Army officer, once thought to be the inventor of baseball. Doubleday served in the Mexican War and the Seminole Wars. As a major general in the American Civil War, he gave the first order to fire at Fort Sumter, and he later fought in other major battles. In 1907 a commission appointed by A.G. Spalding con¬ cluded that Doubleday formulated the essential rules of baseball in 1839 at Cooperstown, N.Y., leading to the choice of Cooperstown as the site of the Baseball Hall of Fame. It was later proved that Doubleday was not in Cooperstown in 1839. See also Alexander Cartwright.
Doubs River \'dii\ ancient Dubis. River, eastern France and western Switzerland. Rising in the Jura Mtns., it flows northeast to form part of the French-Swiss border. It continues east into Switzerland, makes a hairpin turn and heads back into France, finally entering the Saone River, after a course of about 270 mi (435 km), only 56 mi (90 km) from its source.
Dougga See Thugga
Douglas, Aaron (b. May 26, 1899, Topeka, Kan., U.S.—d. Feb. 2, 1979, Nashville, Tenn.) U.S. painter and graphic artist. In 1925 he moved to New York City, where he joined the burgeoning arts scene in Harlem that later became known as the Harlem Renaissance. In his magazine illus¬ trations and murals, he synthesized Cubist forms with stylized and geo¬ metric shapes drawn from African art. Perhaps his most significant work was a series of four murals, collectively titled Aspects of Negro Life, for the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library. His illustrations are widely known for their tonal gradations and Art DECO-style silhou¬ ettes. He taught at Fisk University from 1939 to 1966.
Douglas, Sir James (b. Aug. 15, 1803, Demerara, British Guiana—d. Aug. 2, 1877, Victoria, B.C., Can.) Canadian statesman, known as “the father of British Columbia.” He joined the Hudson's Bay Co. in 1821 and became a senior member in charge of operations west of the Rocky Moun¬ tains. In 1849 he moved the company’s headquarters from Oregon to Vancouver Island. He served as governor of Vancouver from 1851 to 1864. When gold was discovered on the Fraser River in 1858, he extended his authority to the mainland to preserve Britain’s Pacific foothold. When Britain created the colony of British Columbia, Douglas was appointed governor (1858-64).
Douglas, Kirk orig. Issur Danielovitch later Isadore Dems-
key (b. Dec. 9, 1916, Amsterdam, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. film actor and pro¬ ducer. He had minor Broadway roles before making his film debut in The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946) and emerged as a major star in Champion (1949). Despite giving sensitive performances in The Glass Menagerie (1950) and Paths of Glory (1957), he became identified with the intense, forceful roles he played in films such as The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), Lust for Life (1956), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), and Seven Days in May (1964). He produced and starred in Spartacus (1960). He continued to appear in films into the 21st century.
Douglas, Michael (b. Sept. 25, 1944, New Brunswick, N.J., U.S.) U.S. actor and producer. The son of Kirk Douglas, he made his film act¬ ing debut in 1969 and began his career as a producer with One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). He produced and acted in films such as The China Syndrome (1979), Romancing the Stone (1984), Fatal Attraction (1987), and Wall Street (1987, Academy Award) and also starred in Basic Instinct (1992), Traffic (2000), and Wonder Boys (2000).
Douglas, Stephen A(rnold) (b. April 23, 1813, Brandon, Vt., U.S.—d. 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 devel¬ oped the policy of popular sovereignty. He was influential in the passage of the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Short and heavy- set, 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.
Douglas, Tommy orig. Thomas Clement Douglas (b. Oct. 20, 1904, Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scot.—d. Feb. 24, 1986, Ottawa, Ont., Can.) Scottish-born Canadian politician. His family immigrated to Winnipeg in 1919. An ordained minister, he became active in the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and he served in the Canadian Parliament (1935-44). As premier of Saskatchewan (1944-61), he led Canada’s first socialist government. He established a system of state-run health care in the province, the first such system in the nation; for this he is considered the father of socialized medicine in Canada. He resigned in 1961 to become leader of the New Democratic Party, a post he held until 1971.
Douglas, William O(rville) (b. Oct. 16, 1898, Maine, Minn., U.S.—d. Jan. 19, 1980, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist and public official. He attended Columbia University Law School, where he edited the law review and graduated second in his class. After learning the intricacies of financial and corporate law at a Wall Street law firm, he joined the law faculty at Yale, where he taught until 1936. He became a member of the
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568 I Douglas fir ► Dover
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1936. As SEC chairman (1937-39) he engineered the reorganization of the country’s stock exchanges, instituted measures for the protection of small investors, and began government regulation of the sale of securities (see security). In 1939 Pres. Franklin Roosevelt appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States, on which he served until 1975. Although responsible for writing opinions in many complicated financial cases, he became most famous for his pronouncements on civil liberties (see civil liberty). He rejected government limitations on freedom of speech and was an outspo¬ ken defender of an unfettered press. He also strove to uphold the rights of the accused. He wrote numerous books on history, politics, foreign relations, and conservation, including Of Men and Mountains (1950) and A Wilderness Bill of Rights (1965).
Douglas fir Any of about six species of coniferous evergreen timber trees (see conifer) that make up the genus Pseudotsuga, in the PINE fam¬ ily, native to western North America and eastern Asia. Long, flat, spirally arranged yellow- or blue-green needles grow directly from the branch. The North American tree commonly called Douglas fir is P. menziesii (sometimes P. douglasii ).
Douglas firs may grow to 250 ft (75 m) tall and 8 ft (2.4 m) in diameter.
One of the best timber trees in North America, it is also a popular orna¬ mental and Christmas tree and is used for reforestation along the Pacific Coast.
Douqlas-HomeVdag-bs-'hyumV Sir Alec orig. Alexander Fred¬ erick later Baron Home (of the Hirsel of Coldstream) (b. July 2, 1903, London, Eng.—d. Oct. 9,
1995, The Hirsel, Coldstream, Berwickshire, Scot.) British statesman. A member of the House of Commons (1931-45 and 1950-51), he entered the House of Lords after inheriting the earldom of Home (1951). He served as minister of state for Scotland (1951-55), leader of the House of Lords (1957-60), and foreign secretary (1960-63) before succeeding Harold Macmillan as prime minister in 1963, relinquishing his hereditary titles. He was unable to improve the British balance-of-payments situa¬ tion and antagonized Conservatives by supporting legislation against price-fixing, but gained U.S. approval as a result of his anti-Communism. After his government fell in 1964, he became Conservative opposition spokesman on foreign affairs and later again foreign secretary (1970-74). In 1974 he was created a life peer.