Stephen

Borough, Stephen, 1525-84, English navigator. Under the direction of Richard Chancellor he was master of the Edward Bonaventure, the first ship to round (1553) North Cape and reach Russia by the arctic route, and the only ship to return safely from the expedition. Thereupon, Sebastian Cabot and others who had fostered the plan formed the Muscovy Company, establishing a profitable trade with Russia. Sailing again for that company, this time in the Searchthrift, Borough in a voyage of 1556-57 reached Novaya Zemlya and discovered the strait south of it leading to the Kara Sea.

Van Cortlandt, Stephen or Stephanus, 1643-1700, colonial American merchant and politician, b. New Amsterdam (later New York City); brother of Jacobus Van Cortlandt. A successful merchant, he held a number of high political offices. In 1677 he became the first native-born mayor of New York City, a position he held again in 1686-87. He was also a councilor for many years, associate justice of the provincial supreme court (of which he was appointed chief justice shortly before his death), and commissioner of customs. The owner of large tracts of land in and near New York City, Van Cortlandt was granted a royal patent in 1697 making his estates a manor. The greater part of his property was an 87,000-acre (35,208-hectare) tract on the east bank of the Hudson River, extending from Croton River to Anthony's Nose. The Van Cortlandt house at Croton-on-Hudson has been restored and is now a museum.

Van Rensselaer, Stephen, 1764-1839, American political leader and soldier, called the Patroon, b. New York City. He spent some years managing his property, which included most of the present-day Albany and Rensselaer counties of New York state, before entering politics. An ardent Federalist, he served in the state assembly (1789-90, 1808-10), in the state senate (1790-95), as lieutenant governor (1795-1801), and as a congressman (1822-29). His unexpected vote (1825) in the House of Representatives for John Quincy Adams for president, instead of William H. Crawford, to whom his vote was committed, secured Adams's election. He was a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1801, a member of the New York state commission that recommended (1811) building the Erie Canal, and president (1825-39) of the canal commission. As major general in the state militia during the War of 1812, he commanded troops along the northern frontier and was badly defeated in an attack on Queenston in Canada; he thereupon resigned his command. Van Rensselaer founded (1824) a technical school at Troy, N.Y., which later (1826) was incorporated as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Grellet, Stephen, 1773-1855, Quaker missionary, b. France; son of well-to-do Roman Catholic parents. His name originally was Étienne de Grellet du Mabillier. He fled France at the time of the Revolution and eventually immigrated (1795) to the United States, where at Newtown (now part of Queens, New York City) he was converted to the beliefs of the Quakers. In 1796 he joined the Society of Friends; in 1798 he was recorded a minister of that body. He engaged in trade in New York City; his profits financed his extraordinary missionary tours. In the United States they extended through all the settled parts W to Illinois, N into Canada, and S to New Orleans. Four extended tours were made in Europe, where every major country was visited; interviews were granted to Grellet by many of the reigning sovereigns. He was deeply interested in education, in prison and hospital conditions, in provision for the poor, and in other social problems. He inquired into conditions and made recommendations in every country that he visited. His memoirs (1860) were edited by Benjamin Seebohm.

Langton, Stephen, c.1155-1228, English prelate, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was educated at Paris. Innocent III named him cardinal in 1206, and he became archbishop of Canterbury the following year. The opposition of King John prevented his occupation of the see until 1213. He acted with the barons in securing the Magna Carta and opposed the papal legate, Pandulf. Because of his continued opposition to John after the reconciliation of pope and king, he was suspended as archbishop in 1215 but was restored after the accession of Henry III and continued his efforts to reform church and state. He was a learned and prolific writer, and the present chapter division of the Scriptures is derived from Langton. He probably composed the hymn Veni, sancte spiritus.

Harding, Stephen: see Stephen Harding, Saint.

Harper, Stephen, 1959-, Canadian politician, prime minister (2006-) of Canada, b. Toronto. A founding member of the conservative Reform party (later the Canadian Alliance), he won a seat in the federal parliament in 1993, but broke with party leader Preston Manning four years later and left parliament to head the conservative National Citizens Coalition. In 2002 he was elected Canadian Alliance party leader and subsequently won election to parliament. With Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay he negotiated the merger of their two parties to form the Conservative party of Canada. Harper was elected leader of the new party, which failed to best the Liberals in the 2004 elections. In 2006, however, the Conservatives won a plurality of the seats, and Harper became prime minister of a minority government. New elections in 2008 increased the Conservative plurality.

Hopkins, Stephen, 1707-85, colonial governor of Rhode Island and political leader in the American Revolution, b. Providence, R.I. A member of the colonial assembly for many years, he also served as assistant justice (1747-49) and chief justice (1751-55) of the superior court. Between 1755 and 1768 he held the office of governor for nine years. The period was one of bitter strife in the colony between Newport and Providence, with Hopkins leading the Providence faction. In 1754, Hopkins was a delegate to the Albany Congress, where he energetically supported Benjamin Franklin's plan of union, writing A True Representation of the Plan Formed at Albany (1755) in hope of converting the opposition in Rhode Island. He was an early and strenuous defender of colonial rights, and his Rights of Colonies Examined (1765), attacking the sugar and stamp acts, was widely read. Again chief justice of the superior court, Hopkins refused to allow the burners of the Gaspee to be prosecuted. He was a member (1774-76) of the Continental Congress, a member of the committee that prepared the Articles of Confederation, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was the first chancellor of Rhode Island College (now Brown Univ.).

Bocskay, Stephen, 1557-1606, Hungarian noble, voivode [governor] (1604-6) and prince (1605-6) of Transylvania. Seeking to secure the independence of Transylvania, he supported his nephew, Prince Sigismund Báthory of Transylvania, first against the pro-Ottoman, then against the pro-Hapsburg, faction of nobles. Sigismund having abdicated (1602) in favor of the king of Hungary (Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II), Stephen Bocskay in 1604 led a revolt with Ottoman support against Rudolf's attempt to impose Roman Catholicism on Hungary. Stephen then acknowledged Sultan Ahmed I as his suzerain, but refused his offer of recognition as king of Hungary. In 1606 he negotiated with Archduke (later Holy Roman Emperor) Matthias a treaty at Vienna legalizing the partition of Hungary among the Hapsburgs (as kings), the sultan, and the prince of Transylvania. The old and sacred Hungarian crown of St. Stephen was returned from Vienna to Pressburg (now Bratislava), the capital of Hapsburg-held Hungary. The importance of the treaty, which was soon afterward supplemented by a peace between Austria and Sultan Ahmed, lay in the guarantee of constitutional and religious freedom for Hungary. Stephen was recognized as prince of Transylvania but died soon afterward, perhaps by poisoning.

