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Scoresby, William

(Encyclopedia)Scoresby, William skôrzˈbē [key], 1789–1857, English arctic explorer and scientist. He made yearly voyages (1803–22) to Greenland, at first on his father's whaler, later as captain on other shi...

Sherbrooke, Robert Lowe, Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Sherbrooke, Robert Lowe, Viscount shûrˈbro͝ok [key], 1811–92, British statesman. He emigrated (1842) to Australia and achieved recognition as a reform politician. Returning (1850) to England, he ...

Slim, William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Slim, William Joseph Slim, 1st Viscount, 1891–1970, British field marshal. He saw service in several campaigns, notably Gallipoli and Mesopotamia, in World War I. After the war he joined the Indian ...

Standardbred horse

(Encyclopedia)Standardbred horse or trotter, American breed of light horse developed especially for harness, or sulky, racing. Of Thoroughbred ancestry, it is similar in appearance to a thoroughbred but has shorter...

Siding Spring Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Siding Spring Observatory, astronomical observatory located on Siding Spring Mountain, near Coonabarabran, at an altitude of nearly 4,000 ft (1,220 m) in the Warrumbungle Mts. of New South Wales, Aust...

Stead, Christina

(Encyclopedia)Stead, Christina, 1902–83, Australian novelist, b. Rockdale, New South Wales. She worked in the United States in the 1940s, emigrated to England in 1953, then returned to Australia in 1974. Her nove...

bandicoot

(Encyclopedia)bandicoot, small marsupial mammal native to Australia and nearby islands. There are 19 species in eight genera. Bandicoots have long, pointed, shrewlike faces; gray or brown fur; and long, bushy, ratl...

Coetzee, J. M.

(Encyclopedia)Coetzee, J. M. (John Maxwell Coetzee) köˈtsē [key], 1940–, South African novelist, b. John Michael Coetzee. Educated at the Univ. of Cape Town (M.A. 1963) and the Univ. of Texas (Ph.D. 1969), he ...

Indian Ocean

(Encyclopedia)Indian Ocean, third largest ocean, c.28,350,000 sq mi (73,427,000 sq km), extending from S Asia to Antarctica and from E Africa to SE Australia; it is c.4,000 mi (6,400 km) wide at the equator. It con...

Norfolk Island

(Encyclopedia)Norfolk Island nôrˈfək [key], island (2016 pop. 1,748), 13 sq mi (34 sq km), South Pacific, a territory of Australia, c.1,035 mi (1,670 km) NE of Sydney. Its capital is Kingston. Now a resort, Norf...