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Gillette, William

(Encyclopedia)Gillette, William jəlĕtˈ [key], 1853–1937, American actor and dramatist, b. Hartford, Conn. His New York debut in Mark Twain's Gilded Age (1877) was shortly followed by his own first play, The Pr...

Blum, Léon

(Encyclopedia)Blum, Léon lāôNˈ blo͝om [key], 1872–1950, French Socialist leader and writer. Well established in literary circles, he entered politics during the Dreyfus Affair and rose to party leadership. I...

Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasilyevich

(Encyclopedia)Kolchak, Aleksandr Vasilyevich əlyĭksänˈdər vəsēˈlyəvĭch kəlchäkˈ [key], 1874–1920, Russian admiral, leader of the anti-Bolshevik forces in W Siberia during the civil war (1918–20). H...

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...

Torgau

(Encyclopedia)Torgau tôrˈgou [key], city, Saxony, E central Germany, a port on the Elbe River. Manufactures include paper, iron products, glass, pottery, and agricultural machinery. Torgau is an important railway...

Scott, Thomas Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Thomas Alexander, 1823–81, American railroad president, b. Fort Loudon, Pa. He was employed by the Pennsylvania RR as a station agent in 1850 and rose to become general superintendent (1858) ...

Crossfield, Scott

(Encyclopedia)Crossfield, Scott (Albert Scott Crossfield), 1921–2006, American aviator, b. Berkeley, Calif. A fighter pilot and flight instructor in the navy (1942–46) during World War II, he studied aeronautic...

Constantine, Learie

(Encyclopedia)Constantine, Learie kŏnˈstăntīnˌ [key], 1902–71, West Indian cricket player and the first black man to sit in the British House of Lords, b. Trinidad. The son of a sugar plantation foreman, he ...

Weizsäcker, Richard Karl Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Weizsäcker, Richard Karl Freiherr von, 1920–2015, German political leader. After serving in World War II, Weizsäcker earned a law degree from the Univ. of Göttingen (1953), then worked in the pri...

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