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Fitzpatrick, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)Fitzpatrick, Benjamin, 1802–69, governor of Alabama (1841–45), b. Greene co., Ga. As a youth, he moved to Alabama (then still part of Mississippi Territory), where after two terms as governor, he ...

bauxite

(Encyclopedia)bauxite bôkˈsīt, bŏkˈ– [key], mixture of hydrated aluminum oxides usually containing oxides of iron and silicon in varying quantities. A noncrystalline substance formerly thought to be a minera...

Bibb, William Wyatt

(Encyclopedia)Bibb, William Wyatt, 1781–1820, first governor of Alabama (1817–20), b. Amelia co., Va. Graduated in medicine from the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1801), he began practice in Petersburg, Ga. He was a s...

blowgun

(Encyclopedia)blowgun, hollow tube from which a dart or an arrow is blown by a person's breath. The arrow was usually tipped with a poison, such as curare, which would stun or kill the struck prey. Blowguns were wi...

Baylor, Robert Emmett Bledsoe

(Encyclopedia)Baylor, Robert Emmett Bledsoe bāˈlər [key], 1793?–1873, American jurist, founder of Baylor Univ., b. Kentucky. He served in the War of 1812, studied law, and served in the Kentucky legislature. M...

Burlin, Natalie Curtis

(Encyclopedia)Burlin, Natalie Curtis bûrˈlĭn, bərlĭnˈ [key], 1875–1921, American writer and musician, b. New York City, studied music in France and Germany. She was one of the leading transcribers of the in...

Carvajal, Francisco de

(Encyclopedia)Carvajal, Francisco de fränthēsˈkō dā kärvähälˈ [key], 1464?–1548, Spanish conquistador. For 40 years he fought in European wars before going to Mexico and subsequently to Peru, where he ai...

horse chestnut

(Encyclopedia)horse chestnut, common name for some members of the Hippocastanaceae, a family of trees and shrubs of the north temperate zones and of South America. The horse chestnut tree, Aesculus hippocastanum, a...

hantavirus

(Encyclopedia)hantavirus, any of a genus (Hantavirus) of single-stranded RNA viruses that are carried by rodents and transmitted to humans when they inhale vapors from contaminated rodent urine, saliva, or feces. T...

Jesuit Relations

(Encyclopedia)Jesuit Relations, annual reports and narratives written by French Jesuit missionaries at their stations in New France (America) between 1632 and 1673. They are invaluable as historical sources for Fre...