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graphite

(Encyclopedia)graphite grăfˈīt [key], an allotropic form of carbon, known also as plumbago and black lead. It is dark gray or black, crystalline (often in the form of slippery scales), greasy, and soft, with a m...

magpie

(Encyclopedia)magpie, common name for certain birds of the family Corvidae (crows and jays). The black-billed magpie, Pica pica or P. hudsonia, of W North America has iridescent black plumage, white wing patches an...

Pufendorf, Samuel, Baron von

(Encyclopedia)Pufendorf, Samuel, Baron von zäˈmo͞oĕl bärônˈ fən po͞oˈfəndôrf [key], 1632–94, German jurist and historian. He is especially noted as an early theorist of international law. Educated in ...

ethnic studies

(Encyclopedia)ethnic studies, in American education, programs offering courses in the history and culture of minority groups. Ethnic studies arose as a result of the black protest movement of the 1960s, which, amon...

Slocum massacre

(Encyclopedia)Slocum massacre, July 29–30, 1910, killing of an unknown number of African Americans by armed mobs of white men in the town of Slocum, Texas. The killings may have been precipitated by rumors that b...

Chandler, family of American real estate developers and publishers

(Encyclopedia)Chandler, family of American real estate developers and publishers. Harry Chandler, 1864–1944, b. Landaff, N.H., moved to Los Angeles and during the early 20th cent. was very largely responsible for...

Feodosiya

(Encyclopedia)Feodosiya fāˌədôˈsēə [key], city, E Crimea. From 1954 part of Ukraine (then the Ukrainian SSR), ...

ferret

(Encyclopedia)ferret, name for a domesticated polecat, Mustela putorius, common in the Old World. It has been used for centuries to hunt rats, mice, and rabbits. Domestic ferrets are found in many color types inclu...

Harris, Joel Chandler

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Joel Chandler, 1848–1908, American short-story writer and humorist, b. Eatonton, Ga., considered one of the great American regionalist writers. As an apprentice to the editor of the Countrym...

molly

(Encyclopedia)molly or mollie, New World fish of the genus Poecilia, which includes the guppy or rainbow fish, Poecilia reticulata. Mollies, which are related to the killifishes, are found from the E and central Un...