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Post, Emily Price

(Encyclopedia)Post, Emily Price, 1872–1960, American authority on etiquette, b. Baltimore. Born into a wealthy family, Post began her literary career as a novelist. Her best-known book, however, is Etiquette (192...

Praguerie

(Encyclopedia)Praguerie prägərēˈ [key], 1440, revolt against King Charles VII of France, so called in allusion to the Hussite uprising in Prague. It was led by several great feudal lords, including the comte de...

personification

(Encyclopedia)personification, figure of speech in which inanimate objects or abstract ideas are endowed with human qualities, e.g., allegorical morality plays where characters include Good Deeds, Beauty, and Death...

pessimism

(Encyclopedia)pessimism, philosophical opinion or doctrine that evil predominates over good; the opposite of optimism. Systematic forms of pessimism may be found in philosophy and religion. In religion Buddhism and...

Dias, Bartolomeu

(Encyclopedia)Dias, Bartolomeu bärˌto͝olo͝omāˈo͝o dēˈəsh [key], d. 1500, Portuguese navigator. He was the first European to round (1488) the Cape of Good Hope, which he called Cabo Tormentoso [cape of sto...

Dacron

(Encyclopedia)Dacron dāˈkrŏn, dăkˈrŏn [key], trademark for a polyester fiber. Dacron is a condensation polymer obtained from ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. Its properties include high tensile strength...

Ferris, Woodbridge Nathan

(Encyclopedia)Ferris, Woodbridge Nathan, 1853–1928, American educator and public official, b. Tioga co., N.Y. After study (1873–74) at the Univ. of Michigan, he taught in country schools, and became a successfu...

Hartford Foundation

(Encyclopedia)Hartford Foundation, fund established (1929) by retail food merchants John A. Hartford (1872–1951) and George L. Hartford (1864–1957) of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) as a p...

Hašek, Jaroslav

(Encyclopedia)Hašek, Jaroslav yäˈrōsläf häˈshĕk [key], 1883–1923, Czech writer, b. Prague. His experiences as a soldier in World War I inspired his famous novel The Good Soldier Schweik (4 vol., 1920–23...

Hefner, Hugh Marston

(Encyclopedia)Hefner, Hugh Marston, 1926–2017, American publisher and businessman, b. Chicago. Raised according to strict Methodist principles, Hefner reacted by launching (1953) Playboy, a magazine for men that ...