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Mammoth Cave National Park

(Encyclopedia)Mammoth Cave National Park, 52,830 acres (21,396 hectares), central Kentucky, authorized 1926, est. 1941. Located in a hilly, forested region, it offers numerous outdoor activities. It is the site of ...

mango

(Encyclopedia)mango măngˈgō [key], evergreen tree of the Anacardiaceae (sumac family), native to tropical E Asia and now grown in both hemispheres. The chief species, Mangifera indica, is believed to have been c...

Whitney, Eli

(Encyclopedia)Whitney, Eli, 1765–1825, American inventor of the cotton gin, b. Westboro, Mass., grad. Yale, 1792. When he was staying as tutor at Mulberry Grove, the plantation of Mrs. Nathanael Greene, Whitney w...

walking stick

(Encyclopedia)walking stick or stick insect, names applied to extremely longbodied, slow-moving, herbivorous insects, forming a single family in the order Phasmatodea. Walking sticks have green, gray, or brown bodi...

Weir, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Weir, Peter wēr [key], 1944–, Australian film director, b. Sydney. His early work helped to bring Australian film to world attention; his later films, made in Hollywood, mingle American movie techn...

blowfly

(Encyclopedia)blowfly, name for flies of the family Calliphoridae. Blowflies are about the same size as, and resemble, the housefly; because they are usually metallic blue or green they are also called bluebottle o...

Xerxes I

(Encyclopedia)Xerxes I (Xerxes the Great) zûrkˈsēz [key], d. 465 b.c., king of ancient Persia (486–465 b.c.). His name in Old Persian is Khshayarsha, in the Bible Ahasuerus. He was the son of Darius I and Atos...

bile

(Encyclopedia)bile, bitter alkaline fluid of a yellow, brown, or green color, secreted, in man, by the liver. Bile, or gall, is composed of water, bile acids and their salts, bile pigments, cholesterol, fatty acids...

Zanuck, Darryl Francis

(Encyclopedia)Zanuck, Darryl Francis, 1902–79, American movie producer, b. Wahoo, Nebr. Beginning his Hollywood career as a scriptwriter, he was hired (1924) by Warner Brothers and made a name for himself penning...

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 ...