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Dias, Antônio Gonçalves

(Encyclopedia)Dias, Antônio Gonçalves əntôˈnyo͝o go͝onsälˈvəs dēˈəs [key], 1823–64, Brazilian poet and dramatist. A leading writer of the romantic school, he is noted for his strong nativist feeling ...

quinine

(Encyclopedia)quinine kwīˈnīnˌ, kwĭnēnˈ [key], white crystalline alkaloid with a bitter taste. Before the development of more effective synthetic drugs such as quinacrine, chloroquine, and primaquine, quinin...

Fitch, John

(Encyclopedia)Fitch, John, 1743–98, American inventor, b. Windsor, Conn. Fitch began (1785) work on the invention of the steam engine and steamboat and secured soon afterward the exclusive right to build and oper...

Haya de la Torre, Víctor Raúl

(Encyclopedia)Haya de la Torre, Víctor Raúl vēkˈtôr räo͞olˈ äˈyä dā lä tôˈrĕ [key], 1895–1979, Peruvian political leader, founder of the APRA party. Although he never held power and spent much of ...

Bedford, Gunning, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Bedford, Gunning, Jr., 1747–1812, American political leader, b. Philadelphia. Settling in Delaware, Bedford became a member of the local legislature, attorney general (1784–89), and a delegate to ...

Brébeuf, Jean de, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Brébeuf, Jean de, Saint zhäN də brāböfˈ [key], 1593–1649, French Roman Catholic missionary, one of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America. A Norman, he was sent (1625) to Quebec and did missionar...

Oceanic languages

(Encyclopedia)Oceanic languages, aboriginal languages spoken in the region known as Oceania. If Oceania is restricted to the Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian islands, the indigenous tongues spoken on these i...

figwort

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Figwort, Scrophularia lanceolata figwort, common name for some members of the Scrophulariaceae, a family comprising chiefly herbs and small shrubs and distributed widely over all continents. T...

Šafařik, Pavel Josef

(Encyclopedia)Šafařik, Pavel Josef päˈvĕl yôˈzĕf shäˈfär-zhēk [key], 1795–1861, Czech philologist and archaeologist; his name is also spelled Schafarik and Schafřík. Šafařik advanced the theory th...

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