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Rickover, Hyman George

(Encyclopedia)Rickover, Hyman George, 1900–1986, American admiral, b. Russia. In World War II he served as head of the electrical section of the navy's Bureau of Ships. After the war he was assigned (1946) to the...

Krieghoff, Cornelius

(Encyclopedia)Krieghoff, Cornelius krēgˈhŏf [key], 1812–72, Canadian painter, b. Düsseldorf, Germany. He traveled widely and took part in the Seminole wars in Florida as a member of the U.S. army. Commissione...

cavalry

(Encyclopedia)cavalry, a military force consisting of mounted troops trained to fight from horseback. Horseback riding probably evolved independently in the Eurasian steppes and the mountains above the Mesopotamian...

British North America Act

(Encyclopedia)British North America Act, law passed by the British Parliament in 1867 that provided for the unification of the Canadian provinces into the dominion of Canada. Until 1982 the act also functioned as t...

Donovan, William Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Donovan, William Joseph dŏnˈəvən [key], 1883–1959, U.S. lawyer and government official, b. Buffalo, N.Y., grad. Columbia law school. Distinguished service in World War I won him medals and the n...

Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, Laurent, marquis de

(Encyclopedia)Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, Laurent, marquis de lōräNˈ märkēˈ də go͞ovyôNˈ-săN-sēr [key], 1764–1830, marshal of France. He served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and was made mars...

Fleurus

(Encyclopedia)Fleurus flörüsˈ [key], town, Hainaut prov., S Belgium. It is a coal-mining and manufacturi...

Capa, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Capa, Robert kăpˈə [key], 1913–54, American war photographer, b. Hungary as Andre Friedmann. He came to Paris in 1933 and from that time on recorded with profound concern the spectacle of humanit...

Gibbon, John

(Encyclopedia)Gibbon, John, 1827–96, Union general in the Civil War, b. near Holmesburg (now part of Philadelphia), Pa., grad. West Point, 1847. Made a brigadier general of volunteers (1862), he fought in the sec...

Avranches

(Encyclopedia)Avranches ävräNshˈ [key], town, Manche dept., NW France, in Normandy, on the English Channel. Because of its proximity to the rocky island of Mont-Saint-Michel, Avranch...