Girard, Stephen, 1750-1831, American merchant, banker, and philanthropist, b. Bordeaux, France. Girard went to sea and at the age of 23 was a captain. In 1776 he settled in Philadelphia as a shipowner and merchant. He became wealthy and interested himself in the Bank of the United States. When its charter was not renewed, he set up his own bank in Philadelphia. He helped to finance the United States in the War of 1812, and in 1816 he put up a large amount of money for the Second Bank of the United States. Girard contributed much to the improvement of Philadelphia. He bequeathed several million dollars to found Girard College.

Hawes, Stephen, c.1475-1530, English poet. His best-known works, the two allegories Example of Virtue (1504?) and Pastime of Pleasure (1505?), use typically medieval conventions, but they differ from medieval allegory in their humanist emphasis on learning, fame, and the perfection of life in this world.

Heller, Stephen, 1814-88, French pianist and composer, b. Budapest. Heller toured as a piano virtuoso, ruining his health before settling in Paris in 1838. There he developed close friendships with many of the leading artists of the day. He wrote a large number of subtle and entertaining piano pieces.

Daye, Stephen, c.1594-1668, British settler in North America, considered by many to be the first printer in the English American colonies. He came to Massachusetts Bay with his family in 1638 under contract to the Rev. Jose Glover, who brought along a printing press. Glover died on the voyage and his widow helped the Dayes set up his press. Daye apparently supervised its establishment and it became the Cambridge Press, the first printing plant in the colonies. From it was issued The Freeman's Oath, a broadside published in 1639. It was followed by an almanac and by the Bay Psalm Book (1640), the first book printed in the colonies. Stephen Daye was not a printer, but a locksmith, whereas his son, Matthew Daye, was a trained printer. Matthew may have done the actual printing for the company.

Decatur, Stephen, 1779-1820, American naval officer, b. Sinepuxent, near Berlin, Md.; son of a naval officer, Stephen Decatur. After joining the U.S. navy in 1798, he rose to fame in the Tripolitan War. In 1804 he and his men stole into Tripoli harbor and destroyed the captured U.S. frigate Philadelphia. This daring exploit won Decatur promotion to captain. He helped in the bombardment of Tripoli and, after peace was concluded (1805), negotiated successfully with the bey of Tunis. In 1808 he was one of the judges at the court-martial of James Barron; thereafter the two men were enemies. In the War of 1812 Decatur commanded three vessels, with the United States as his flagship. On Oct. 25, 1812, the United States met and captured the British frigate Macedonian. Afterward the British blockade held him powerless until Jan., 1815. Then (unaware that the war had ended) he put to sea in the President, outran three enemy ships and defeated the fourth, the Endymion, but the battle delayed him and he was forced to surrender to the other pursuers. In the so-called Algerine War in 1815 he used his squadron with vigor to force the dey of Algiers to sign the treaty that ended American tribute to Algeria. As one of the three navy commissioners (1815-20), he was powerful in naval affairs. His opposition to reinstating the unfortunate and disgraced James Barron led to bitter words. Barron challenged him, and in the ensuing duel Decatur was mortally wounded at Bladensburg, Md., on Mar. 22, 1820. Known for his reckless bravery and stubborn patriotism, he is also remembered for the toast, "Our country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong!"

King, Stephen, 1947-, American writer, b. Portland, Maine. A hugely prolific author, he writes horror stories influenced by the 19th-century Gothic tradition, especially that of Edgar Allan Poe. His novels, short stories, screenplays, and essays have made him one of the best-selling authors in the world. King takes everyday situations and experiences and reveals their macabre and horrific potential. Noted for their cinematic style, many of his novels and stories have been turned into successful motion pictures, some with screenplays by King, e.g., Pet Sematary (1989, film 1992), Carrie (1974, film 1976), The Shining (1977, film 1980), Misery (1987, film 1990), Needful Things (1991, film 1993), Dolores Claiborne (1992, film 1995), and Dreamcatcher (2001, film 2003). His other novels include Rose Madder (1995), Bag of Bones (1998), a seven-volume fantasy series entitled The Dark Tower (1982-2004), Cell (2006), Lisey's Story (2006), Duma Key (2008), and Under the Dome (2009). His novella Riding the Bullet (2000, film 2004) was released as an electronic entity, to be read on an e-book reader, personal digital assistant, or computer, and a subsequent novel, The Plant, was electronically self-published and released in installments on the Internet beginning in 2000. In his On Writing (2000), King describes his life, his craft, and a near-fatal accident.

Hales, Stephen, 1677-1761, English physiologist and clergyman. From 1709 he was perpetual curate of Teddington. His experimental studies in animal and plant physiology contributed greatly to the progress of science. In his investigations of circulation he made the first measurements of blood pressure by inserting a tube in a horse's artery. Plant physiology was given impetus by his work on transpiration, root pressure, circulation of sap, and the relationship between green plants and air. His inventions included apparatus for ventilating buildings. Some of his studies are described in his Vegetable Staticks (1727), Haemostaticks (1733), and A Description of Ventilation (1743).

Hallet, Stephen: see Hallet, Étienne Sulpice.

Gardiner, Stephen, 1493?-1555, English prelate. He was educated at Cambridge. He became secretary to Thomas (later Cardinal) Wolsey and later secured the favor of Henry VIII by a mission to Rome to further the king's plans for divorce from Katharine of Aragón. He was made bishop of Winchester (1531) and wrote De vera obedientia (1535), justifying the royal supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs. Thomas Cromwell's fall was in part due to him, and he was the probable author of the Six Articles (1539), which reaffirmed the king's adherence to medieval church doctrines as against those of the Reformation. After the accession of Edward VI he was deprived of his bishopric and put in the Tower of London for five years. When Mary I came to the throne, he was restored to his see and made lord high chancellor. Gardiner was condemned by Catholics for his support of royal supremacy and by Protestants for his opposition to Reformation doctrines.

Crane, Stephen, 1871-1900, American novelist, poet, and short-story writer, b. Newark, N.J. Often designated the first modern American writer, Crane is ranked among the authors who introduced realism into American literature. The 14th child of a Methodist minister, he grew up in Port Jervis, N.Y., and briefly attended Lafayette College and Syracuse Univ. He moved to New York City in 1890 and for five years lived in poverty as a free-lance writer.

His first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893), a grimly realistic story of slum life, was unpopular but gained the young writer the friendship of Hamlin Garland and William Dean Howells. Crane's next novel, The Red Badge of Courage (1895, restored ed. 1982), brought him wide and deserved fame. Set during the Civil War, the novel traces the development of a young recruit, Henry Fleming, through fear, illusion, panic, and cowardice, to a quiet, humble heroism. This remarkable account of the emotions of a soldier under fire is all the more amazing since Crane had never been in battle. On the strength of the novel he served as a foreign correspondent in Cuba and in Greece.

Around 1897 Crane married Cora Taylor, who ran a brothel in Florida. His marriage, coupled with his unorthodox personality, aroused scandalous rumors, including those that he was a drug addict and a satanist. Because of this slander Crane spent his last years abroad; he died of tuberculosis in Germany at the age of 28.

