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Bilac, Olavo

(Encyclopedia)Bilac, Olavo o͝oläˈvo͝o bēläkˈ [key], 1865–1918, Brazilian poet, journalist, and critic. He was the chief poet of the Brazilian group related to the French Parnassians. His writings have an e...

saxifrage

(Encyclopedia)saxifrage săkˈsĭfrĭj [key], common name for several members of the Saxifragaceae, a family of widely varying herbs, shrubs, and small trees of cosmopolitan distribution. They are found especially ...

Shakur, Tupac Amaru

(Encyclopedia) Shakur, Tupac Amaru, 1971-1996, African-American rap artist, composer, and actor, b. New York, N.Y., as Lesane Parish Crooks. Tupac’s mother was a ...

Polypodiophyta

(Encyclopedia)Polypodiophyta pŏlˌēpōˌdēŏfˈətə [key], division of the plant kingdom consisting of the plants commonly called ferns. The ferns are vascular plants with stems, roots, and leaves. The small an...

Emigrant Aid Company

(Encyclopedia)Emigrant Aid Company, organization formed in 1854 to promote organized antislavery immigration to the Kansas territory from the Northeast. Eli Thayer conceived the plan as early as Feb., 1854, even be...

Celt

(Encyclopedia)Celt kĕlt [key]. 1 One who speaks a Celtic language or who derives ancestry from an area where a Celtic language was spoken; i.e., one from Ireland, the Scottish Hebrides and Highlands, the Isle of M...

Nobili, Roberto de

(Encyclopedia)Nobili, Roberto de rōbĕrˈtō dā nōˈbēlē [key], 1577–1656, Italian Jesuit missionary. He was ordained in Rome in 1603 after seven years of training in Naples and sailed the following year for...

Abaco Islands

(Encyclopedia)Abaco Islands ăbˈəkō [key], island group, c.780 sq mi (2,020 sq km), most northerly of the Bahamas. Also known as Abaco and Cays, the Abacos include Great Abaco (the largest), Little Abaco, and th...

Low, Juliette Gordon

(Encyclopedia)Low, Juliette Gordon, 1860–1927, American founder of the Girl Scouts, b. Savannah, Ga., as Juliette Magill Kinzie Gordon. From a prominent Southern family, she met Robert Baden-Powell, founder of th...

Lubin, David

(Encyclopedia)Lubin, David lo͞oˈbĭn [key], 1849–1919, American agriculturist, b. Poland. After prospering as a merchant in California, he devoted himself to helping farmers with their problems. Through his eff...