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Nature Conservancy

(Encyclopedia)Nature Conservancy, nonprofit organization established in 1951 to preserve or aid in the preservation of natural environments. It protects wilderness areas in the United States and Canada and is affil...

Mathew, Theobald

(Encyclopedia)Mathew, Theobald, 1790–1856, Irish social worker and temperance leader, a Capuchin priest. Father Mathew spent many years working for the welfare and education of the poor. In 1838 he took a pledge ...

Tacaná

(Encyclopedia)Tacaná täkänäˈ [key], volcano, 13,333 ft (4,064 m) high, on the Mexico-Guatemala boundary; second highest peak in Central America. Major eruptions occurred in 1855 and 1878. ...

Coxe, Tench

(Encyclopedia)Coxe, Tench kŏks [key], 1755–1824, American political economist, b. Philadelphia. He entered his father's mercantile business in 1776, but after 1790, when he became assistant to Alexander Hamilton...

Irala, Domingo Martínez de

(Encyclopedia)Irala, Domingo Martínez de dōmēngˈgō märtēˈnās dā ēräˈlä [key], d. 1556 or 1557, first governor of Paraguay. Of Basque origin, he accompanied Pedro de Mendoza on his expedition to La Pla...

ibis

(Encyclopedia)ibis īˈbĭs [key], common name for wading birds with long, slender, decurved bills, found in the warmer regions of both hemispheres. The body is usually about 2 ft (61 cm) long. Most ibises nest in ...

Hare Krishnas

(Encyclopedia)Hare Krishnas härˈē krĭshˈnəz [key], communalistic religious movement, officially known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Founded in New York City (1966) by A. C. Bhaktived...

Nicholson, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Nicholson, Francis, 1655–1728, British colonial administrator in North America. Lieutenant governor under Sir Edmund Andros, he fled (1689) to England during the revolt in New York led by Jacob Leis...

mastodon

(Encyclopedia)mastodon măsˈtədŏnˌ [key], name for a number of prehistoric mammals of the extinct genus Mammut, from which modern elephants are believed to have developed. The earliest known forms lived in the ...

Paraná, river, Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina

(Encyclopedia)Paraná, river, c.2,000 mi (3,200 km) long, formed by the junction of the Paranaíba and the Rio Grande, SE Brazil. It has the second largest drainage system in South America. It flows generally south...