Crane was a superb literary stylist who emphasized irony and paradox and made innovative use of imagery and symbolism. Thus, although realistic, his novels are highly individual. Crane also wrote superb short stories and poems. The title stories of The Open Boat and Other Tales (1898) and The Monster and Other Stories (1899) are considered among the finest stories in English. His two books of epigrammatic free verse, The Black Rider (1895) and War Is Kind (1899), anticipated several strains of 20th-century poetry.

Gosson, Stephen, 1554-1624, English writer, b. Canterbury, grad. Oxford, 1576. He wrote three plays, all of which are lost and none of which seems to have been successful. He is best known for his attack on plays, poetry, and other arts in The School of Abuse (1579), which evoked in reply a defense from Thomas Lodge and Sir Philip Sidney's Apology for Poetry.

Gray, Stephen, 1666-1736, English physicist. Gray, a dyer by trade, cultivated science as a hobby. In 1696 he published an account of a magnifying glass that interested the Royal Society and from then on he frequently sent the Society and his patron, English Astronomer Royal John Flamsteed, ideas for simple but revealing experiments and reports of geological and astronomical observations. Gray's most important work, published in 1732, announced the discovery of electrical induction and the distinction between conductors and insulators.

Stephen, Saint, d. A.D. 36?, first Christian martyr, stoned at Jerusalem. He was one of the seven deacons. Accused of blasphemy, he was brought before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. His speech defending his beliefs further enraged his accusers, who were Hellenistic Jews, and he was taken out and stoned to death. His teachings showed the growing differences between Judaism and the Jewish-Christian community in Jerusalem. Acts 6; 7. Feasts: Martyrdom on Dec. 26; Finding of St. Stephen's Body (415) on Aug. 3.

Stephen, Saint, or Stephen I, 975-1038, duke (997-1001) and first king (1001-38) of Hungary, called the Apostle of Hungary. The Hungarian state may be said to date from his reign. Because he continued the Christianization policy of his father, Duke Geza, and followed a pro-German policy, he had to put down revolts by pagan nobles. Married to a German princess, Stephen favored German immigration and modeled his administration on that of the German kings. He divided Hungary into counties, governed by royal officials, to prevent abuses by the nobles. His crown, sent to him by Pope Sylvester II, has remained through the centuries the sacred symbol of Hungarian national existence. (From 1945 to 1978, the crown was in the possession of the United States.) He is the spiritual patron of Hungary. Feast: Sept. 2 (in Hungary, Aug. 20).

Stephen, 1097?-1154, king of England (1135-54). The son of Stephen, count of Blois and Chartres, and Adela, daughter of William I of England, he was brought up by his uncle, Henry I of England, who presented him with estates in England and France and arranged his marriage to Matilda, daughter and heiress of Eustace III, count of Boulogne. Stephen was among the English nobles who in 1127, and again in 1131 and 1133, swore fealty to Henry's daughter, Matilda, as Henry's successor to the throne. On Henry's death (1135), however, Stephen hastened to London, secured support, and was proclaimed king. He secured papal ratification, but his attempt to build up support by unprecedented concessions to the church and barons seriously weakened his authority, and his reign was one long struggle to retain his throne. In 1138, Matilda's half brother Robert, earl of Gloucester, renounced his allegiance to Stephen, and David I of Scotland invaded England. Stephen defeated the Scots in the Battle of the Standard (although the ensuing treaty was entirely favorable to Scotland) and managed to wage an effective campaign against the insurrection in S and W England. However, in 1139 he made a fatal blunder in arresting his justiciar, Roger, bishop of Salisbury, and the latter's nephews, the bishops of Lincoln and Ely. This step not only threw the royal administration into confusion but alienated the church. Within a month Matilda had landed in England, and a long era of internal strife began. While besieging Lincoln Castle in 1141, Stephen was captured, and Matilda reigned for a short time. Her arrogance, however, soon cost her many supporters, and after Robert's capture later in the year she was forced to exchange Stephen for him. Stephen regained his throne and drove Matilda back into the western counties (1142). Virtual anarchy followed for five years; W and central England were devastated, while in France Matilda's husband, Geoffrey IV of Anjou, conquered Normandy. In 1147, however, Robert died, and Matilda soon (1148) left England. In 1149, Henry of Anjou (later Henry II), Matilda's son, crossed to England and attempted unsuccessfully to further his mother's (and his own) cause. Stephen had again offended the clergy by quarreling with Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, and the clerics refused to confirm his son, Eustace IV, count of Boulogne, as successor to the throne. When Eustace died (1153), Stephen bowed to the inevitable and concluded a treaty by which Henry was named as his heir. Stephen was a courageous soldier and a generous man, but he had neither the ability nor the strength of character necessary to deal with the turmoil of his reign.

Stephen, George: see Mount Stephen, George Stephen, 1st Baron.

Stephen, Sir James, 1789-1859, British colonial administrator; father of Leslie and James Fitzjames Stephen. He served (1825-35) as permanent counsel to the colonial office and Board of Trade and drafted the bill (1833) for the abolition of the slave trade. As assistant undersecretary (1834-36) and undersecretary (1836-47) for the colonies, he was the effective director of British colonial policy. He promoted the extension of self-government to the colonies and rejected the "systematic colonization" schemes of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, fearing oppression of the native populations.

Stephen, Sir James Fitzjames, 1829-94, English jurist and journalist; brother of Sir Leslie Stephen. He was educated at Eton and Cambridge and was admitted to the bar in 1854. After 1855 he wrote many articles on ethics, literature, and current topics for periodicals, and he was (1865-70) an important contributor to the Pall Mall Gazette. The study of jurisprudence, however, was his chief interest. He wrote A General View of the Criminal Law (1863) to expose certain legal anomalies. He served (1869-72) as the legal member of the viceroy's council in India, preparing a draft codification (later adopted) of the law relating to contracts, crime, and evidence. Parliament, however, never enacted his proposed codification of English criminal law. Stephen contrasted what he considered the efficient British rule of India with the inept government at home, and in Liberty, Equality, Fraternity (1873) he deplored the extension of democracy in place of a more autocratic government. Stephen was (1879-91) a criminal court judge. He was made a baronet in 1891. His most famous work is his History of the Criminal Law of England (1883).

