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Berlin airlift

(Encyclopedia)Berlin airlift, 1948–49, supply of vital necessities to West Berlin by air transport primarily under U.S. auspices. It was initiated in response to a land and water blockade of the city that had bee...

Vance, Zebulon Baird

(Encyclopedia)Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830–94, American political leader, Confederate governor of North Carolina (1862–65) in the Civil War, b. Buncombe co., N.C. A lawyer and a Whig, he served in the state legis...

Tropic of Cancer

(Encyclopedia)Tropic of Cancer, parallel of latitude at 23°30′ north of the equator; it is the northern boundary of the tropics. This parallel marks the farthest point north at which the sun can be seen directly...

Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman

(Encyclopedia)Schwerner, Chaney, and Goodman, American civil-rights workers in the South during the 1960s. Michael Schwerner (b. 1939) and Andrew Goodman (b. 1943), both white New Yorkers, went to Neshoba co., Miss...

Rundstedt, Karl Rudolf Gerd von

(Encyclopedia)Rundstedt, Karl Rudolf Gerd von kärl ro͞oˈdôlf gĕrt fən ro͝ontˈshtĕt [key], 1875–1953, German field marshal. He proved his exceptional abilities in World War I. In World War II he commanded...

Pierpont, Francis Harrison

(Encyclopedia)Pierpont, Francis Harrison, 1814–99, Union leader in Virginia during the American Civil War, “Father of West Virginia,” b. near Morgantown, Va. (now W.Va.). When Virginia seceded, he became a le...

diary

(Encyclopedia)diary [Lat.,=day], a daily record of events and observations. As distinguished from memoir (an account of events placed in perspective by the author long after they have occurred), the diary derives i...

Du Pont, Pete

(Encyclopedia) Du Pont, Pete (Pierre Samuel du Pont IV), 1935-2021, Wilmington, Del, Princeton Univ. (Mech. Engr., 1956); Harvard Law School (J.D., 1963). Du Pont wa...

De Mille, Cecil B.

(Encyclopedia)De Mille, Cecil B. (Cecil Blount De Mille), 1881–1959, American movie director and producer, b. Ashfield, Mass. In 1914, together with Samuel Goldwyn, he made the first feature-length film in Hollyw...

Derby, Elias Hasket

(Encyclopedia)Derby, Elias Hasket dûrˈbē [key], 1739–99, American merchant, b. Salem, Mass. He inherited the considerable wealth and maritime business that his father, Richard Derby (1712–83), also of Salem,...