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Henry the Navigator

(Encyclopedia)Henry the Navigator, 1394–1460, prince of Portugal, patron of exploration. Because he fought with extraordinary valor in the Portuguese conquest of Ceuta (1415), he was created duke of Viseu by his ...

Donner Party

(Encyclopedia)Donner Party, group of emigrants to California who in the winter of 1846–47 met with one of the most famous tragedies in Western history. The California-bound families were mostly from Illinois and ...

Coahuila

(Encyclopedia)Coahuila kōäwēˈlä [key], state, 58,067 sq mi (150,394 sq km), N Mexico, on the northward ...

Yosemite National Park

(Encyclopedia)Yosemite National Park yōsĕmˈĭtē [key], 748,436 acres (302,881 hectares), E central Calif.; est. 1890 as a result of the efforts of conservationist John Muir. Located in the Sierra Nevada, it is ...

Liberia

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Liberia lībērˈēə [key] [New Lat.,=place of freedom], officially Republic of Liberia, republic (2015 est. pop. 4,500,000), 43,000 sq mi (111,370 sq km), W Africa. Liberia fronts on the Atla...

pidgin

(Encyclopedia)pidgin pĭjˈən [key], a lingua franca that is not the mother tongue of anyone using it and that has a simplified grammar and a restricted, often polyglot vocabulary. The earliest documented pidgin i...

Oaxaca, state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Oaxaca wähäˈkä [key], state (1990 pop. 3,019,560), 36,375 sq mi (94,211 sq km), S Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean and its arm, the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Oaxaca is the capital. The northern part of the...

Guinea, country, Africa

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Guinea gĭnˈē [key], officially Republic of Guinea, republic (2015 est. pop. 12,092,000), 94,925 sq mi (245,856 sq km), W Africa. It is bounded on the north by Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and Mal...

Serra, Saint Junípero

(Encyclopedia)Serra, Saint Junípero ho͞onēˈpārō sĕˈrä [key], 1713–84, Spanish Franciscan missionary in North America, b. Majorca. His name was originally Miguel José Serra, and Junípero was his name in...

Mojave Desert

(Encyclopedia)Mojave or Mohave Desert, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), region of low, barren mountains and flat valleys, 2,000 to 5,000 ft (610–1,524 m) high, S Calif.; part of the Great Basin of the United States...