(Encyclopedia) tumbleweed, any of several plants, particularly abundant in prairie and steppe regions, that commonly break from their roots at maturity and, drying into a rounded tangle of light,…
(Encyclopedia) bobolinkbobolinkbŏbˈəlĭngkˌ [key], common name in the N United States and Canada for an American songbird, Dolichonyx oryzivorus, related to the blackbird and the oriole, belonging to…
(Encyclopedia) swallow, common name for small perching birds of almost worldwide distribution. There are about 100 species of swallows, including the martins, which belong to the same family.…
(Encyclopedia) strawberry, any plant of the genus Fragaria of the family Rosaceae (rose family), low herbaceous perennials with edible red fruits, native to temperate and mountainous tropical regions…
Examining a primary source In 2011, scientists in Australia unearthed the nearly complete remains of a âgiant wombat,â or Diprotodon optatum, which roamed the Earth two million years ago.…
(Encyclopedia) coleuscoleuskōˈlēəs [key], common name for a genus of plants with large colorful leaves native to tropical Asia and Africa. Several species are grown as ornamentals. Plants of the…
(Encyclopedia) Grafton, Richard, d. c.1572, London publisher and printer. In 1539 with Edward Whitchurch he printed the Great Bible in black letter (see type). He printed the first edition of the…
(Encyclopedia) average, number used to represent or characterize a group of numbers. The most common type of average is the arithmetic mean. See median; mode.
(Encyclopedia) Nordic Council, international consultative body, created in 1952 by Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Finland joined the council in 1955. The territories of the Faeroes and the…
(Encyclopedia) Nicholas II (c.1010–61), pope (1058–61), a Roman named Gerard, b. Lorraine, France; successor to Pope Stephen IX. A strong proponent of papal reform, he issued (1059) the Papal…
