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midsummer day and midsummer night

(Encyclopedia)midsummer day and midsummer night, names given to the feast of the nativity of St. John the Baptist (June 24) and the preceding night (St. John's Eve, June 23). Because midsummer is about the time of ...

Juneteenth

(Encyclopedia)Juneteenth or Emancipation Day, June 19th, holiday celebrating the end of slavery in the United States. It began in Texas when news of Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (effective Jan. 1, 1863) fina...

Boreman, Arthur Ingram

(Encyclopedia)Boreman, Arthur Ingram, 1823–96, first governor of West Virginia (1863–69), b. Waynesburg, Pa. A member (1855–61) of the Virginia house of delegates, Boreman opposed secession and presided over ...

Pétion de Villeneuve, Jérôme

(Encyclopedia)Pétion de Villeneuve, Jérôme zhārōmˈ pātyôNˈ də vēlnövˈ [key], 1756–94, French revolutionary. A leader of the Jacobins, Pétion sat in the Constituent Assembly, was elected (Nov., 1791)...

Auchinleck, Sir Claude John Eyre

(Encyclopedia)Auchinleck, Sir Claude John Eyre âr ôˌkĭnlĕkˈ, ôˌkhĭn– [key], 1884–1981, British field marshal. In World War II he commanded briefly (1940) at Narvik, Norway, then in building defenses in...

Waterloo campaign

(Encyclopedia)Waterloo campaign, last action of the Napoleonic Wars, ending with the battle of Waterloo. Napoleon I, who escaped from Elba in Feb., 1815, and entered Paris on Mar. 20, soon faced a European coalitio...

Seven Days battles

(Encyclopedia)Seven Days battles, in the American Civil War, the week-long Confederate counter-offensive (June 26–July 2, 1862) near Richmond, Va., that ended the Peninsular campaign. After the battle of Fair Oak...

cockchafer

(Encyclopedia)cockchafer: see June beetle.

Flag Day

(Encyclopedia)Flag Day, anniversary of the adoption of the American flag in 1777. It is celebrated on June 14 but is not a legal holiday.

May beetle

(Encyclopedia)May beetle: see June beetle.