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Nimitz, Chester William

(Encyclopedia)Nimitz, Chester William nĭmˈĭts [key], 1885–1966, American admiral, b. Fredericksburg, Tex. A graduate of Annapolis, he was chief of staff to the commander of the submarine force of the Atlantic ...

Arlington National Cemetery

(Encyclopedia)Arlington National Cemetery, 420 acres (170 hectares), N Va., across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C.; est. 1864. More than 60,000 American war dead, as well as notables including Presidents Wi...

Keaton, Buster

(Encyclopedia)Keaton, Buster (Joseph Francis Keaton), 1895–1966, American movie actor, b. Piqua, Kans. Considered one of the greatest comic actors in film history, Keaton used his considerable acrobatic skills, w...

Caldwell, Erskine

(Encyclopedia)Caldwell, Erskine kôldˈwəl [key], 1903–87, American author, b. White Oak, Ga. His realistic and earthy novels of the rural South include Tobacco Road (1933), God's Little Acre (1933), This Very E...

Veeck, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Veeck, Bill (William Louis Veeck, Jr.), 1914–86, American baseball executive, b. Chicago. The son of an owner of the Chicago Cubs, Veeck began his executive career with the Milwaukee Brewers of the ...

Weber, Wilhelm Eduard

(Encyclopedia)Weber, Wilhelm Eduard vĭlˈhĕlm āˈdo͞oärt vāˈbər [key], 1804–91, German physicist. He was professor (1831–37, 1849–91) at the Univ. of Göttingen, where he worked with C. F. Gauss on te...

Timrod, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Timrod, Henry, 1828–67, American poet, b. Charleston, S.C., studied at the Univ. of Georgia. He was known as “the laureate of the Confederacy.” Timrod became editor of the Columbia South Carolin...

Anne, queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Anne, 1665–1714, queen of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1702–7), later queen of Great Britain and Ireland (1707–14), daughter of James II and Anne Hyde; successor to William III. Queen Anne ...

Magna Carta

(Encyclopedia)Magna Carta or Magna Charta [Lat., = great charter], the most famous document of British constitutional history, issued by King John at Runnymede under compulsion from the barons and the church in...

ship

(Encyclopedia)ship, large craft in which persons and goods may be conveyed on water. In the U.S. Navy the term boat refers to any vessel that is small enough to be hoisted aboard a ship, and ship is used for any la...