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King, Ernest Joseph

(Encyclopedia)King, Ernest Joseph, 1878–1956, American admiral, commander in chief of the U.S. fleet (1941–45), b. Lorain, Ohio. A graduate of Annapolis, he distinguished himself in many branches of naval servi...

Bulwer-Lytton, Edward Robert, 1st earl of Lytton

(Encyclopedia)Bulwer-Lytton, Edward Robert, 1st earl of Lytton, pseud. Owen Meredith, 1831–91, English diplomat and poet; son of the novelist, Bulwer-Lytton. He was in the diplomatic service from 1850 to 1875, wh...

Burke, Robert O'Hara

(Encyclopedia)Burke, Robert O'Hara, 1820–61, Irish explorer of Australia. After service in the Belgian and Austrian armies he went (1853) as inspector of police to Melbourne. In 1860, with W. J. Wills and eight o...

Perrers, Alice

(Encyclopedia)Perrers, Alice pĕrˈərz [key], d. 1400, mistress of Edward III of England. She entered the service of Edward's queen, Philippa of Hainaut, and married a courtier, Sir William de Windsor. Becoming th...

Voice of America

(Encyclopedia)Voice of America, broadcasting service of the United States Information Agency, est. 1942. Originally set up as a means of fighting the cold war, the Voice of America produces and broadcasts radio pro...

Wang Wei

(Encyclopedia)Wang Wei wäng wā [key], 699–759, Chinese poet. He was an extremely versatile man, being a musician and painter as well as a poet. He wrote quatrains almost exclusively; these verses portray quiet ...

White, Robert Michael

(Encyclopedia)White, Robert Michael, 1924–2010, American aviator, b. New York City. A fighter pilot during World War II, he was shot down over Germany and held in a prisoner-of-war camp (Feb.–Apr, 1945); he was...

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...

Castex, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Castex, Jean, 1965–, French government official and political leader. A member of the center-right Republicans (and its predecessor, the Union for a Popular Movement), Castex has held a variety of c...

Abbe, Cleveland

(Encyclopedia)Abbe, Cleveland ăbˈē [key], 1838–1916, American meteorologist, b. New York City; brother of Robert Abbe. He was the first official daily weather forecaster in the United States. Abbe studied astr...