A. F. Kashevarov
(1809–1866),one of the outstanding Creole explorers of Russian America—a fine example of what could be achieved by a gifted Creole commoner, even under the harsh limitations of serf-holding Russia. ...
A. J. Foyt
(1935– )US motor racing driver, who has won more races and set more records in many different types of cars and events than any other driver.Foyt was born in Houston Heights, Texas, and grew up in a ...
A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr
(b. 25 February 1928; d. 14 December 1998),legal scholar, author, historian, civil rights advocate, and prominent federal judge. Brought up in humble circumstances in Trenton, New Jersey, Aloysius ...
A. Philip Randolph
(1889–1979), union head and civil rights leader.A socialist, Asa Philip Randolph saw economic empowerment as the key to African-American advancement, a philosophy he espoused in his Messenger ...
Aachen
(town, palace) West central German town, known for its hot springs. Aachen’s significance is linked to Charlemagne, who created a Carolingian palace complex there, where he was buried. Successive ...
Aagje Deken
(1741–1804), Dutch woman of letters. Deken was the author, in close collaboration with Betje Wolff-Bekker, of closely observed epistolary novels in Dutch, among them De Historie van Mejuffrouw Sara ...
Aaland Islands
Some 6,500 islands in the Gulf of Bothnia, between Finland and Sweden. They were part of Sweden until 1809, when, together with Finland, they were annexed by Russia. After the collapse of the Russian ...
Aaron Burr
(1756–1836)US Democratic Republican statesman. After losing the presidential election to Jefferson in 1800, Burr was elected Vice-President. He was defeated in the contest for the governorship of New ...
Aaron Henry
(b. 2 July 1922; d. 19 May 1997),civil rights activist and politician. Born in Dublin, Mississippi, to sharecroppers who encouraged him to get an education, Aaron Henry joined the ...
Aaron Manby
The first steamship to be built of iron. She was fitted with an engine designed by the Scottish engineer Henry Bell (1767–1830), and made her first voyage in 1822 when she carried passengers across ...
Aaron McGruder
Since its creation by Aaron McGruder (b. 29 May 1974), The Boondocks has filled mailbags of newspaper editors across the country with congratulatory and condemning letters. Taking on racial injustice ...
Aaronios
(᾽Ααρώνιος, ᾽Ααρών), Byz. noble family descended from the last Bulgarian tsar, John Vladislav, whose wife Maria was granted the title zoste patrikia soon after 1018 and settled in Constantinople. Her ...
AB
The abbreviated title for the rating of able seaman, indicating someone able to perform all the duties of a seaman on board ship. In the days of sail it was someone who could hand, reef, and steer, ...
AB AKTION
Nazi codename for the liquidation of Polish intellectuals and other leaders which took place during and after the Polish campaign. It has been estimated that about 3,500 were killed from September ...
aback
The situation of the sails of a square-rigged ship when the yards are trimmed to bring the wind to bear on their forward side. Sails are laid aback purposely to stop a ship's way through the water or ...
abacus
An ancient device for performing arithmetic calculations by sliding beads along rods or in grooves. Despite the spread of electronic calculators and computers, the abacus is still widely used in the ...
abacus schools
From the late thirteenth century onwards, many towns and guilds paid an ‘abacus master’ to teach mathematics to a given number of boys who intended to engage in commerce or ...
abandon
The order given when a ship is sinking or on fire for the crew to take to the boats and liferafts.See also lifesaving.See also lifesaving.
abatement of false lights
A right, under the authority of the Merchant Shipping Acts, by which Trinity House could order the extinction or screening of any light visible to seaward which could be mistaken for that emanating ...
AbbasI
(1557–1628)Shah of Persia (1588–1628). He ended an inherited war with the Ottomans by conceding territory (1590) in order to free himself to drive the Uzbek Turks from north‐eastern Persia (1598). By ...