Stephen, Sir Leslie, 1832-1904, English author and critic. The first serious critic of the novel, he was also editor of the great Dictionary of National Biography from its beginning in 1882 until 1891. In 1859 he was ordained a minister. As a tutor at Cambridge his philosophical readings led him to skepticism, and later he relinquished his holy orders. He wrote several essays defending his agnostic position, notably Essays on Free Thinking and Plain Speaking (1873). He moved from Cambridge to London in 1864 and three years later married Harriet Marian, younger daughter of Thackeray. Some of the essays and sketches Stephen wrote for various periodicals were collected in Hours in a Library (1874-79). From 1871 to 1882 he was editor of Cornhill Magazine; during this time he encouraged such authors as Thomas Hardy, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Henry James. Throughout his life Stephen was a prominent athlete and mountaineer. He wrote numerous articles on the subject of mountain climbing, many of which were collected in The Playground of Europe (1871). His major works include History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century (1876); biographies of Johnson (1878), Pope (1880), Swift (1882), George Eliot (1902), and Hobbes (1904), all written for the "English Men of Letters" series; Science of Ethics (1882), which attempted to combine ethics with Darwin's theory of evolution; Studies of a Biographer (1898-1902); and The English Utilitarians (1900). Virginia Woolf was the younger of his two daughters by his second wife, Julia Jackson.

Dušan, Stephen: see Stephen Dušan.

Dushan, Stephen: see Stephen Dušan.

Zápolya, Stephen, d. 1499, palatine (regent) of Hungary (1492-99), of a noble Hungarian family. An able general of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, he fought against the Ottomans from 1479 to 1481; from 1481 to 1485 he conquered the archduchy of Austria for Matthias, who then appointed him its governor. After Matthias's death in 1490, he supported the claims of Ladislaus II, king of Bohemia, who became king of Hungary as Uladislaus II. Zápolya's son became king of Hungary as John I.

(born March 17, 1874, Budapest, Hung., Austria-Hungary—died April 19, 1949, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Hungarian-born U.S. Reform rabbi, political activist, and Zionist leader. His family immigrated to the U.S. when he was an infant. He earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1901 and was trained as a rabbi. In 1907, after declining a post at an influential congregation because of inadequate assurances of free speech in the pulpit, he founded the Free Synagogue. In 1898 he attended the Second Zionist Congress and helped found the Zionist Organization of America. A prominent member of the Democratic Party, he helped win U.S. government approval of the Balfour Declaration. In 1922 he founded the Jewish Institute of Religion, a seminary for liberal rabbis, which merged with Hebrew Union College in 1950.

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(born Nov. 28, 1832, London, Eng.—died Feb. 22, 1904, London) English critic and man of letters. After attending Eton College and Cambridge University, he gained entry to literary circles and in 1871 began an 11-year tenure as editor of The Cornhill Magazine, for which he wrote literary criticism. His greatest learned work was his History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century (1876), but his most enduring legacy is the Dictionary of National Biography, which he edited from 1882 to 1891, personally writing many hundreds of its meticulous articles. He was the father of Virginia Woolf and the painter Vanessa Bell (1879–1961).

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(died circa AD 36, Jerusalem) First Christian martyr. As told in the Acts of the Apostles, he was a foreign-born Jew who lived in Jerusalem and joined the church at an early date. He was one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to care for elderly women, widows, and orphans. As a Hellenized Jew, he was strongly opposed to the Temple cult of Judaism. For expressing his opposition, he was brought before the Sanhedrin. His defense of Christianity so outraged his hearers that he was condemned to be stoned to death. One of those who assented to the execution was Saul of Tarsus (St. Paul).

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(born Aug. 30, 1794, Newark, N.J., U.S.—died Oct. 31, 1848, St. Louis, Mo.) U.S. Army officer. He served in the War of 1812 and later on the western frontier. At the outbreak of the Mexican War, he was ordered to seize New Mexico and California. Using diplomacy to persuade Mexican troops to withdraw, he marched unopposed to Santa Fe, where in 1846 he proclaimed a civil government for the province. Heading to California, he was informed that the conquest had already been completed by Robert F. Stockton and John C. Frémont. He arrived to discover that Mexican rebels had retaken most of the province. He then joined forces with Stockton to defeat the rebels in 1847. After initial opposition from Frémont, who had persuaded Stockton to appoint him governor, Kearny pacified the rest of California and established a stable civil government. He was then sent to Mexico, where he died of yellow fever.

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(born March 17, 1874, Budapest, Hung., Austria-Hungary—died April 19, 1949, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Hungarian-born U.S. Reform rabbi, political activist, and Zionist leader. His family immigrated to the U.S. when he was an infant. He earned his Ph.D. at Columbia University in 1901 and was trained as a rabbi. In 1907, after declining a post at an influential congregation because of inadequate assurances of free speech in the pulpit, he founded the Free Synagogue. In 1898 he attended the Second Zionist Congress and helped found the Zionist Organization of America. A prominent member of the Democratic Party, he helped win U.S. government approval of the Balfour Declaration. In 1922 he founded the Jewish Institute of Religion, a seminary for liberal rabbis, which merged with Hebrew Union College in 1950.

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(died July 9, 1228, Slindon, Sussex, Eng.) English cardinal and archbishop of Canterbury (1207–28). Langton was living in Rome when Innocent III nominated him as archbishop of Canterbury to settle a disputed election. When King John refused to allow him into England, the pope excommunicated John (1209). John finally submitted and received Langton in 1213. The new archbishop encouraged baronial opposition to the king but opposed violence. He was present at the signing of the Magna Carta (1215) and influenced its provisions on ecclesiastical liberties.

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(born Sept. 21, 1947, Portland, Maine, U.S.) U.S. writer. Educated at the University of Maine, he wrote a number of enormously popular books, which made him one of the world's best-selling writers. His books blend horror, the macabre, fantasy, and science fiction. Carrie (1974; film 1976), his first published novel and an immediate success, was followed by a long string of popular books, including The Shining (1977; film, 1980; television miniseries, 1997), The Dead Zone (1979; film, 1983), Pet Sematary (1983; film, 1989), and Misery (1987; film, 1990). Most of his novels have been adapted for television or film, and most have been translated into many languages.

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(born March 22, 1930, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. composer and lyricist. He studied piano and organ and at age 15 wrote his first musical under the tutelage of the musical comedy author Oscar Hammerstein II, a family friend. After studies with composer Milton Babbitt, he made his first mark on Broadway as lyricist for West Side Story (1957) and later Gypsy (1959). He wrote both music and lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962, Tony Award), A Little Night Music (1973, Tony Award), Sweeney Todd (1979, Tony Award), Sunday in the Park with George (1984, Pulitzer Prize), and Into the Woods (1987), among other works. His stage works are known for their intellectuality, musical complexity, and frequently dark tone.

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(born Nov. 4, 1816, Haddam, Conn., U.S.—died April 9, 1899, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. After graduating from Williams College in 1837, he practiced law in New York with his brother, the legal reformer David Dudley Field (1805–94). In 1849 he moved to California, where he later joined the state supreme court. In 1863 he was appointed by Pres. Abraham Lincoln to the Supreme Court of the United States; he served until 1897. He became chief architect of the constitutional approach that largely exempted U.S. industry from government regulation after the American Civil War, basing his interpretation principally on the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment (1868), which had been passed as a civil-rights measure. Field's stance toward industry would be maintained by the Court until the 1930s.

