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Johnson, Samuel, English author

(Encyclopedia) Johnson, Samuel, 1709–84, English author, b. Lichfield. The leading literary scholar and critic of his time, Johnson helped to shape and define the Augustan Age. He was equally…

Waller, Fats

(Encyclopedia) Waller, Fats, 1904–43, American jazz musician, singer, and composer, whose original name was Thomas Wright Waller, b. New York City. Waller began playing the piano as a child, and…

Orr, James Lawrence

(Encyclopedia) Orr, James Lawrence, 1822–73, American politician, b. Craytonville, S.C. He served in the South Carolina legislature (1844–48) and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1849–59), where…

Riley, James Whitcomb

(Encyclopedia) Riley, James Whitcomb, 1849–1916, American poet, b. Greenfield, Ind., known as the Hoosier poet. He was at various times a traveling actor, a sign painter, and a newspaperman. Under…

Macpherson, James

(Encyclopedia) Macpherson, James, 1736–96, Scottish author. Educated at Aberdeen and Edinburgh, he spent his early years as a schoolmaster. In later life he held a colonial secretaryship in West…

Lane, James Henry

(Encyclopedia) Lane, James Henry, 1814–66, American politician, called the “liberator of Kansas.” He was probably born in Lawrenceburg, Ind., where he practiced law. Lane commanded an Indiana…

charleston, dance

(Encyclopedia) charleston, social dance of the United States popular in the mid-1920s. The charleston is characterized by outward heel kicks combined with an up-and-down movement achieved by bending…

Jones, James Earl

(Encyclopedia) Jones, James Earl, 1931–, American actor, b. Tate co., Miss. Jones made his stage debut at the Univ. of Michigan and appeared thereafter for seven years with the New York Shakespeare…

Teagarden, Jack

(Encyclopedia) Teagarden, Jack (Weldon Leo Teagarden), 1905–64, American jazz trombonist and singer, b. Vernon, Tex. One of the earliest white bluesmen, he came from a jazz-playing family and was…

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

(Encyclopedia) Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, charitable organization devoted exclusively to health care issues. It was established in 1936 by Robert Wood Johnson (1893–1968), board chairman of the…