Wilkes, Charles
Entry from US Dictionary
Pronunciation: /wilks/
- (1798–1877), US naval officer and explorer. He determined that Antarctica is a continent during an 1838–42 expedition. Antarctica’s Wilkes Land was named in his honor. In 1861, he was involved in the Trent Affair, an incident on the high seas in which Confederate commissioners to England and France were forcibly detained by the US navy.