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Savage, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Savage, Richard, 1697?–1743, English poet. The now discredited story of his illegitimate descent from a noble line and of his persecutions, which are set forth in a biography by Samuel Johnson, won ...

Wister, Owen

(Encyclopedia)Wister, Owen wĭsˈtər [key], 1860–1938, American author, b. Philadelphia, grad. Harvard (B.A., 1882; LL.B., 1888). Trips to the West for his health gave him material for his short stories and for ...

Plesiosaurus

(Encyclopedia)Plesiosaurus plēˌsēəsôrˈəs [key], genus of extinct predatory marine reptiles that arose in the Triassic period of geologic time and continued into the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Plesiosau...

Apollonius Rhodius

(Encyclopedia)Apollonius Rhodius rōˈdēəs [key], fl. 3d cent. b.c., epic poet of Alexandria and Rhodes. He became librarian at Alexandria. His extant work, the Argonautica, is a Homeric imitation in four books o...

Guy of Warwick

(Encyclopedia)Guy of Warwick wŏrˈĭk [key], English legendary hero, popularized by an anonymous 14th-century rhymed romance. Guy won the earl of Warwick's daughter and saved England from the Danes by killing the ...

Gander

(Encyclopedia)Gander, town, NE Newfoundland, N.L., Canada. Gander's airport, an important base in World War II, is a hub for international flights; it also attracts m...

John Henry

(Encyclopedia)John Henry, legendary African American famous for his strength, celebrated in ballads and tales. In the most popular version of the story, John Henry tries to outwork a steam drill with only his hamme...

Lofting, Hugh

(Encyclopedia)Lofting, Hugh, 1886–1947, American writer of juvenile stories, b. Maidenhead, England. He settled in the United States in 1912. His famous “Dr. Dolittle” stories, which concern an extraordinary ...

Longus

(Encyclopedia)Longus lôngˈgəs [key], fl. 3d cent. a.d., Greek writer. The pastoral romance Daphnis and Chloë is attributed to him. Idyllic in nature, the poem tells the charming story of the love of a goatherd ...

Pandarus

(Encyclopedia)Pandarus pănˈdərəs [key], in Greek legend, a Trojan warrior. In the Trojan War (as recounted in Homer's Iliad) he broke the truce by wounding Menelaus and soon after was killed by Diomed. In the m...