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corundum

(Encyclopedia)corundum kərŭnˈdəm [key], mineral, aluminum oxide, Al2O3. The clear varieties are used as gems and the opaque as abrasive materials. Corundum occurs in crystals of the hexagonal system and in mass...

cyanobacteria

(Encyclopedia)cyanobacteria sīˌənōbăktĭrˈēə, sī-ănˌō– [key] or blue-green algae, photosynthetic bacteria that contain chlorophyll. For many years they were classified in the plant kingdom along with ...

Chesterton, G. K.

(Encyclopedia)Chesterton, G. K. (Gilbert Keith Chesterton), 1874–1936, English author. Conservative, even reactionary, in his thinking, Chesterton was a convert (1922) to Roman Catholicism and its champion. He ha...

chicle

(Encyclopedia)chicle chĭkˈəl [key], name for the gum obtained from the latex of the sapodilla tree (Manilkara zapota), a tropical American evergreen. The sapodilla (known also by many other common names) is wide...

Hughes, Howard Robard

(Encyclopedia)Hughes, Howard Robard, 1905–76, U.S. business executive, b. Houston. As a young man he inherited (1925) the patent rights to an oil tool drill, which, manufactured by the Hughes Tool Company, formed...

hydra, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)hydra hīˈdrə [key], common name for freshwater organisms in the phylum Cnidaria, which includes jellyfish, sea anemones, and corals. Hydras are widely distributed in lakes, ponds, and sluggish stre...

Hampton, Lionel

(Encyclopedia)Hampton, Lionel, 1908?–2002, African-American vibraphonist and bandleader, b. Louisville, Ky. When his family moved to Chicago c.1916, the young Hampton began playing drums in a newsboys' band. He m...

Hofstadter, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hofstadter, Richard hōfˈstătˌər, hŏfˈ–, hôfˈ– [key], 1916–70, American historian, b. Buffalo, N.Y. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1942 and began teaching there in 1946, becoming...

Green Bay, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Green Bay, city (2020 pop. 107,395), seat of Brown co., NE Wis., at the mouth of the Fox River on Green Bay; inc. 1854. An important Great Lakes harbor,...

gerbil

(Encyclopedia)gerbil jûrˈbĭl [key], small desert rodent found throughout the hot arid regions of Africa and Asia. Also known as sand rats, gerbils have large eyes and powerful, elongated hind limbs upon which th...