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Schmeling, Max

(Encyclopedia)Schmeling, Max (Maximilian Schmeling), 1905–2005, German boxer. He debuted as a professional fighter in 1924 and came to the United States in 1928. Two years later the methodical slugger beat heavyw...

Jones, James Earl

(Encyclopedia)Jones, James Earl, 1931–, American actor, b. Tate co., Miss. Jones made his stage debut at the Univ. of Michigan and appeared thereafter for seven years with the New York Shakespeare Festival in Mac...

Oswald, Lee Harvey

(Encyclopedia)Oswald, Lee Harvey, 1939–63, presumed assassin of John F. Kennedy, b. New Orleans. Oswald spent most of his boyhood in Fort Worth, Tex. Later, he attended a Dallas high school, and enlisted (1956) i...

Waynflete, William

(Encyclopedia)Waynflete, William wānˈflēt [key], 1395?–1486, English prelate and lord chancellor. He was master of Winchester College before 1429, and in 1443 he became provost of the newly founded Eton Colleg...

vaudeville

(Encyclopedia)vaudeville vôdˈvĭl [key], originally a light song, derived from the drinking and love songs formerly attributed to Olivier Basselin and called Vau, or Vaux, de Vire. Similar to the English music ha...

pumpkin

(Encyclopedia)pumpkin, common name for the genus Cucurbita of the family Cucurbitaceae (gourd family), a group that includes the pumpkins and squashes—the names may be used interchangeably and without botanical d...

smelt

(Encyclopedia)smelt, common name for a small, slender fish of the family Osmeridae. Most species are marine, but some ascend freshwater streams to spawn and others are landlocked in lakes. The rainbow or American s...

Cowley, Malcolm

(Encyclopedia)Cowley, Malcolm kouˈlē [key], 1898–1989, American critic and poet, b. Belsano, Pa., grad. Harvard, 1920. He lived abroad in the 1920s and knew many writers of the “lost generation,” about whom...

Just, Ward

(Encyclopedia)Just, Ward, 1935–2019, American writer, b. Michigan City, Ind. Just worked for several newspapers and magazines before being hired (1965) by the Washington Post, for which he covered Washington poli...

Johnson, Martin Elmer

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Martin Elmer, 1884–1937, American explorer and author, b. Rockford, Ill. He left home at 14 to work his way to Europe on a cattle boat, returning as a stowaway. He then joined the crew of J...