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Marie de France

(Encyclopedia)Marie de France də fräNs [key], fl. 1155–90, poet. Born in France, she spent her adult life in England in aristocratic circles and wrote in Anglo-Norman. She is best known for some dozen lais; sev...

Smith, Hoke

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Hoke, 1855–1931, American political leader, b. Newton, N.C. A successful lawyer in Atlanta, he acquired the Atlanta Journal in 1887. He served (1893–96) in President Cleveland's cabinet as ...

Runyon, Damon

(Encyclopedia)Runyon, Damon (Alfred Damon Runyon), 1884–1946, American short story writer and journalist, b. Manhattan, Kans. He is best known for his humorous stories—written in a picturesque, slangy journalis...

Augustine Island

(Encyclopedia)Augustine Island ôˈgəstēn, –tĭn; ôgŭsˈtĭn [key], unihabited volcanic island, S Alaska, in Kamishak Bay at mouth of Cook Inlet. The active Augustine (or St. Augustine) volcano, which forms t...

Aorangi, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Aorangi, Mount ouräkˈē [key] [both: Maori,=cloud in the sky], or Mount Cook, 12,254 ft (3,735 m) high, on the South Island, New Zealand, in the Southern Alps; highest peak of New Zealand. Several g...

Jackman, Wilbur Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Jackman, Wilbur Samuel, 1855–1907, American educator, b. Mechanicstown, Ohio, grad. Harvard, 1884. Jackman was a leader of the nature study movement in elementary schools. He taught (after 1889) at ...

Stewart Island

(Encyclopedia)Stewart Island, island, 674 sq mi (1,746 sq km), S New Zealand, 20 mi (32 km) S of the South Island across Foveaux Strait. Halfmoon Bay is the main settlement. A mountainous and scenic island, it is a...

inert gas

(Encyclopedia)inert gas or noble gas, any of the elements in Group 18 of the periodic table. In order of increasing atomic number they are: helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon. They are colorless, odorle...

North Pole

(Encyclopedia)North Pole, northern end of the earth's axis, by convention at lat. 90°N. Because the earth's rotational axis wobbles slightly over time, the location where the northern end of the axis intersects th...

Vancouver, George

(Encyclopedia)Vancouver, George, 1757–98, English navigator and explorer. He sailed on Capt. James Cook's second and third voyages. After 1780 he served under Admiral George Rodney in the West Indies, taking part...