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Alger, Horatio

(Encyclopedia)Alger, Horatio ălˈjər [key], 1834–99, American writer of boys' stories, b. Revere, Mass. He wrote over 100 books for boys, the first, Ragged Dick, being published in 1867. By leading exemplary li...

towhee

(Encyclopedia)towhee tōˈhē, tōhēˈ, to͞oˈhē [key], common name for a North American bird of the family Fringillidae (finch family). Towhees are also called chewinks, for their call, and ground robins, becau...

Saratoga campaign

(Encyclopedia)Saratoga campaign, June–Oct., 1777, of the American Revolution. Lord George Germain and John Burgoyne were the chief authors of a plan to end the American Revolution by splitting the colonies along ...

Jura, mountain range, France and Switzerland

(Encyclopedia)Jura jo͝orˈə, Fr. zhüräˈ, Ger. yo͞oˈrä [key], mountain range, part of the Alpine system, E France and NW Switzerland, occupying parts of the French region of Franche-Comté and the Swiss cant...

Sierra Nevada, mountain range, United States

(Encyclopedia)Sierra Nevada sēĕrˈə nəväˈdə [key], mountain range, c.400 mi (640 km) long and from c.40 to 80 mi (60–130 km) wide, mostly in E Calif. It rises to 14,495 ft (4,418 m) in Mt. Whitney, the hig...

Shiphrah

(Encyclopedia)Shiphrah shĭfˈrə [key], in the Bible, midwife ordered to kill Hebrew boys. ...

Madeira Islands

(Encyclopedia)Madeira Islands mədērˈə, –dârˈə [key], archipelago (1991 pop. 257,692), 308 sq mi (798 sq km), autonomous region of Portugal, in the Atlantic Ocean c.350 mi (560 km) off Morocco. Madeira, the...

Henty, George Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Henty, George Alfred, 1832–1902, English author. Initially a war correspondent, he later wrote boys' adventure tales that were very popular. Henty's books all focused on an ideal of manly virtue. Th...

Crosby

(Encyclopedia)Crosby, town, Sefton metropolitan district, NW England, on Liverpool Bay. Formed in 1937 from the urban districts of Great Crosby and Waterloo-with-Seaf...

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