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teak

(Encyclopedia)teak, tall deciduous tree (Tectona grandis) of the family Verbenaceae (verbena family), native to India and Malaysia but now widely cultivated in other tropical areas. Unfortunately, the wood of plant...

Beckham, David

(Encyclopedia)Beckham, David (David Robert Joseph Beckham), 1975–, English soccer player known especially for the power and accuracy of his free kicks. After beginning to play on the Manchester United youth squad...

baobab

(Encyclopedia)baobab bäˈōbăbˌ, bāˈō– [key], gigantic tree, Adansonia digitata, of India and Africa, exceeded in trunk diameter only by the sequoia. The hollow trunks of living baobabs have been used for d...

Sampras, Pete

(Encyclopedia)Sampras, Pete sămˈprəs [key], 1971–, American tennis player, b. Washington, D.C. Learning the game in the Los Angeles area, he rose to world tennis supremacy after becoming the youngest man to wi...

Andersson, Bibi

(Encyclopedia)Andersson, Bibi, 1935–2019, Swedish actress best known for her work with director Ingmar Bergman, b. Berit Elizabeth Andersson. Her films with Bergman included The Seventh Seal (1957); Wild Strawber...

Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence

(Encyclopedia)Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence mĕkˈlənbûrgˌ [key], resolution alleged to have been proclaimed at Charlotte, N.C., by the citizens of Mecklenburg co. on May 20, 1775. Although North Carol...

Lagerlöf, Selma

(Encyclopedia)Lagerlöf, Selma sĕlˈmä läˈgərlöv [key], 1858–1940, Swedish novelist. Her native Värmland is the background for many of her excellent stories, which deal with peasant life. Novels include Th...

Babbitt, Natalie

(Encyclopedia)Babbitt, Natalie, 1932–2016, American children's book author and illustrator, b. Dayton, Ohio, as Natalie Zane Moore, grad. Smith College, 1954. She illustrated The Forty-Ninth Magician (1966), writ...

Wieland, Christoph Martin

(Encyclopedia)Wieland, Christoph Martin krĭsˈtôf märˈtĭn vēˈlänt [key], 1733–1813, German poet and novelist. His style, typical of the German rococo, is elegant, satiric, and often playful. He borrowed s...

Benedetti, Mario

(Encyclopedia)Benedetti, Mario, 1920–2009, Uruguayan writer, one of Latin America's most popular, influential, and prolific authors. The son of Italian immigrants, he grew up and was educated in Montevideo. Bened...