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Wilbye, John

(Encyclopedia)Wilbye, John wĭlˈbē [key], 1574–1638, English madrigal composer. Although only two sets of his madrigals (1598, 1609) are extant, their excellence distinguishes him as perhaps the greatest Englis...

Blow, John

(Encyclopedia)Blow, John, 1649–1708, English composer. He was organist and choirmaster at Westminster Abbey and the Chapel Royal and the teacher of Henry Purcell. He wrote more than 100 anthems and 10 sacred serv...

Updike, John

(Encyclopedia)Updike, John, 1932–2009, American author, one of the nation's most distinguished 20th-century men of letters, b. Shillington, Pa., grad. Harvard, 1954. In his many novels and stories, written in a w...

Wayne, John

(Encyclopedia)Wayne, John, 1907–79, American movie actor, b. Winterset, Iowa, as Marion Michael Morrison. An enduringly popular movie star from his debut in 1930, Wayne combined the toughness necessary to play we...

Webster, John

(Encyclopedia)Webster, John, 1580?–1634, English dramatist, b. London. Although little is known of his life, there is evidence that he worked for Philip Henslowe, collaborating with such playwrights as Dekker and...

Zizka, John

(Encyclopedia)Zizka, John yän zhēshˈkä [key], d. 1424, Bohemian military leader and head of the Hussite forces during the anti-Hussite crusades of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund. Before the Hussite Wars, which ga...

Berryman, John

(Encyclopedia)Berryman, John bĕrˈēmən [key], 1914–72, American poet and critic, b. McAlester, Okla., as John Allyn Smith, Jr., grad. Columbia, 1936, also studied at Cambridge. His father committed suicide whe...

Wesley, John

(Encyclopedia)Wesley, John, 1703–91, English evangelical preacher, founder of Methodism, b. Epworth, Lincolnshire. After his conversion, Wesley became involved in evangelistic work, in the course of which he is...

Lindsay, John Vliet

(Encyclopedia)Lindsay, John Vliet vlēt [key], 1921–2000, American politician, mayor of New York City (1966–73), b. New York City. He practiced law and then served (1955–57) as executive assistant to Attorney...

Arms, John Taylor

(Encyclopedia)Arms, John Taylor, 1887–1953, American etcher and draftsman, b. Washington, D.C. He studied architecture, but later he devoted himself to etching and became noted for his excellent studies of mediev...