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(born Sept. 10, 1941, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died May 20, 2002, New York, N.Y.) U.S. paleontologist and evolutionary biologist. He received a Ph.D. in paleontology from Columbia University and joined the faculty of Harvard University in 1967. With Niles Eldredge (b. 1943), he developed the controversial theory of punctuated equilibrium (1972), a revision of Darwinism that proposed that the evolutionary creation of new species occurs in rapid bursts over periods as short as thousands of years, which are followed by long periods of stability. He was widely known as a popularizing writer on biological and evolutionary topics, especially in Natural History magazine; his numerous books include The Panda's Thumb (1980), The Mismeasure of Man (1981), and The Structure of Evolutionary Theory (2002).

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or Saint Stephen orig. Vajk

(born 970/975, Esztergom, Hung.—died Aug. 15, 1038, Esztergom; canonized 1083; feast day August 16) First king of Hungary (1000–38) and founder of the Hungarian state. The son of a Magyar chieftain, he was born a pagan but was later baptized as a Christian. After defeating his cousin to claim the throne, Stephen was crowned; his royal crown was a gift of Pope Sylvester II. His rule was peaceful except for an invasion by Conrad II (1030) and minor disputes with Poland and Bulgaria, and he organized Hungarian government and church administration on German models. He is the patron saint of Hungary.

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in full Stephen Joseph Harper

(born April 30, 1959, Toronto, Ont., Can.) Canadian prime minister from 2006. Harper received an M.A. degree in economics from the University of Calgary in 1991, after which he directed his career toward politics and public-policy analysis. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1993 as a member of the western-based Reform Party, but he did not seek reelection in 1997. In 2002 he returned to the House of Commons and became leader of the opposition Canadian Alliance (the successor to the Reform Party), and in 2004 he was elected head of the Conservative Party of Canada, formed by the merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties. In 2006 he led the Conservative Party to victory and became prime minister.

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(born May 20, 1750, Bordeaux, France—died Dec. 26, 1831, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) French-born American financier and philanthropist. He became a sailor at age 14; by 1774 he was commanding a French ship involved in American coastal trade with the West Indies. He settled in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and resumed trading in 1783. He developed an efficient, worldwide trading fleet and amassed a fortune. In 1812 he bought out the Bank of the United States, renaming it the Bank of Stephen Girard. During the War of 1812 he purchased government bonds, which by 1814 constituted 95percnt of the U.S.'s war loan. He bequeathed his fortune to social-welfare institutions, including Stephen Girard College for male orphans (founded 1833).

Learn more about Girard, Stephen with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Aug. 15, 1938, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.) U.S. jurist. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1964. After clerking for Arthur Goldberg (1964–65), he taught at Harvard (1967–81). He served as special counsel (1974–75) and chief counsel (1979–81) of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee before being appointed to the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (1980); he became its chief judge in 1990. From 1985 to 1989 he served on the commission that devised guidelines for federal sentencing. He was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1994 by Pres. Bill Clinton. He was known as a pragmatic moderate acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats.

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(born Nov. 3, 1793, Austinville, Va., U.S.—died Dec. 27, 1836, Austin, Texas) U.S. founder of the first legal colony of English-speaking people in Texas when it was still part of Mexico. He was raised in the Missouri Territory and served in its legislature (1814–19). The economic panic in 1819 led his father to conceive a plan to colonize Texas on land obtained from the Mexican government. Austin continued the project after his father died (1821) and founded a colony of several hundred families on the Brazos River in 1822. He maintained good relations with the Mexican government. He tried to induce the Mexican government to make Texas a separate state in the Mexican confederation; when this attempt failed, he recommended in 1833 the organization of a state without waiting for the consent of the Mexican congress, and he was imprisoned. Released in 1835, he traveled to the U.S. to secure help when the Texas revolution broke out in October of that year. He is considered one of the state's founders. The city of Austin is named for him.

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(born Sept. 21, 1947, Portland, Maine, U.S.) U.S. writer. Educated at the University of Maine, he wrote a number of enormously popular books, which made him one of the world's best-selling writers. His books blend horror, the macabre, fantasy, and science fiction. Carrie (1974; film 1976), his first published novel and an immediate success, was followed by a long string of popular books, including The Shining (1977; film, 1980; television miniseries, 1997), The Dead Zone (1979; film, 1983), Pet Sematary (1983; film, 1989), and Misery (1987; film, 1990). Most of his novels have been adapted for television or film, and most have been translated into many languages.

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or Stefan Uroshacek IV

(born 1308—died Dec. 20, 1355) King of Serbia (1331–46) and emperor of the Serbs and Greeks (1346–55). He deposed his father, Stefan Decansky, in 1331. The greatest ruler of medieval Serbia, he began a war of conquest against Byzantium in 1334, gaining control of Albania and Macedonia by 1346 and Epirus and Thessaly by 1348. Dushacekan reformed the Serbian administration on the Byzantine model and introduced a law code. His rule over former Byzantine lands was threatened by John VI Cantacuzenus, and his empire broke apart soon after his death.

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(born Jan. 5, 1779, Sinepuxent, Md., U.S.—died March 22, 1820, Bladensburg, Md.) U.S. naval officer. He entered the navy in 1798. In the Tripolitan War, he led a daring expedition into the harbour of Tripoli to burn a captured U.S. ship. In the War of 1812 he commanded the USS United States and captured the British ship Macedonian. In 1815 he commanded a squadron in the Mediterranean that forced a peace with the Barbary states on U.S. terms. At a banquet on his return he gave a toast that included the words “Our country, right or wrong.” In the same year he was made a navy commissioner, an office he held until he was killed in a duel.

Learn more about Decatur, Stephen with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 1, 1871, Newark, N.J., U.S.—died June 5, 1900, Badenweiler, Baden, Ger.) U.S. novelist and short-story writer. Crane briefly attended college before moving to New York City. His Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893), a sympathetic study of a slum girl's descent into prostitution, was a milestone of literary naturalism. He achieved international fame with his masterwork, The Red Badge of Courage (1895), depicting the psychological turmoil of a young Civil War soldier, and with his first book of poems, The Black Riders (1895). While traveling as a war correspondent, his ship sank and he almost drowned, resulting in his great story “The Open Boat” (1898). His story collections include The Little Regiment (1896), The Monster (1899), and Whilomville Stories (1900). He died at 28 of tuberculosis.

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(born July 4, 1826, Lawrenceville, Pa., U.S.—died Jan. 13, 1864, New York, N.Y.) U.S. songwriter. He began writing songs as a child, influenced in part by black church services he attended with the family's servant and by songs sung by black labourers. In 1842 he published “Open Thy Lattice, Love,” and in 1848 he sold “Oh! Susanna” for $100; it quickly became an international hit. He later entered into a contract with the publisher Firth, Pond & Co. He was commissioned to write songs for Edwin P. Christy's minstrel show; his “Old Folks at Home” became one of the most popular songs of the century. In 1857, drinking heavily and in financial difficulties, he sold all rights to his future songs to his publishers for about $1,900. In 1860 he moved to New York; he died penniless at age 37, leaving about 200 songs, including “Camptown Races,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,” and “Beautiful Dreamer,” and he is universally regarded as the greatest American songwriter of the 19th century.

