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Velasco, Luis de

(Encyclopedia)Velasco, Luis de vāläsˈkō [key], d. 1564, Spanish administrator, second viceroy (1550–64) of New Spain (now Mexico), successor to Antonio de Mendoza. His rule was remarkably energetic, humanita...

Sierra, Justo

(Encyclopedia)Sierra, Justo ho͞oˈstō syĕˈrä [key], 1848–1912, Mexican educator and historian. He entered the literary life as a romantic poet but later devoted himself wholeheartedly to founding schools, le...

Burritt, Elihu

(Encyclopedia)Burritt, Elihu, 1810–79, American reformer, b. New Britain, Conn. A blacksmith, he studied mathematics, languages, and geography and became known as “the learned blacksmith.” Profoundly idealist...

Oñate, Juan de

(Encyclopedia)Oñate, Juan de hwän dā ōnyäˈtā [key], fl. 1595–1614, Spanish explorer in the American Southwest, possibly b. New Spain. In 1598 he led an expedition north from New Spain, took possession of N...

Acuña, Juan de

(Encyclopedia)Acuña, Juan de hwän dā ako͞oˈnyä [key], 1658?–1734, Spanish-American administrator, viceroy of New Spain (1722–34), marqués de Casa Fuerte, b. Lima, Peru. After a distinguished career in Sp...

Olney, Jesse

(Encyclopedia)Olney, Jesse ŏlˈnē, ōlˈnē [key], 1798–1872, American geographer and teacher. His Practical System of Modern Geography (1828), a standard work for decades, revolutionized the teaching of geogra...

Simpson, George Gaylord

(Encyclopedia)Simpson, George Gaylord, 1902–84, American paleontologist and zoologist, b. Chicago, Ph.D. Yale, 1926. He became assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural Histor...

Morrow, Dwight Whitney

(Encyclopedia)Morrow, Dwight Whitney, 1873–1931, American banker and diplomat, b. Huntington, W.Va. He practiced law in New York City and entered (1914) the banking house of J. P. Morgan & Company. After the ...

Vargas Zapata y Luján Ponce de León, Diego de

(Encyclopedia)Vargas Zapata y Luján Ponce de León, Diego de dyāˈgō dā värˈgäs thäpäˈtä ē lo͞ohänˈ pōnˈ thā dā lāōnˈ [key], c.1643–1704, Spanish governor and captain general of New Mexico, ...
 

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