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Lancaster, Burt

(Encyclopedia)Lancaster, Burt (Burton Stephen Lancaster), 1913–94, American film actor, b. New York City. A superb athlete, he began his career as an acrobat. Best known for his roles as a cerebral tough guy, he ...

Weaver, James Baird

(Encyclopedia)Weaver, James Baird, 1833–1912, American political leader, b. Dayton, Ohio. Reared in frontier areas of Michigan and Iowa, he practiced law in Iowa. He served in the Union army in the Civil War and ...

Yakovlev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich

(Encyclopedia)Yakovlev, Aleksandr Nikolayevich əlyĭksänˈdər nyĭkəlīˈəvĭch yäˈkôvlĕf [key], 1923–2005, Russian historian and diplomat, b. Korolevo, studied Columbia Univ. (1958–59), Academy of Soc...

Bolsonaro, Jair Messias

(Encyclopedia)Bolsonaro, Jair Messias, 1955–, Brazilian political leader. Bolsonaro served in the army from 1973 to 1988, mostly during a period of military dictatorship; he rose to the rank of captain. Running a...

Buchanan, Franklin

(Encyclopedia)Buchanan, Franklin byo͞okăˈnən [key], 1800–1874, American naval officer, b. Baltimore. Appointed a midshipman in 1815, Buchanan rose to be a commander in 1841. He was chief adviser to Secretary ...

Adnan, Etel

(Encyclopedia) Adnan, Etel, 1925-2021, Lebanese-American author and artist, b. Beirut, Lebanon. Adnan studied at the Sorbonne and did postgraduate work at the Univ. of Calif., Berkeley, and Harvard, an...

Basescu, Traian

(Encyclopedia)Basescu, Traian trīänˈ bäsĕsˈko͞o [key], 1951–, Romanian political leader, president of Romania (2004–14). An officer in the Romanian merchant marine from 1976, he rose to become an oil-tan...

Adams, Brooks

(Encyclopedia)Adams, Brooks, 1848–1927, American historian, b. Quincy, Mass.; son of Charles Francis Adams (1807–86). His theory that civilization rose and fell according to the growth and decline of commerce w...

Steinberger, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Steinberger, Jack (Hans Jakob Steinberger), 1921–2020, American physicist, b. Kissingen, Germany, Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1948. He and a brother were sent to the United States in 1934 as the Nazis r...

Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de

(Encyclopedia)Beaumarchais, Pierre Augustin Caron de pyĕr ōgüstăNˈ karôNˈ də bōmärshāˈ [key], 1732–99, French dramatist. Originally a watchmaker, he rose to wealth and position among the nobility. His...