Learn more about Foster, Stephen (Collins) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Dec. 30, 1869, Swanmore, Hampshire, Eng.—died March 28, 1944, Toronto, Ont., Can.) British-born Canadian writer and lecturer. He immigrated to Canada with his parents at age six. Though he taught economics and political science at McGill University (1903–36) and wrote extensively on history and political economy, his true calling was humour. His fame rests on his many books of lighthearted sketches and essays, beginning with Literary Lapses (1910) and Nonsense Novels (1911). His humour is typically based on a comic perception of social foibles and the incongruity between appearance and reality in human conduct.

Learn more about Leacock, Stephen (Butler) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Dec. 18, 1946, King William's Town, S.Af.—died Sept. 12, 1977, Pretoria) South African political activist. A former medical student, in 1968 he founded the Black Consciousness movement, designed to raise black awareness of apartheid oppression. He was officially “banned” by the South African government in 1973 and was arrested several times in 1976–77. His death from head injuries suffered in police custody made him an international martyr for South African black nationalism. The initial inquest absolved the police of wrongdoing, but in 1997 five former officers confessed to Biko's murder.

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(born April 23, 1813, Brandon, Vt., U.S.—died June 3, 1861, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. politician. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1843–47) and Senate (1847–61), where he strongly supported the Union and national expansion. To settle the bitter dispute over the extension of slavery to the territories, he developed the policy of popular sovereignty. He was influential in the passage of the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Short and heavyset, he was dubbed “the Little Giant” for his oratorical skill. In 1858 he engaged in a number of widely publicized debates with Abraham Lincoln in a close contest for the Senate seat in Illinois (see Lincoln-Douglas Debates). The Democrats nominated Douglas for president in 1860, but a splinter group of Southerners nominated John C. Breckinridge, which divided the Democratic vote and gave the presidency to Lincoln. In 1861 he undertook a mission for Lincoln to gain support for the Union among the Southern border states and in the Northwest. His untimely death of typhoid was partly a result of these exertions.

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known as Stephen the Great

(born 1435—died July 2, 1504) Prince of Moldavia (1457–1504). With the help of the Walachian prince Vlad III Tcedilepeş, Stephen secured the throne of Moldavia. He repelled a Hungarian invasion (1467) and later attacked Walachia (1471), by then under Turkish vassalage. He defeated invading Turks (1475, 1476) and contended with Polish and Hungarian designs on Moldavia. In 1503 Stephen signed a treaty preserving Moldavian independence at the cost of an annual tribute to the Turks.

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(born Feb. 1, 1882, Compton, Que., Can.—died July 25, 1973, Quebec, Que.) Prime minister of Canada (1948–57). One of Canada's most prominent lawyers, he served in the Canadian House of Commons (1942–58) and in W.L. Mackenzie King's cabinet as minister of justice and attorney general (1942–46) and minister of external affairs (1945–48). As leader of the Liberal Party (1948), he succeeded King as prime minister. He promoted Canadian unity by equalizing provincial revenues and expanded social security and university education. He supported Canadian membership in NATO and helped establish the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Learn more about Saint Laurent, Louis (Stephen) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 28, 1909, London, Eng.—died July 16, 1995, London) English poet and critic. While an undergraduate at Oxford, Spender met the poets W.H. Auden and C. Day-Lewis. In the 1930s they became identified with politically conscious, leftist “new writing.” His poems, expressing a self-critical, compassionate personality, appear in volumes from Poems (1933) to Dolphins (1994). He was better known for his perceptive criticism, as in The Destructive Element (1935), The Making of a Poem (1955), and The Struggle of the Modern (1963), and for his association with the influential review Encounter (1953–67). He also wrote short stories, essays, and autobiography.

Learn more about Spender, Sir Stephen (Harold) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born March 22, 1930, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. composer and lyricist. He studied piano and organ and at age 15 wrote his first musical under the tutelage of the musical comedy author Oscar Hammerstein II, a family friend. After studies with composer Milton Babbitt, he made his first mark on Broadway as lyricist for West Side Story (1957) and later Gypsy (1959). He wrote both music and lyrics for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962, Tony Award), A Little Night Music (1973, Tony Award), Sweeney Todd (1979, Tony Award), Sunday in the Park with George (1984, Pulitzer Prize), and Into the Woods (1987), among other works. His stage works are known for their intellectuality, musical complexity, and frequently dark tone.

Learn more about Sondheim, Stephen (Joshua) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 28, 1909, London, Eng.—died July 16, 1995, London) English poet and critic. While an undergraduate at Oxford, Spender met the poets W.H. Auden and C. Day-Lewis. In the 1930s they became identified with politically conscious, leftist “new writing.” His poems, expressing a self-critical, compassionate personality, appear in volumes from Poems (1933) to Dolphins (1994). He was better known for his perceptive criticism, as in The Destructive Element (1935), The Making of a Poem (1955), and The Struggle of the Modern (1963), and for his association with the influential review Encounter (1953–67). He also wrote short stories, essays, and autobiography.

Learn more about Spender, Sir Stephen (Harold) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born March 21, 1925, London, Eng.) British director and producer. After directing plays in Stratford-upon-Avon, he became director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1947–50). He directed several innovative Shakespearean productions that aroused controversy. Appointed codirector of the Royal Shakespeare Co. in 1962, he directed critically acclaimed productions of King Lear (1962) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1970). He won international fame with his avant-garde direction of Peter Weiss's play Marat/Sade (1964). His films include Lord of the Flies (1962), King Lear (1969), and the six-hour Mahabharata (1989). In 1970 he cofounded, with Jean-Louis Barrault, the International Centre for Theatre Research.

Learn more about Brook, Sir Peter (Stephen Paul) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 28, 1832, London, Eng.—died Feb. 22, 1904, London) English critic and man of letters. After attending Eton College and Cambridge University, he gained entry to literary circles and in 1871 began an 11-year tenure as editor of The Cornhill Magazine, for which he wrote literary criticism. His greatest learned work was his History of English Thought in the Eighteenth Century (1876), but his most enduring legacy is the Dictionary of National Biography, which he edited from 1882 to 1891, personally writing many hundreds of its meticulous articles. He was the father of Virginia Woolf and the painter Vanessa Bell (1879–1961).

