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Froissart, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Froissart, Jean zhäN frəwäsärˈ [key], c.1337–1410?, French chronicler, poet, and courtier, b. Valenciennes. Although ordained as a priest, he led a worldly life. He became a protégé of Queen ...

Jim Crow laws

(Encyclopedia)Jim Crow laws, in U.S. history, statutes enacted by Southern states and municipalities, beginning in the 1880s, that legalized segregation between blacks and whites. The name is believed to be derived...

Gill, Sir David

(Encyclopedia)Gill, Sir David gĭl [key], 1843–1914, Scottish astronomer, educated at the Univ. of Aberdeen. He made observations of the transits of Venus and Mars and investigated the solar parallax. As astronom...

Tolkien, J. R. R.

(Encyclopedia)Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien) tälˈkēn, tōlˈ– [key], 1892–1973, British novelist, b. South Africa. A fantasy writer and Oxford don, Tolkien wrote The Hobbit (1937), adapted fro...

black codes

(Encyclopedia)black codes, in U.S. history, series of statutes passed by the ex-Confederate states, 1865–66, dealing with the status of the newly freed slaves. They varied greatly from state to state as to their ...

Sydney, city, Australia

(Encyclopedia)Sydney, city (2016 pop. 208,374, Greater Sydney 2016 pop. 4,823,991), capital of New South Wales, SE Australia, surrounding Port Jackson inlet on the Pacific Ocean. Sydney is Australia's largest metro...

Zeeland

(Encyclopedia)Zeeland zēˈlənd, Dutch zāˈlänt [key], province (1994 pop. 363,900), c.650 sq mi (1,680 sq km), SW Netherlands, bordering on Belgium in the south and the North Sea in the west. The main cities ar...

Central America

(Encyclopedia)Central America, narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. Historically, geographe...

Boeotia

(Encyclopedia)Boeotia bēōˈshə [key], region of ancient Greece. It lay N of Attica, Megaris, and the Gulf of Corinth. The early inhabitants were from Thessaly. A number of small cities scattered over the rough c...

Cretaceous period

(Encyclopedia)Cretaceous period krĭtāˈshəs [key], third and last period of the Mesozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), lasting from approximately 144 to 65 millio...