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Mississippi Scheme

(Encyclopedia)Mississippi Scheme, plan formulated by John Law for the colonization and commercial exploitation of the Mississippi valley and other French colonial areas. In 1717 the French merchant Antoine Crozat t...

caravan

(Encyclopedia)caravan, group of travelers or merchants banded together and organized for mutual assistance and defense while traveling through unsettled or hostile country. Caravan trade is associated with the hist...

South African literature

(Encyclopedia)South African literature, literary works written in South Africa or written by South Africans living in other countries. Populated by diverse ethnic and language groups, South Africa has a distinctive...

Simon's Town

(Encyclopedia)Simon's Town or Simonstown sīˈmənztoun [key], town, now part of City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality, Western Cape prov., SW South Africa, on False Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. It is a...

Lynn, Loretta

(Encyclopedia)Lynn, Loretta, 1932–2022, American country singer and songwriter, b. Butcher Hollow, Ky. One of the most successful singers in modern country music, s...

Transkei

(Encyclopedia)Transkei trănskīˈ [key], former black “homeland” and nominal republic, E South Africa, in what is now Eastern Cape prov. Transkei was bounded by the Great Kei River on the south, by the Indian ...

Rwanda

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Rwanda ro͝oänˈdä [key], officially Republic of Rwanda, republic (2015 est. pop. 11,630,000), 10,169 sq mi (26,338 sq km), E central Africa. It borders on Congo (Kinshasa) in the west, on Ug...

Parton, Dolly

(Encyclopedia)Parton, Dolly, 1946–, country singer, songwriter, and actress, b. Sevier County, Tenn. Among the most popular country singers of the 1970s and 80s, Parton is known for her Nashville-style flamboyanc...

Deventer, Sir Jacob Louis van

(Encyclopedia)Deventer, Sir Jacob Louis van yäˈkōp lo͞oēˈ fän dĕfˈəntər [key], 1874?–1922, Boer general. In the South African War he commanded guerrilla forces in the Cape Colony. During World War I he...

Prester John

(Encyclopedia)Prester John, legendary Christian priest and monarch of a vast, wealthy empire in Asia or in Africa. The legend first appeared in the latter part of the 12th cent. and persisted for several centuries....