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Naevius, Gnaeus

(Encyclopedia)Naevius, Gnaeus nīˈəs nēˈvəs [key], c.264–195 b.c., Roman poet and dramatist. Born in Campania, he served in the first Punic War (264–241 b.c.), which he evoked in De Bello Punico. Now only ...

Haya

(Encyclopedia)Haya hīˈə [key], people of Africa living on Lake Victoria in the extreme northwest of Tanzania. They originally came from W Uganda, a region they left because of endless wars. There are now about 1...

Hanno, Carthaginian statesman

(Encyclopedia)Hanno, fl. 250–200 b.c., Carthaginian statesman, leader of the conservative land-owning party and consistent opponent of the Barca family. His refusal to pay the mercenaries of Hamilcar Barca brough...

equator

(Encyclopedia)equator, imaginary great circle around the earth, everywhere equidistant from the two geographical poles and forming the base line from which latitude is reckoned. The equator, which measures c.24,902...

Kagera

(Encyclopedia)Kagera kägāˈrə [key], river, c.250 mi (400 km) long, formed on the Rwanda-Tanzania border, E central Africa, by the confluence of the Nyabarongo and Ruvubu rivers. The Kagera's headwaters, which r...

Dunash ben Tamim

(Encyclopedia)Dunash ben Tamim täˈmēm [key] or Dunash ibn Tamim, c.900–c.960, Hebrew scholar, an astronomer and physician of North Africa. A pioneer in the field of scientific comparative philology, he tried t...

Baker, Sir Samuel White

(Encyclopedia)Baker, Sir Samuel White, 1821–93, English explorer in Africa. He explored the Nile tributaries in Ethiopia in 1861–62. Going up the Nile from Cairo, he reached Gondokoro in 1863. He continued his ...

Bab el Mandeb

(Encyclopedia)Bab el Mandeb băb ĕl mănˈdĕb [key] [Arab.,= gate of tears], strait, 17 mi (27 km) wide, linking the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden and separating the Arabian peninsula from E Africa. It is an impo...

pyrolusite

(Encyclopedia)pyrolusite pīˈrōlo͞ozīt [key], naturally occurring manganese dioxide, MnO2, a black mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system but is usually found in earthy or massive deposits. It is th...

Oreopithecus

(Encyclopedia)Oreopithecus ôrˌēōpĭthˈəkəs, –pĭthēˈkəs [key], extinct genus of apes whose fossils have been found in E Africa and Italy. It is best known through specimens preserved in coal deposits. I...