(Encyclopedia) Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797–1851, English author; daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft. In 1814 she fell in love with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, accompanied…
(Encyclopedia) Blitzstein, Marc (Marcus Samuel Blitzstein), 1905–64, American composer, pianist, and librettist, b. Philadelphia. After attending the Univ. of Pennsylvania and the Curtis Institute of…
(Encyclopedia) Cromer, Evelyn Baring, 1st earl ofCromer, Evelyn Baring, 1st earl ofēvˈlĭn bârˈĭng krōˈmər [key], 1841–1917, British administrator in Egypt. Appointed (1877) first British commissioner…
(Encyclopedia) Hemings, Sally, 1773–1835, African-American slave owned by Thomas Jefferson, b. Charles City co., Va.; her original name was probably Sarah. Her father was John Wayles, Jefferson's…
(Encyclopedia) Waters, Muddy, 1915–83, African-American blues singer and guitarist, b. Rolling Fork, Miss., as McKinley Morganfield. As a teenager he began singing and playing traditional country…
(Encyclopedia) Goodyear, Charles, 1800–1860, American inventor, b. New Haven, Conn., originator of vulcanized rubber. He failed in his earlier business ventures and was in jail for debt when he began…
or Ambes-ace Two aces, the lowest throw in dice; figuratively, bad luck. (Latin, ambo-asses, both or two aces.) “I had rather be in this choice than throw ames-ace for my life.” —All's…
strictly speaking, means “the going from house to house” (Latin, ambitio, going about canvassing). In Rome it was customary, some time before an election came on, for the candidates to go…
A draught before breakfast. In harvest the men are allowed, in some counties, a drink of beer before they begin work. Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer,…
The Persian era. Dgella Eddin, son of Togrul Beg, appointed eight astronomers to reform the calendar. The era began A.D. 1075, and is followed to this day. Source: Dictionary of Phrase…
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