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Calloway, Cab

(Encyclopedia)Calloway, Cab (Cabell Calloway) kălˈəwāˌ [key], 1907–94, jazz singer and band leader, b. Rochester, N.Y. Known for his inventive creativity, he hired some of the top musicians of his day for hi...

White, Edward Douglass

(Encyclopedia)White, Edward Douglass, 1845–1921, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1894–1910), 9th chief justice of the United States (1910–21), b. Lafourche parish, La. He attended the Jesuit Coll...

blockhouse

(Encyclopedia)blockhouse, small fortification, usually temporary, serving as a post for a small garrison. Blockhouses seem to have come into use in the 15th cent. to prevent access to a strategically important obje...

Sierra Leone

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Sierra Leone sēĕrˈə lēōˈnē, lēōnˈ; sērˈə lēōn [key], officially Republic of Sierra Leone, republic (2015 est. pop. 5,879,000), 27,699 sq mi (71,740 sq km), W Africa. It is borde...

international date line

(Encyclopedia)international date line, imaginary line on the earth's surface, generally following the 180° meridian of longitude, where, by international agreement, travelers change dates. Traveling eastward acros...

Marquette, Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Marquette, Jacques zhäk märkĕtˈ [key], 1637–75, French missionary and explorer in North America, a Jesuit priest. He was sent to New France in 1666 and studied Native American languages under a ...

Hudson, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Hudson, Henry, fl. 1607–11, English navigator and explorer. He was hired (1607) by the English Muscovy Company to find the Northeast Passage to Asia. He failed, and another attempt (1608) to find a ...

McGee, Thomas D'Arcy

(Encyclopedia)McGee, Thomas D'Arcy məgēˈ [key], 1825–68, Canadian journalist and statesman, a leader in the movement for confederation, b. Ireland. He emigrated (1842) to Boston, where he became editor of the ...

Hillary, Sir Edmund Percival

(Encyclopedia)Hillary, Sir Edmund Percival, 1919–2008, New Zealand mountain climber and explorer. He went on many mountain-climbing expeditions before 1953, when he and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal were the first peop...
 

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