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Dunbar, Paul Laurence

(Encyclopedia)Dunbar, Paul Laurence dŭnˈbär [key], 1872–1906, American poet and novelist, b. Dayton, Ohio. The son of former slaves, he won recognition with his Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896)—a collection of po...

Confessing Church

(Encyclopedia)Confessing Church, Ger. Bekennende Kirche, German Protestant movement. It was founded in 1933 by Martin Niemoeller as the Pastors' Emergency League and was systematically opposed to the Nazi-sponsored...

Davis, John

(Encyclopedia)Davis or Davys, John, 1550?–1605, English navigator. He made his first voyage in search of the Northwest Passage in 1585, continuing the work of Martin Frobisher. On this voyage he discovered Cumber...

Harvey, Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)Harvey, Gabriel, 1545?–1630?, English author. He studied at Cambridge and became a fellow of Pembroke Hall. There he became friends with Edmund Spenser, who later celebrated Harvey as Hobbinol in Th...

Height, Dorothy Irene

(Encyclopedia)Height, Dorothy Irene, 1912–2010, American civil-rights leader, b. Richmond, Va., grad. New York Univ. (B.A. 1933, M.A. 1935). A leader of the African-American and women's rights movements, she bega...

Johnson, Richard Mentor

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Richard Mentor, 1780–1850, Vice President of the United States (1837–41), b. Kentucky, on the site of present Louisville. Admitted (1802) to the bar, he became prominent in state politics...

Kindelberger, Dutch

(Encyclopedia)Kindelberger, Dutch (James Howard Kindelberger), 1895–1962, b. Wheeling, W.Va., American aerospace pioneer. In 1917 he joined the army and went into the signal corps, serving as a pilot instructor. ...

Ariadne

(Encyclopedia)Ariadne ărēădˈnē [key], in Greek mythology, Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë. She loved Theseus, and gave him the skein of thread that enabled him to make his way out of the labyr...

Parker, Matthew

(Encyclopedia)Parker, Matthew, 1504–75, English prelate, archbishop of Canterbury. At Cambridge he was influenced by the writings of Martin Luther and other reformers. In 1535 he was appointed chaplain to Anne Bo...

Wartburg

(Encyclopedia)Wartburg värtˈbo͝ork [key], castle near Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, central Germany. Built c.1070, later enlarged, and renovated in the 18th cent., it was the seat of the medieval landgrav...