For thousands of years, farmers have improved their crops by crossbreeding plants that have good traits. They take pollen from one plant and add it to the flowers of another plant to produce a…
(Encyclopedia) Jiménez de Quesada, GonzaloJiménez de Quesada, Gonzalogōnthäˈlō hēmāˈnĕth dā kāsäˈᵺä [key], c.1499–1579, Spanish conquistador in Colombia. Chief magistrate of Santa Marta, he was…
(Encyclopedia) Modiano, Patrick (Jean Patrick Modiano)Modiano, PatrickzhäN pätrēkˈ mōdyänōˈ [key], 1945–, French novelist. He has been acclaimed for his treatment of memory, loss, and the puzzle of…
(Encyclopedia) Isherwood, ChristopherIsherwood, Christopherishˈərw&oobreve;d [key], 1904–86, British-American author. After the appearance of his first novel, All the Conspirators (1928),…
(Encyclopedia) Isabella II, 1830–1904, queen of Spain (1833–68), daughter of Ferdinand VII and of Maria Christina. Her uncle, Don Carlos, contested her succession under the Salic law, and thus the…
(Encyclopedia) ScythiaScythiasĭthˈēə [key], ancient region of Eurasia, extending from the Danube on the west to the borders of China on the east. The Scythians flourished from the 8th to the 4th cent…
(Encyclopedia) Vargas Llosa, MarioVargas Llosa, Mariomärˈyō värˈgäs yōˈsä [key], 1936–, Peruvian novelist and politician, b. Arequipa. Although his works contain much external realism, emphasizing…
(Encyclopedia) Baryshnikov, MikhailBaryshnikov, Mikhailmĭˈkhail bərĭˌshnĭkävˈ [key], 1948–, Russian-American dancer and choreographer, b. Riga, Latvia (then in the USSR). He studied in Riga and…
