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Battle of Britain

(Encyclopedia)Battle of Britain, in World War II, series of air battles between Great Britain and Germany, fought over Britain from Aug. to Oct., 1940. As a prelude to a planned invasion of England, the German Luft...

Pinkerton, Allan

(Encyclopedia)Pinkerton, Allan, 1819–84, American detective, founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, b. Glasgow, Scotland. A cooper by trade, he emigrated to the United States in 1842 and opened in We...

Whitelaw of Penrith, William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Whitelaw of Penrith, William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, Viscount, 1918–99, British politician. A Scottish landowner and cattle farmer, he was elected to Parliament as a Conservative in 1955 and served as...

Manning, Henry Edward

(Encyclopedia)Manning, Henry Edward, 1808–92, English churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Ordained a Catholic priest, Manning became a celebrated confessor, an ardent advocate of prison reform, a...

Smuts, Jan Christiaan

(Encyclopedia)Smuts, Jan Christiaan yän krĭsˈtyän smŭts [key], 1870–1950, South African statesman and soldier, b. Cape Colony. Of Boer (Afrikaner) stock but a British subject by birth, he was educated at Vic...

sea snake

(Encyclopedia)sea snake, name for any of the venomous marine snakes of the family Hydrophidae, found in tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. The sea snake's body is flattened laterally and its oarlike ...

Taurus, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Taurus [Lat.,= the bull], in astronomy, constellation NW of Orion and lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Gemini and Aries; it is one of the constellations of t...

Faulkner, Brian

(Encyclopedia)Faulkner, Brian fôkˈnər [key], 1921–77, Northern Irish politician. A Protestant businessman, he was elected to the Northern Ireland Parliament as a Unionist in 1949. As minister of home affairs (...

aye-aye

(Encyclopedia)aye-aye īˈīˈ [key], name for an aberrant primate, Daubentonia madagascariensis, related to the lemurs but distinguished by its specialized teeth and fingers. A large nocturnal and arboreal primate...

Eisenstein, Sergei Mikhailovich

(Encyclopedia)Eisenstein, Sergei Mikhailovich syĭrgāˈ mēkhīˈləvĭch īˈzənshtīn [key], 1898–1948, Russian film director. An architect and engineer, he became interested in a theatrical career and worked...