(Encyclopedia) Rommel, ErwinRommel, Erwinĕrˈvēn rômˈəl [key], 1891–1944, German field marshal. He entered the army in 1910 and rose slowly through the ranks. In 1939, Adolf Hitler made him a general…
(Encyclopedia) Walker, William, 1824–60, American filibuster in Nicaragua, b. Nashville, Tenn. Walker, a qualified doctor, a lawyer, and a journalist by the time he was 24, sought a more adventurous…
(Encyclopedia) Wallace, George Corley, 1919–98, governor of Alabama (1963–67, 1971–79, 1983–87), b. Clio, Ala. Admitted to the bar in 1942, he was active in the Alabama Democratic party, serving in…
(Encyclopedia) Zhao Ziyang or Chao Tzu-yangZhao Ziyangboth: zhou zēyäng [key], 1919–2005, Chinese Communist leader. He joined the party in 1938, was active as a local party leader during World War II…
(Encyclopedia) Basil the Great, SaintBasil the Great, Saintbăˈzĭl, bāˈ– [key], c.330–379, Greek prelate, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Doctor of the Church and one of the Four Fathers of the…
(Encyclopedia) Randolph, Edmund, 1753–1813, American statesman, b. Williamsburg, Va.; nephew of Peyton Randolph. He studied law under his father, John Randolph, a Loyalist who went to England at the…
(Encyclopedia) United Irishmen or United Irish Society, Irish political organization. It was founded at Belfast in 1791 by Theobald Wolfe Tone. Disgruntled by the use of English patronage to control…
(Encyclopedia) solsticesolsticesŏlˈstĭs [key] [Lat.,=sun stands still], in astronomy, either of the two points on the ecliptic that lie midway between the equinoxes (separated from them by an angular…
(Encyclopedia) Schlieffen, Alfred, Graf vonSchlieffen, Alfred, Graf vonälˈfrāt gräf fən shlēˈfən [key], 1833–1913, German field marshal and strategist. In the tradition of the Prussian officer corps…
(Encyclopedia) Sitting Bull, c.1831–1890, Native American chief and spiritual leader, Sioux leader in the battle of the Little Bighorn. He rose to prominence in the Sioux warfare against the whites…