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Angel Island

(Encyclopedia) Angel Island, largest island in San Francisco Bay, W Calif. Explored by the Spanish in 1775, it came under U.S. control in 1851. The U.S. army used the island as a base from 1863 to…

Wigglesworth, Michael

(Encyclopedia) Wigglesworth, Michael, 1631–1705, American clergyman and poet, b. England, grad. Harvard, 1651. His family emigrated to New England in 1638. A devoted minister at Malden, Mass., he…

Lindsay, Vachel

(Encyclopedia) Lindsay, Vachel (Nicholas Vachel Lindsay)Lindsay, Vachelvāˈchəl [key]Lindsay, Vachel lĭnˈzē [key], 1879–1931, American poet, b. Springfield, Ill., studied at Hiram College, the Art…

Lardner, Ring

(Encyclopedia) Lardner, Ring (Ringgold Wilmer Lardner), 1885–1933, American humorist and short-story writer, b. Niles, Mich. He was a sports reporter in Chicago, St. Louis, and Boston from 1907 to…

Kermode, Sir Frank

(Encyclopedia) Kermode, Sir FrankKermode, Sir Frankkärˈmədē [key], 1919–2010, English critic, b. Douglas, Isle of Man. Educated at Liverpool Univ. (grad. 1940) and a lieutenant in the Royal Navy…

Roger II

(Encyclopedia) Roger II, c.1095–1154, count (1101–30) and first king (1130–54) of Sicily, son and successor of Roger I. He conquered (1127) Apulia and Salerno and sided with the antipope Anacletus II…

Divine, Father

(Encyclopedia) Divine, Father, c.1882–1965, African-American religious leader, founder of the Peace Mission movement, b. probably near Savannah, Ga. and named George Baker. After preaching in the…

Micheaux, Oscar Devereaux

(Encyclopedia) Micheaux, Oscar Devereaux, 1884–1951, American filmmaker and author, b. Metropolis, Ill. The son of former slaves, Micheaux first worked as a Pullman porter, then was a homesteader in…

Davies, Robertson

(Encyclopedia) Davies, Robertson (William Robertson Davies)Davies, Robertsondāˈvĭs [key], 1913–95, Canadian writer and editor. After receiving a B.Litt. from Oxford (1938), he joined the Old Vic…

Thousand and One Nights

(Encyclopedia) Thousand and One Nights or Arabian Nights, series of anonymous stories in Arabic, considered as an entity to be among the classics of world literature. The cohesive plot device…