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coconut

(Encyclopedia)coconut, fruit of the coco palm (Cocos nucifera), a tree widely distributed through tropical regions. The seed is peculiarly adapted to dispersal by water because the large pod holding the nut is buoy...

Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeyevich

(Encyclopedia)Pushkin, Aleksandr Sergeyevich po͝oshˈkĭn, Rus. əlyĭksänˈdər syĭrgāˈyəvĭch po͞oshˈkĭn [key], 1799–1837, Russian poet and prose writer, among the foremost figures in Russian literatur...

Lindgren, Astrid

(Encyclopedia)Lindgren, Astrid, 1907–2002, Swedish author of children's fiction, b. Astrid Anna Emilia Ericsson. She worked as a secretary before turning to writing as a profession and later was a children's book...

Hale, Nathan

(Encyclopedia)Hale, Nathan, 1755–76, American soldier, hero of the American Revolution, b. Coventry, Conn. A young schoolteacher when the Revolution broke out, he was commissioned an officer in the Connecticut mi...

Ancren Riwle

(Encyclopedia)Ancren Riwle ängˈkrĕnə wĭsˈə [key] [Mid. Eng.,=anchoresses' rule], English tract written c.1200 by an anonymous English churchman for the instruction of three young ladies about to become relig...

Ivan VI

(Encyclopedia)Ivan VI, 1740–64, czar of Russia (1740–41), great-grandson of Ivan V. He was the son of Prince Anthony Ulric of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel and of Anna Leopoldovna. An infant, he succeeded his great-a...

Ali, Sabahattin

(Encyclopedia)Ali, Sabahattin, 1907–48, Turkish fiction writer. During his lifetime he was best known for his popular and realistic short stories, many of which were concerned with the plight of Turkey's poor. Hi...

de la Roche, Mazo

(Encyclopedia)de la Roche, Mazo māˈzō də lä rôsh [key], 1885–1961, Canadian novelist, b. Toronto. Her popular novel, Jalna (1927), was followed by a series depicting the history, through 150 years, of the v...

Douglas, William, 6th earl of Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, William, 6th earl of Douglas, 1423?–1440, Scottish nobleman, eldest son of Archibald Douglas, 5th earl of Douglas. In answer to an invitation from the young James II, who was at that time c...

Damrosch, Frank Heino

(Encyclopedia)Damrosch, Frank Heino hīˈnō dămˈrŏsh [key], 1859–1937, German-American conductor and educator, attended the College of the City of New York; son of Leopold Damrosch. In 1885, after a few years...