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mahogany

(Encyclopedia)mahogany, common name for the Meliaceae, a widely distributed family of chiefly tropical shrubs and trees, often having scented wood. The valuable hardwood called mahogany is obtained from many member...

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey

(Encyclopedia)Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 1537?–1583, English soldier, navigator, and explorer; half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh. Knighted (1570) for his service in the campaigns in Ireland, he later (1572) served i...

North Carolina

(Encyclopedia) CE5 North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). ...

Plymouth, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Plymouth, city and unitary authority (1991 pop. 238,583), SW England, on Plymouth Sound. The three towns that Plymouth has comprised since 1914 are Plymouth, Stonehouse, and Devonport; the suburbs of ...

Coke, Sir Edward

(Encyclopedia)Coke, Sir Edward ko͝ok [key], 1552–1634, English jurist, one of the most eminent in the history of English law. He entered Parliament in 1589 and rose rapidly, becoming solicitor general and speake...

Gates, Sir Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Gates, Sir Thomas, fl. 1585–1621, English colonial governor of Virginia. He was knighted for his services under the 2d earl of Essex in the successful expedition against Cádiz in 1596. Gates, who h...

Devon

(Encyclopedia)Devon dĕvˈən [key], county, 2,591 sq mi (6,711 sq km), SW England. The county town is ...

Halifax, George Savile, 1st marquess of

(Encyclopedia)Halifax, George Savile, 1st marquess of, 1633–95, English statesman. A protégé of the 2d duke of Buckingham, he was made Viscount Halifax (1668) and sat (1672–76) in the privy council. An oppone...

Baker, Ella Josephine

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Ella Josephine, 1903–1986, U.S. civil rights activist, b. Norfolk, Va. Ella Baker was an activist and organizer whose b...

Guiana

(Encyclopedia)Guiana gēănˈə, –änˈ– [key], region, NE South America. It faces the Atlantic Ocean on the north and east and is enclosed on the west and south within a vast semicircle formed by the linked ri...
 

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