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rudder

(Encyclopedia)rudder, mechanism for steering an airplane or a ship. In ships it is a flat-surfaced structure hinged to the stern and controlled by a helm. When the ship is on a straight course, the rudder is in lin...

Burke, Robert O'Hara

(Encyclopedia)Burke, Robert O'Hara, 1820–61, Irish explorer of Australia. After service in the Belgian and Austrian armies he went (1853) as inspector of police to Melbourne. In 1860, with W. J. Wills and eight o...

Mugabe, Robert Gabriel

(Encyclopedia)Mugabe, Robert Gabriel mo͞ogäˈbē, –bā [key], 1924–2019, president of Zimbabwe (1987–2017). A founder of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) in 1963 and a guerrilla leader, he was imp...

Bishop, Elizabeth

(Encyclopedia)Bishop, Elizabeth, 1911–79, American poet, b. Worcester, Mass., grad. Vassar, 1934. During the 1950s and 60s she lived in Brazil, eventually returning to her native New England, where she taught at ...

Scott, Robert Falcon

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Robert Falcon, 1868–1912, British naval officer and antarctic explorer. He commanded two noted expeditions to Antarctica. The first expedition (1901–4), in the Discovery, organized jointly ...

Runcie, Robert Alexander Kennedy

(Encyclopedia)Runcie, Robert Alexander Kennedy rŭnˈsē [key], 1921–2000, archbishop of Canterbury (1980–91). Bishop of St. Albans from 1970 to 1980, he was enthroned as the 102d archbishop of Canterbury in 19...

West, Dame Rebecca

(Encyclopedia)West, Dame Rebecca, 1892–1983, English novelist and critic, b. Ireland as Cicily Isabel Fairfield. West began her career as a journalist for feminist and suffragist publications. At various times sh...

Leslie, Miriam Florence (Folline)

(Encyclopedia)Leslie, Miriam Florence (Folline), c.1836–1914, American publisher, b. New Orleans. She became editor of Frank Leslie's Lady's Journal in 1871 and married Leslie in 1874. After his death she skillfu...

Hunter, Robert Mercer Taliaferro

(Encyclopedia)Hunter, Robert Mercer Taliaferro tŏlˈəvər [key], 1809–87, American statesman, b. Essex co., Va. He was a U.S. Representative for Virginia (1837–43, 1845–47), serving as speaker from 1839 to ...

Menzies, Sir Robert Gordon

(Encyclopedia)Menzies, Sir Robert Gordon mĕnˈzēz [key], 1894–1978, Australian statesman. A barrister, Menzies was elected to the Australian House of Representatives in 1934 and was attorney general (1935–39)...