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El Dorado, legendary country of South America

(Encyclopedia)El Dorado ĕlˈdəräˈdō, –rāˈ– [key] [Span.,=the gilded man], legendary country of the Golden Man sought by adventurers in South America. The legend supposedly originated in a custom of the C...

Harney, William Selby

(Encyclopedia)Harney, William Selby, 1800–1889, American general, b. Haysboro, near Nashville, Tenn. He entered the army in 1818 and gained a colonel's rank in the Florida campaigns against Native Americans. Rank...

Borromini, Francesco

(Encyclopedia)Borromini, Francesco fränchāˈskō bōr-rōmēˈnē [key], 1599–1677, major Italian baroque architect. His first independent commission (begun 1634) was San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, Rome, one o...

Douglas, David

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, David, 1798–1834, Scottish botanist. He made several journeys in North America between 1823 and 1834 to study American plants and sent to Scotland more than 200 plants and seeds then unknow...

García Robles, Alfonso

(Encyclopedia)García Robles, Alfonso älfônˈsō gärsēˈä rōˈblās [key], 1911–91, Mexican statesman, b. Zamora, Mex. After studying law in Europe, he entered the Mexican foreign service in 1939. He was a ...

Alvear, Carlos María de

(Encyclopedia)Alvear, Carlos María de kärˈlōs märēˈä dā älvāärˈ [key], 1789–1852, Argentine general and statesman. After distinguished service with the Spanish army in Europe, he returned to Argentin...

Biscay, Bay of

(Encyclopedia)Biscay, Bay of bĭsˈkā [key], arm of the Atlantic Ocean, indenting the coast of W Europe from Ushant island (Île d'Ouessant) off Brittany, NW France, to Cape Ortegal, NW Spain. The bay is noted for...

Kroc, Ray

(Encyclopedia)Kroc, Ray (Raymond Albert Kroc), 1902–84, American fast-food restauranteur and franchiser, b. Chicago. Kroc held several jobs before becoming (1937) the distributor for a blender that simultaneously...

Grellet, Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Grellet, Stephen grĕlĕtˈ [key], 1773–1855, Quaker missionary, b. France; son of well-to-do Roman Catholic parents. His name originally was Étienne de Grellet du Mabillier. He fled France at the ...

Lucca

(Encyclopedia)Lucca lo͞okˈkä [key], city (1991 pop. 87,100), capital of Lucca prov., Tuscany, N central Italy, near the Ligurian Sea. It is a commercial and industrial center and an agricultural market (olive oi...