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Bart, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Bart, Jean zhäN bär [key], 1650–1702, French naval hero, b. Dunkirk. Of a seafaring family, he enlisted in the Dutch navy but entered French service as a privateer at the outbreak of the Dutch War...

Shute, Nevil

(Encyclopedia)Shute, Nevil (Nevil Shute Norway), 1899–1960, English novelist, b. Ealing, Middlesex, grad. Oxford, 1922. After serving in World War I, he was manager of a construction company until 1938. He fought...

excise taxes

(Encyclopedia)excise taxes, governmental levies on specific goods produced and consumed inside a country. They differ from tariffs, which usually apply only to foreign-made goods, and from sales taxes, which typica...

Hersey, John Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hersey, John Richard hûrˈsē [key], 1914–93, American author, b. China, grad. Yale, 1936, where he later taught writing (1965–84); studied Cambridge. Reflecting his experiences as a war correspo...

Americanization

(Encyclopedia)Americanization, term used to describe the movement during the first quarter of the 20th cent. whereby the immigrant in the United States was induced to assimilate American speech, ideals, traditions,...

Monnet, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Monnet, Jean zhäNˈ mônāˈ [key], 1888–1979, French economist and public official, proponent of European unity. In World War I, Monnet served on the Inter-Allied Maritime Commission, an internati...

Lee, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Henry, 1756–1818, American Revolutionary soldier, known as Light-Horse Harry Lee, b. Prince William co., Va. He was a cousin of Arthur Lee, Francis L. Lee, Richard H. Lee, and William Lee and w...

Karadžić, Radovan

(Encyclopedia)Karadžić, Radovan räˈdōvän käˈräjĭch [key], 1945–, Bosnian Serb physician, author, and political leader, b. Savnik, Montenegro, Yugoslavia. The son of a Serb nationalist and World War II r...

Goering, Hermann Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Goering or Göring, Hermann Wilhelm both: hĕrˈmän vĭlˈhĕlm göˈrĭng [key], 1893–1946, German National Socialist leader. In World War I he was a hero of the German air force. An early member ...

Opium Wars

(Encyclopedia)Opium Wars, 1839–42 and 1856–60, two wars between China and Western countries that marked the shift of wealth and power from East to West. The first was between Great Britain and China. Early in t...