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Westmoreland, William Childs

(Encyclopedia)Westmoreland, William Childs, 1914–2005, U.S. general, b. Spartanburg co., S.C. He graduated from West Point in 1936 and fought with distinction in North Africa and Europe during World War II and la...

Whiting, William Henry Chase

(Encyclopedia)Whiting, William Henry Chase, 1825–65, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. Biloxi, Miss. He served in the U.S. army until Feb., 1861, when he resigned and entered the Confederate servi...

Canning, Charles John Canning, Earl

(Encyclopedia)Canning, Charles John Canning, Earl, 1812–62, British statesman; third son of George Canning. Succeeding to the peerage conferred on his mother, he took his seat as Viscount Canning in the House of ...

bloc, parliamentary

(Encyclopedia)bloc, parliamentary [Fr.,=block], group of legislators formed to support special interests. A bloc may form because of a specific issue and dissolve when that issue has been resolved, or it may have a...

Meagher, Thomas Francis

(Encyclopedia)Meagher, Thomas Francis mär [key], 1823–67, Irish revolutionary and Union general in the American Civil War, b. Waterford, Ireland. A leader of the Young Ireland movement, he was arrested and conde...

Gálvez, Bernardo de

(Encyclopedia)Gálvez, Bernardo de bĕrnärˈᵺō dā gälˈvāth [key], c.1746–1786, Spanish governor of Louisiana. He served in the Spanish army before going to Louisiana in 1776 as the young commandant of the...

Yahya Khan, Agha Muhammad

(Encyclopedia)Yahya Khan, Agha Muhammad äˈgä mo͞ohämˈmäd yäˈyä khän [key], 1917–80, Pakistani general and president (1969–71). He fought with the British in World War II, and rose through the Pakista...

rattlesnake

(Encyclopedia)rattlesnake, poisonous New World snake of the pit viper family, distinguished by a rattle at the end of the tail. The head is triangular, being widened at the base. The rattle is a series of dried, ho...

seasons

(Encyclopedia)CE5 The seasons are caused by the tilt of the earth's axis to the plane of its orbit about the sun. The Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the sun in the summer and receives more direct rays than...

Cuban Missile Crisis

(Encyclopedia)Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962, major cold war confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. In response to the Bay of Pigs Invasion and other American actions against Cuba as well as to P...