J.R.R. Tolkien

Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University, a brilliant philologist, and a self-described “hobbit,” J.R.R. Tolkien created two of the best-loved stories of the 20th century, “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”, recently made into a multiple award-winning movie by the director Peter Jackson for New Line Cinema. Early Life  John Ronald Reuel Tolkien…

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William F. Albright

SEPTEMBER 19, 1971, William Foxwell Albright died at the age of 80. With his passing the world of Biblical and archeological scholarship lost one of the greatest minds of recent times and probably the greatest orientalist who ever lived. In an era of specialization he had the rare gift of competence in practically the whole…

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Samuel Ajayi Crowther

Crowther was born with the name Ajayi in Osogun, in the Egba section of the Yoruba people, in what is now western Nigeria. When about 13, he was taken as a slave by Fulani and Yoruba Muslim raiders and sold several times before being purchased by Portuguese traders for the transatlantic market. His ship was…

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