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borough-English

(Encyclopedia)borough-English, a custom of inheritance in parts of England whereby land passed typically to the youngest son in preference to his older brothers. Of Anglo-Saxon origin, the custom was abolished by l...

Brevard

(Encyclopedia)Brevard brəvärdˈ [key], town (2020 pop. 8,004), seat of Transylvania co., SW N.C., near Fr...

Black Rock Desert

(Encyclopedia)Black Rock Desert, arid region of lava beds and alkali flats, NW Nev., in Toiyabe National Forest, stretching c.70 mi (110 km) NE from Gerlach. The Jackson Mts. rise to the east; the Black Rock Range ...

Lower Austria

(Encyclopedia)Lower Austria, Ger. Niederösterreich, province (1991 pop. 1,480,927), c.7,400 sq mi (19,170 sq km), NE Austria. Vienna, although outside its boundaries, is the seat of the provincial government. Lowe...

Du Chaillu, Paul Belloni

(Encyclopedia)Du Chaillu, Paul Belloni pōl bĕlōnēˈ dü shāyüˈ [key], c.1831–1903, French-American explorer in Africa. Born probably in Paris, he spent his youth on the west coast of Africa, where his fath...

Cutler, Manasseh

(Encyclopedia)Cutler, Manasseh mənăsˈə [key], 1742–1823, American clergyman, scientist, and one of the organizers of the Ohio Company of Associates, b. Killingly, Conn. A student of both law and theology, he ...

sea snake

(Encyclopedia)sea snake, name for any of the venomous marine snakes of the family Hydrophidae, found in tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans. The sea snake's body is flattened laterally and its oarlike ...

Sutter, John Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Sutter, John Augustus, 1803–80, American pioneer, b. Kandern, Baden, of Swiss parents. His original name was Johann August Suter. He emigrated to the United States in 1834, went to St. Louis, then t...

Cadillac, Antoine de la Mothe

(Encyclopedia)Cadillac, Antoine de la Mothe Fr. äNtwänˈ də lä môt kädēyäkˈ [key], c.1658–1730, French colonial governor in North America, founder of Detroit. Of the minor Gascon nobility, he came to Ame...

zemstvo

(Encyclopedia)zemstvo zĕmstˈvō [key] [Rus., from zemlya=land], local assembly that functioned as a body of provincial self-government in Russia from 1864 to 1917. The introduction of the zemstvo system was one o...