settled c.1817, inc. 1899. It is a port of entry, with automo...

Wateree

(Encyclopedia)Wateree wôtərēˈ [key], river, c.395 mi (635 km) long, rising in the Blue Ridge, W N.C., as the Catawba River and flowing E past Hickory and then S past Charlotte into central N S.C. (becoming the ...

Gifford, William

(Encyclopedia)Gifford, William, 1756–1826, English journalist and critic. He was editor (1797–98) of the Anti-Jacobin and first editor (1809–24) of the archconservative Quarterly Review. Although perceptive, ...

New England Primer

(Encyclopedia)New England Primer, famous American school book, first published before 1690. Its compiler was Benjamin Harris, an English printer who emigrated to Boston. This was the book from which most of the chi...