Learn more about Stephen, Sir Leslie with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Feb. 1, 1882, Compton, Que., Can.—died July 25, 1973, Quebec, Que.) Prime minister of Canada (1948–57). One of Canada's most prominent lawyers, he served in the Canadian House of Commons (1942–58) and in W.L. Mackenzie King's cabinet as minister of justice and attorney general (1942–46) and minister of external affairs (1945–48). As leader of the Liberal Party (1948), he succeeded King as prime minister. He promoted Canadian unity by equalizing provincial revenues and expanded social security and university education. He supported Canadian membership in NATO and helped establish the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Learn more about Saint Laurent, Louis (Stephen) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Dec. 30, 1869, Swanmore, Hampshire, Eng.—died March 28, 1944, Toronto, Ont., Can.) British-born Canadian writer and lecturer. He immigrated to Canada with his parents at age six. Though he taught economics and political science at McGill University (1903–36) and wrote extensively on history and political economy, his true calling was humour. His fame rests on his many books of lighthearted sketches and essays, beginning with Literary Lapses (1910) and Nonsense Novels (1911). His humour is typically based on a comic perception of social foibles and the incongruity between appearance and reality in human conduct.

Learn more about Leacock, Stephen (Butler) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(died July 9, 1228, Slindon, Sussex, Eng.) English cardinal and archbishop of Canterbury (1207–28). Langton was living in Rome when Innocent III nominated him as archbishop of Canterbury to settle a disputed election. When King John refused to allow him into England, the pope excommunicated John (1209). John finally submitted and received Langton in 1213. The new archbishop encouraged baronial opposition to the king but opposed violence. He was present at the signing of the Magna Carta (1215) and influenced its provisions on ecclesiastical liberties.

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(born Nov. 2, 1913, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Oct. 20, 1994, Century City, Calif.) U.S. film actor. He toured with circuses as an acrobat in the 1930s and served in North Africa and Italy during World War II. He first appeared in movie houses in The Killers (1946), which made him a star. He was noted for his portrayals of physically tough, emotionally sensitive characters. Lancaster's many films include Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), From Here to Eternity (1953), The Rose Tattoo (1955), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Elmer Gantry (1960, Academy Award), The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Leopard (1963), Atlantic City (1981), Local Hero (1983), and Field of Dreams (1989).

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(born Aug. 30, 1794, Newark, N.J., U.S.—died Oct. 31, 1848, St. Louis, Mo.) U.S. Army officer. He served in the War of 1812 and later on the western frontier. At the outbreak of the Mexican War, he was ordered to seize New Mexico and California. Using diplomacy to persuade Mexican troops to withdraw, he marched unopposed to Santa Fe, where in 1846 he proclaimed a civil government for the province. Heading to California, he was informed that the conquest had already been completed by Robert F. Stockton and John C. Frémont. He arrived to discover that Mexican rebels had retaken most of the province. He then joined forces with Stockton to defeat the rebels in 1847. After initial opposition from Frémont, who had persuaded Stockton to appoint him governor, Kearny pacified the rest of California and established a stable civil government. He was then sent to Mexico, where he died of yellow fever.

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in full Stephen Joseph Harper

(born April 30, 1959, Toronto, Ont., Can.) Canadian prime minister from 2006. Harper received an M.A. degree in economics from the University of Calgary in 1991, after which he directed his career toward politics and public-policy analysis. He was elected to the Canadian House of Commons in 1993 as a member of the western-based Reform Party, but he did not seek reelection in 1997. In 2002 he returned to the House of Commons and became leader of the opposition Canadian Alliance (the successor to the Reform Party), and in 2004 he was elected head of the Conservative Party of Canada, formed by the merger of the Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties. In 2006 he led the Conservative Party to victory and became prime minister.

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(born Sept. 10, 1941, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died May 20, 2002, New York, N.Y.) U.S. paleontologist and evolutionary biologist. He received a Ph.D. in paleontology from Columbia University and joined the faculty of Harvard University in 1967. With Niles Eldredge (b. 1943), he developed the controversial theory of punctuated equilibrium (1972), a revision of Darwinism that proposed that the evolutionary creation of new species occurs in rapid bursts over periods as short as thousands of years, which are followed by long periods of stability. He was widely known as a popularizing writer on biological and evolutionary topics, especially in Natural History magazine; his numerous books include The Panda's Thumb (1980), The Mismeasure of Man (1981), and The Structure of Evolutionary Theory (2002).

Learn more about Gould, Stephen Jay with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born May 20, 1750, Bordeaux, France—died Dec. 26, 1831, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) French-born American financier and philanthropist. He became a sailor at age 14; by 1774 he was commanding a French ship involved in American coastal trade with the West Indies. He settled in Philadelphia during the American Revolution and resumed trading in 1783. He developed an efficient, worldwide trading fleet and amassed a fortune. In 1812 he bought out the Bank of the United States, renaming it the Bank of Stephen Girard. During the War of 1812 he purchased government bonds, which by 1814 constituted 95percnt of the U.S.'s war loan. He bequeathed his fortune to social-welfare institutions, including Stephen Girard College for male orphans (founded 1833).

Learn more about Girard, Stephen with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born July 4, 1826, Lawrenceville, Pa., U.S.—died Jan. 13, 1864, New York, N.Y.) U.S. songwriter. He began writing songs as a child, influenced in part by black church services he attended with the family's servant and by songs sung by black labourers. In 1842 he published “Open Thy Lattice, Love,” and in 1848 he sold “Oh! Susanna” for $100; it quickly became an international hit. He later entered into a contract with the publisher Firth, Pond & Co. He was commissioned to write songs for Edwin P. Christy's minstrel show; his “Old Folks at Home” became one of the most popular songs of the century. In 1857, drinking heavily and in financial difficulties, he sold all rights to his future songs to his publishers for about $1,900. In 1860 he moved to New York; he died penniless at age 37, leaving about 200 songs, including “Camptown Races,” “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair,” and “Beautiful Dreamer,” and he is universally regarded as the greatest American songwriter of the 19th century.

Learn more about Foster, Stephen (Collins) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 4, 1816, Haddam, Conn., U.S.—died April 9, 1899, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. After graduating from Williams College in 1837, he practiced law in New York with his brother, the legal reformer David Dudley Field (1805–94). In 1849 he moved to California, where he later joined the state supreme court. In 1863 he was appointed by Pres. Abraham Lincoln to the Supreme Court of the United States; he served until 1897. He became chief architect of the constitutional approach that largely exempted U.S. industry from government regulation after the American Civil War, basing his interpretation principally on the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment (1868), which had been passed as a civil-rights measure. Field's stance toward industry would be maintained by the Court until the 1930s.

Learn more about Field, Stephen J(ohnson) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born April 23, 1813, Brandon, Vt., U.S.—died June 3, 1861, Chicago, Ill.) U.S. politician. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives (1843–47) and Senate (1847–61), where he strongly supported the Union and national expansion. To settle the bitter dispute over the extension of slavery to the territories, he developed the policy of popular sovereignty. He was influential in the passage of the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Short and heavyset, he was dubbed “the Little Giant” for his oratorical skill. In 1858 he engaged in a number of widely publicized debates with Abraham Lincoln in a close contest for the Senate seat in Illinois (see Lincoln-Douglas Debates). The Democrats nominated Douglas for president in 1860, but a splinter group of Southerners nominated John C. Breckinridge, which divided the Democratic vote and gave the presidency to Lincoln. In 1861 he undertook a mission for Lincoln to gain support for the Union among the Southern border states and in the Northwest. His untimely death of typhoid was partly a result of these exertions.

