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Childers, Robert Erskine

(Encyclopedia)Childers, Robert Erskine chĭlˈdərz [key], 1870–1922, Irish politician and author. Born into a Protestant family, he was a clerk in the House of Commons (1895–1910). Gradually becoming convinced...

Rodgers, John, 1773–1838, American naval officer

(Encyclopedia)Rodgers, John, 1773–1838, American naval officer, b. Harford co., Md. He had seen years of merchant service before he became (1798) a lieutenant in the new U.S. navy. He served in the Tripolitan War...

Berlin, Irving

(Encyclopedia)Berlin, Irving bərlĭnˈ [key], 1888–1989, American songwriter, b. Russia as Israel Baline; his Jewish family fled a pogrom in 1893 and settled in New York's Lower East Side. Alexander's Ragtime Ba...

Moore, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Moore, Michael, 1954–, American documentary filmmaker, author, and activist, b. Flint, Mich. A highly personal, populist, and frequently controversial and polarizing documentary filmmaker, he made h...

frigate

(Encyclopedia)frigate frĭgˈĭt [key], originally a long, narrow nautical vessel used on the Mediterranean, propelled by either oars or sail or both. Later, during the 18th and early 19th cent., the term was appli...

Challenger expedition

(Encyclopedia)Challenger expedition, British oceanographic expedition under the direction of the Scottish professor Charles Wyville Thompson and the British naturalist Sir John Murray. Taking place from 1872 to 187...

Redford, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Redford, Robert, 1937–, American actor and director, b. Santa Monica, Calif., as Charles Robert Redford, Jr. One of Hollywood's superstars, he began his acting career in 1959, scoring his first big ...

naval architecture

(Encyclopedia)naval architecture, science of designing ships. A naval architect must consider especially the following factors: floatability, i.e., the ability of the ship to remain afloat while meeting the require...

battleship

(Encyclopedia)battleship, large, armored warship equipped with the heaviest naval guns. The evolution of the battleship, from the ironclad warship of the mid-19th cent., received great impetus from the Civil War. B...

Brown, James

(Encyclopedia)Brown, James, 1933–2006, African-American rhythm-and-blues singer known as the “godfather of soul,” b. Barnwell, S.C., as James Joe Brown, Jr. Abandoned by his parents, he left school in the sev...