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Walke, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Walke, Henry wôk [key], 1808–96, American naval officer, b. Princess Anne co., Va. Walke was appointed a midshipman in 1827, served in the Mexican War, and was later made a commander. In wisely rem...

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...

Reade, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Reade, Charles, 1814–84, English novelist and dramatist. He is noted for his historical romance The Cloister and the Hearth. After being elected a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, he was called t...

Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of

(Encyclopedia)Saint John the Divine, Cathedral of, New York City, the world's largest Gothic cathedral. The Episcopal cathedral was begun in 1892 in the Byzantine-Romanesque style after designs by G. L. Heins and C...

Lee, Robert Edward

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Robert Edward, 1807–70, general in chief of the Confederate armies in the American Civil War, b. Jan. 19, 1807, at Stratford, Westmoreland co., Va.; son of Henry (“Light-Horse Harry”) Lee. ...

Hugo, Victor Marie, Vicomte

(Encyclopedia)Hugo, Victor Marie, Vicomte hyo͞oˈgō, Fr. vēktôrˈ märēˈ vēkôNtˈ ügōˈ [key], 1802–85, French poet, dramatist, and novelist, b. Besançon. His father was a general under Napoleon. As a ...

Johnson, Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Andrew, 1808–75, 17th President of the United States (1865–69), b. Raleigh, N.C. On Apr. 15, 1865, following Lincoln's assassination, Johnson took the oath of office as President. His...

dark energy

(Encyclopedia)dark energy, repulsive force that opposes the self-attraction of matter (see gravitation) and causes the expansion of the universe to accelerate. The search for dark energy was triggered by the discov...

astronaut

(Encyclopedia)astronaut, crew member on a U.S. manned spaceflight mission; the Soviet term is cosmonaut. Candidates for manned spaceflight are carefully screened to meet the highest physical and mental standards, a...

Lowell Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Lowell Observatory, astronomical observatory located in Flagstaff, Ariz.; it was founded in 1894 by Percival Lowell, the American astronomer who popularized the idea that Mars might support intelligen...