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Durkee, John

(Encyclopedia)Durkee, John dûrˈkē [key], 1728–82, American pioneer and Revolutionary officer, b. Windham, Conn. Durkee, a leading member of the Connecticut Sons of Liberty, led the group that forced Jared Inge...

Jarvis, John Wesley

(Encyclopedia)Jarvis, John Wesley, 1781?–1839, American portrait painter, b. England. Beginning as an engraver in Philadelphia, he early moved to New York, where he became a popular portrait painter. In City Hall...

Jones, John Paul

(Encyclopedia)Jones, John Paul, 1747–92, American naval hero, b. near Kirkcudbright, Scotland. His name was originally simply John Paul. After the Revolution Jones was sent to Europe to collect the prize mone...

United States Naval Academy

(Encyclopedia)United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Md.; for training young men and women to be officers of the U.S. navy or marine corps. George Bancroft, Secretary of the Navy, founded and opened (1845) it a...

Bard, John

(Encyclopedia)Bard, John, 1716–99, American physician, persuaded New York to establish on Bedloe Island its first quarantine station and was himself the first health officer. He wrote on yellow fever, malignant p...

Gridley, Charles Vernon

(Encyclopedia)Gridley, Charles Vernon, 1844–98, U.S. naval officer, b. Logansport, Ind. After serving in the Civil War, he continued in naval service. He was flagship commander under Commodore Dewey at Manila in ...

Pershing, John Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Pershing, John Joseph pûrˈshĭng [key], 1860–1948, American army officer and commander in chief of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I, b. Linn co., Mo. After graduating (1886) from We...

Newberry, Truman Handy

(Encyclopedia)Newberry, Truman Handy, 1864–1945, American naval officer and cabinet official, b. Detroit. He engaged in various financial enterprises and helped organize (1902) the Packard Motor Car Company. A fo...

American Revolution

(Encyclopedia)American Revolution, 1775–83, struggle by which the Thirteen Colonies on the Atlantic seaboard of North America won independence from Great Britain and became the United States. It is also called th...

Fiske, Bradley Allen

(Encyclopedia)Fiske, Bradley Allen fĭsk [key], 1854–1942, American naval officer and inventor, b. Lyons, N.Y., grad. Annapolis, 1874. In the U.S. navy he devoted himself to the invention of instruments for shipb...