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Semmes, Raphael

(Encyclopedia)Semmes, Raphael sĕmz [key], 1809–77, American naval officer, b. Charles co., Md. He took part in the Mexican War, practiced law at Mobile, Ala., and was in the Lighthouse Service from 1856 to Feb.,...

Chabannes, Antoine de, comte de Dammartin

(Encyclopedia)Chabannes, Antoine de, comte de Dammartin äNtwänˈ də shäbänˈ kôNt də dämmärtăNˈ [key], 1408?–1488, French soldier in the Hundred Years War. He served with Joan of Arc, distinguishing hi...

Picquart, Georges

(Encyclopedia)Picquart, Georges zhôrzh pēkärˈ [key], 1854–1914, French general. As chief of the army intelligence section in 1896, he discovered that the memorandum that had been used to convict Captain Dreyf...

Cowley, Malcolm

(Encyclopedia)Cowley, Malcolm kouˈlē [key], 1898–1989, American critic and poet, b. Belsano, Pa., grad. Harvard, 1920. He lived abroad in the 1920s and knew many writers of the “lost generation,” about whom...

Just, Ward

(Encyclopedia)Just, Ward, 1935–2019, American writer, b. Michigan City, Ind. Just worked for several newspapers and magazines before being hired (1965) by the Washington Post, for which he covered Washington poli...

Johnson, Martin Elmer

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Martin Elmer, 1884–1937, American explorer and author, b. Rockford, Ill. He left home at 14 to work his way to Europe on a cattle boat, returning as a stowaway. He then joined the crew of J...

Taylor, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Paul (Paul Belville Taylor), 1930–2018, American modern-dance choreographer, b. Wilkinsburg, Pa. Taylor trained as an artist before he received scholarships to study dance. In 1953 he made h...

Schwartz, Melvin

(Encyclopedia)Schwartz, Melvin, 1932–2006 American physicist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Columbia, 1958. He was on the faculty at Columbia (1958–66, 1991–2000, emeritus 2000–2006) and Stanford (1966–83). Sch...

Sankara, Thomas Isidore Noël

(Encyclopedia)Sankara, Thomas 1948–87, president (1983–87) of Burkina Faso. Thomas Sankara, sometimes referred to as the African Che Guevara, was an activist, mil...

Eaton, William

(Encyclopedia)Eaton, William, 1764–1811, U.S. army officer, celebrated for his exploit in the Tripolitan War, b. Woodstock, Conn. Captain Eaton was sent to Tunis as consul in 1798 and learned much about the Barba...