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Pollock, Sir Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Pollock, Sir Frederick pŏlˈək [key], 1845–1937, English jurist, b. London. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge and was admitted to the bar in 1871. He succeeded to his baronetcy in 1888. Polloc...

Great Depression

(Encyclopedia)Great Depression, in U.S. history, the severe economic crisis generally considered to have been precipitated by the U.S. stock-market crash of 1929. Although it shared the basic characteristics of oth...

Massinger, Philip

(Encyclopedia)Massinger, Philip măsˈənjər [key], 1583–1640, English dramatist, b. Salisbury. He studied at Oxford (1602–6) but left without a degree, apparently to go to London to write plays. A prolific wr...

de Kooning, Willem

(Encyclopedia)de Kooning, Willem də ko͞oˈnĭng [key], 1904–97, American painter, b. Netherlands; studied Rotterdam Academy of Fine Arts and Techniques. De Kooning immigrated to the United States, arriving as a...

Morrison, Toni

(Encyclopedia)Morrison, Toni, 1931–2019, American writer, b. Lorain, Ohio, as Chloe Ardelia (later Anthony) Wofford; B.A. Howard Univ., 1953, M.F.A. Cornell, 1955. Her fiction is noted for its poetic language, lu...

Nez Percé

(Encyclopedia)Nez Percé nĕz pûrs, nā pĕrsāˈ [key] [Fr.,=pierced nose], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Sahaptin-Chinook branch of the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American langu...

Toscanini, Arturo

(Encyclopedia)Toscanini, Arturo ärto͞oˈrō tōskänēˈnē [key], 1867–1957, Italian conductor, internationally recognized as one of the world's great conductors. He studied cello at the Parma Conservatory, fr...

Alcaeus

(Encyclopedia)Alcaeus ălsēˈəs [key], c.620–c.580 b.c., Greek lyric poet of Lesbos. An aristocrat, he was often embroiled in political battles with the ruling tyrants. He wrote drinking songs, hymns, love song...

Hudson, William Henry

(Encyclopedia)Hudson, William Henry, 1841–1922, English author and naturalist, b. Quilmes, Argentina, of American parents. He spent his childhood on the pampas but developed a heart condition and finally emigrate...

Haber, Fritz

(Encyclopedia)Haber, Fritz häˈbər [key], 1868–1934, German chemist. He was a professor of physical chemistry at Karlsruhe and became director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute at Dahlem in 1911. During World War...