Learn more about Douglas, Stephen A(rnold) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Jan. 5, 1779, Sinepuxent, Md., U.S.—died March 22, 1820, Bladensburg, Md.) U.S. naval officer. He entered the navy in 1798. In the Tripolitan War, he led a daring expedition into the harbour of Tripoli to burn a captured U.S. ship. In the War of 1812 he commanded the USS United States and captured the British ship Macedonian. In 1815 he commanded a squadron in the Mediterranean that forced a peace with the Barbary states on U.S. terms. At a banquet on his return he gave a toast that included the words “Our country, right or wrong.” In the same year he was made a navy commissioner, an office he held until he was killed in a duel.

Learn more about Decatur, Stephen with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 1, 1871, Newark, N.J., U.S.—died June 5, 1900, Badenweiler, Baden, Ger.) U.S. novelist and short-story writer. Crane briefly attended college before moving to New York City. His Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893), a sympathetic study of a slum girl's descent into prostitution, was a milestone of literary naturalism. He achieved international fame with his masterwork, The Red Badge of Courage (1895), depicting the psychological turmoil of a young Civil War soldier, and with his first book of poems, The Black Riders (1895). While traveling as a war correspondent, his ship sank and he almost drowned, resulting in his great story “The Open Boat” (1898). His story collections include The Little Regiment (1896), The Monster (1899), and Whilomville Stories (1900). He died at 28 of tuberculosis.

Learn more about Crane, Stephen with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born March 18, 1837, Caldwell, N.J., U.S.—died June 24, 1908, Princeton) 22nd and 24th president of the U.S. (1885–89, 1893–97). From 1859 he practiced law in Buffalo, N.Y., where he entered Democratic Party politics. As mayor of Buffalo (1881–82), he was known as a foe of corruption. As governor of New York (1883–85), his independence earned him the hostility of Tammany Hall. Elected president in 1884, he supported civil-service reform and opposed high tariffs. Although he was narrowly defeated by Benjamin Harrison in 1888, he was reelected by a huge popular plurality in 1892. In 1893 he strongly urged Congress to repeal the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, which he blamed for the country's severe economic depression. Despite the repeal of the act, the depression continued, resulting in the Pullman Strike in 1894. An isolationist, Cleveland opposed territorial expansion. In 1895 he invoked the Monroe Doctrine in the border dispute between Britain and Venezuela. By 1896 supporters of the Free Silver Movement controlled the Democratic Party, which nominated William Jennings Bryan instead of Cleveland for president. He retired to New Jersey, where he lectured at Princeton University.

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(born Nov. 2, 1913, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Oct. 20, 1994, Century City, Calif.) U.S. film actor. He toured with circuses as an acrobat in the 1930s and served in North Africa and Italy during World War II. He first appeared in movie houses in The Killers (1946), which made him a star. He was noted for his portrayals of physically tough, emotionally sensitive characters. Lancaster's many films include Come Back, Little Sheba (1952), From Here to Eternity (1953), The Rose Tattoo (1955), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Elmer Gantry (1960, Academy Award), The Birdman of Alcatraz (1962), The Leopard (1963), Atlantic City (1981), Local Hero (1983), and Field of Dreams (1989).

Learn more about Lancaster, Burt(on Stephen) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born March 21, 1925, London, Eng.) British director and producer. After directing plays in Stratford-upon-Avon, he became director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (1947–50). He directed several innovative Shakespearean productions that aroused controversy. Appointed codirector of the Royal Shakespeare Co. in 1962, he directed critically acclaimed productions of King Lear (1962) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (1970). He won international fame with his avant-garde direction of Peter Weiss's play Marat/Sade (1964). His films include Lord of the Flies (1962), King Lear (1969), and the six-hour Mahabharata (1989). In 1970 he cofounded, with Jean-Louis Barrault, the International Centre for Theatre Research.

Learn more about Brook, Sir Peter (Stephen Paul) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Aug. 15, 1938, San Francisco, Calif., U.S.) U.S. jurist. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1964. After clerking for Arthur Goldberg (1964–65), he taught at Harvard (1967–81). He served as special counsel (1974–75) and chief counsel (1979–81) of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee before being appointed to the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (1980); he became its chief judge in 1990. From 1985 to 1989 he served on the commission that devised guidelines for federal sentencing. He was nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1994 by Pres. Bill Clinton. He was known as a pragmatic moderate acceptable to both Republicans and Democrats.

Learn more about Breyer, Stephen (Gerald) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Dec. 18, 1946, King William's Town, S.Af.—died Sept. 12, 1977, Pretoria) South African political activist. A former medical student, in 1968 he founded the Black Consciousness movement, designed to raise black awareness of apartheid oppression. He was officially “banned” by the South African government in 1973 and was arrested several times in 1976–77. His death from head injuries suffered in police custody made him an international martyr for South African black nationalism. The initial inquest absolved the police of wrongdoing, but in 1997 five former officers confessed to Biko's murder.

Learn more about Biko, Stephen with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Nov. 3, 1793, Austinville, Va., U.S.—died Dec. 27, 1836, Austin, Texas) U.S. founder of the first legal colony of English-speaking people in Texas when it was still part of Mexico. He was raised in the Missouri Territory and served in its legislature (1814–19). The economic panic in 1819 led his father to conceive a plan to colonize Texas on land obtained from the Mexican government. Austin continued the project after his father died (1821) and founded a colony of several hundred families on the Brazos River in 1822. He maintained good relations with the Mexican government. He tried to induce the Mexican government to make Texas a separate state in the Mexican confederation; when this attempt failed, he recommended in 1833 the organization of a state without waiting for the consent of the Mexican congress, and he was imprisoned. Released in 1835, he traveled to the U.S. to secure help when the Texas revolution broke out in October of that year. He is considered one of the state's founders. The city of Austin is named for him.

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Stephen is a city in Marshall County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 708 at the 2000 census.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.8 square miles (2.1 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 708 people, 292 households, and 188 families residing in the city. The population density was 865.0 people per square mile (333.4/km²). There were 331 housing units at an average density of 404.4/sq mi (155.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.36% White, 0.71% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 4.66% from other races, and 1.13% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.19% of the population.

There were 292 households out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.5% were married couples living together, 4.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.3% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 20.6% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 22.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 99.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,207, and the median income for a family was $42,969. Males had a median income of $31,103 versus $21,667 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,152. About 3.3% of families and 6.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 12.7% of those age 65 or over.

References

External links

• City of Stephen