(Encyclopedia) Nicholson, James William Augustus, 1821–87, American naval officer, b. Dedham, Mass.; grandson of Samuel Nicholson. He was appointed a midshipman in 1838, served under Commodore Perry…
(Encyclopedia) Libby Prison, in Richmond, Va., a Confederate prison for captured Union officers in the American Civil War. It was previously a tobacco warehouse. Living conditions were extremely bad…
(Encyclopedia) St. John, John Pierce, 1833–1916, American political reformer, b. Brookville, Ind. He traveled in the West and in South America, fought in the Union army in the Civil War, and after…
(Encyclopedia) Schwellenbach, Lewis BaxterSchwellenbach, Lewis Baxtershwĕlˈənbäk [key], 1894–1948, American cabinet officer, b. Superior, Wis. After serving (1935–40) in the U.S. Senate, he was…
(Encyclopedia) VáhVáhväkh [key], Hung. Vág, river, c.245 mi (390 km) long, Slovakia. It is formed by the union of the Biély Váh, rising in the High Tatra, and the Cierny Váh, rising in the Low Tatra…
(Encyclopedia) Baldwin, Roger Nash, 1884–1981, American civil libertarian, b. Wellesley, Mass. He helped to found (1920) the American Civil Liberties Union and was its director until 1950 and its…
(Encyclopedia) Fort Pickens, fortification on the western end of Santa Rosa Island at the entrance to Pensacola Bay, NW Fla. When Florida joined the Confederacy in Jan., 1861, Fort Barrancas on the…
(Encyclopedia) Hertwig, OscarHertwig, Oscarôsˈkär hĕrtˈvĭkh [key], 1849–1922, German embryologist. He studied medicine with Haeckel and Gegenbaur. In 1875 he established the fact that fertilization…
(Encyclopedia) John VIII (John Palaeologus), 1390–1448, Byzantine emperor (1425–48), son and successor of Manuel II. When he acceded, the Byzantine Empire had been reduced by the Turks to the city of…
