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Floyd, John Buchanan
(Encyclopedia)Floyd, John Buchanan, 1807–63, U.S. Secretary of War (1857–60) and Confederate general, b. Smithfield, Va. After failing as a lawyer and cotton planter in Arkansas, he returned to Virginia and pra...cactus
(Encyclopedia)cactus, any plant of the family Cactaceae, a large group of succulents found almost entirely in the New World. A cactus plant is conspicuous for its fleshy green stem, which performs the functions of ...Canis Minor
(Encyclopedia)Canis Minor [Lat.,=lesser dog], small constellation ying near the celestial equator, E of Orion and NE of Canis Major, the Large Dog. Known as the Small Dog, Canis Minor is traditionally identified as...marine engine
(Encyclopedia)marine engine, machine for the propulsion of watercraft. The earliest marine power plants, reciprocating steam engines, were used almost exclusively until the early 1900s. In later ship construction t...Baltic Sea
(Encyclopedia)Baltic Sea, arm of the Atlantic Ocean, c.163,000 sq mi (422,170 sq km), including the Kattegat strait, its northwestern extension. The Øresund, Store Bælt, and Lille Bælt connect the Baltic Sea wit...Olduvai Gorge
(Encyclopedia)Olduvai Gorge ōlˈdəwāˌ, –vāˌ [key], a feature of the E African Rift Valley in Tanzania. Erosional processes have exposed geological strata in the gorge dating to the lower Pleistocene epoch, ...Van Gogh, Vincent
(Encyclopedia)Van Gogh, Vincent văn gō, Dutch vĭnsĕntˈ vän khôkh [key], 1853–90, postimpressionist painter, b. the Netherlands. Van Gogh's works are perhaps better known generally than those of any other p...Fenian movement
(Encyclopedia)Fenian movement fēˈnēən [key] or Fenians, secret revolutionary society organized c.1858 in Ireland and the United States to achieve Irish independence from England by force. It was known variously...Morgenthau, Hans Joachim
(Encyclopedia)Morgenthau, Hans Joachim, 1904–80, American political scientist and foreign policy analyst, b. Coburg, Germany. After studying at the universities of Frankfort and Munich, he attended the Graduate I...meteor
(Encyclopedia)meteor, appearance of a small particle flying through space that interacts with the earth's upper atmosphere. While still outside the atmosphere, the particle is known as a meteoroid. Countless meteor...Browse by Subject
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