(Encyclopedia) Shearing, Sir George Albert, 1919–2011, British jazz pianist, b. London. Shearing overcame lifelong blindness to become a world-famous musician, the creator of a style of jazz, and the…
(Encyclopedia) chantey or shantychanteyboth: shănˈtē [key], work song with marked rhythm, particularly one sung by a group of sailors while hoisting sail or anchor or pushing the capstan. Often it…
(Encyclopedia) Voyager, the first airplane to circumnavigate the earth nonstop on a single load of fuel. Designed by Burt Rutan and flown by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, Voyager took off from…
(Encyclopedia) Tyner, McCoy (Alfred McCoy Tyner), 1938–2020, American jazz pianist, b. Philadelphia. He played with Art Farmer and Benny Golson's Jazztet (1959–60), then with John Coltrane's quartet…
(Encyclopedia) Dutch West India Company, trading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was…
(Encyclopedia) Barrow, Sir John, 1764–1848, British geographer, promoter of arctic exploration. His early travels as secretary to Earl Macartney (who was ambassador to China and governor of the Cape…
(Encyclopedia) Cavendish, Thomas, 1560–92, English navigator. He commanded a ship in the flotilla under Sir Richard Grenville sent (1585) by Sir Walter Raleigh to establish the first colony in…
(Encyclopedia) Gibson, Charles Dana, 1867–1944, American illustrator, b. Roxbury, Mass., studied at the Art Students League and in Paris. His work for Life, Century, Harper's, Scribner's, Collier's…
(Encyclopedia) ariaariaärˈēə [key], elaborate and often lengthy solo song with instrumental accompaniment. In the 16th cent. it was a melody improvised over a strophic bass line, and a distinction…
