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Tristram and Isolde

(Encyclopedia)Tristram and Isolde trĭsˈtrəm, ĭsōlˈdə, ĭzōlˈ– [key], medieval romance. The earliest extant version (incomplete) was written (c.1185) by Thomas of Britain in Anglo-Norman French verse. Abo...

Stephen, Sir Leslie

(Encyclopedia)Stephen, Sir Leslie, 1832–1904, English author and critic. The first serious critic of the novel, he was also editor of the great Dictionary of National Biography from its beginning in 1882 until 18...

West, Kanye Omari

(Encyclopedia) West, Kanye Omari, 1977- , African American rapper, b. Atlanta (some sources give Douglasville), Al. West’s father, Ray, was a Black Panther who ...

sewing machine

(Encyclopedia)sewing machine, device that stitches cloth and other materials. An attempt at mechanical sewing was made in England (1790) with a machine having a forked, automatic needle that made a single-thread ch...

nomad

(Encyclopedia)nomad nōˈmădˌ [key], one of a group of people without fixed habitation, especially pastoralists. (Some authorities prefer the terms “nonsedentary” or “migratory” rather than “nomadic” ...

Smith, Adam

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Adam, 1723–90, Scottish economist, educated at Glasgow and Oxford. He became professor of moral philosophy at the Univ. of Glasgow in 1752, and while teaching there wrote his Theory of Moral ...

Murdoch, Dame Iris

(Encyclopedia)Murdoch, Dame Iris (Dame Jean Iris Murdoch) mûrˈdŏk [key], 1919–99, British novelist and philosopher, b. Dublin, Ireland, grad. Oxford (1942). In 1948 she was named lecturer in philosophy at Oxfo...

frontier

(Encyclopedia)frontier, in U.S. history, the border area of settlement of Europeans and their descendants; it was vital in the conquest of the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The importance of the westwa...

Independence

(Encyclopedia)Independence. 1 City (2020 pop. 6,064), seat of Buchanan co., NE Iowa; founded 1847. Located on the Wapsipinicon River, the town's grist mill ...

Decatur

(Encyclopedia)Decatur. 1 City (2020 pop. 57,938), seat of Morgan co., N Ala., on the Tennessee River; inc. 1826. It has shipyards, port traffic, and diverse ...