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amethyst

(Encyclopedia)amethyst ămˈəthĭst [key] [Gr.,=non-drunkenness], variety of quartz, violet to purple in color, used as a gem. It is the most highly valued of the semiprecious quartzes. It is associated with a num...

Curitiba

(Encyclopedia)Curitiba ko͞orētēˈbä [key], city, capital of Paraná state, SE Brazil. It was founded in ...

Schenck, Robert Cumming

(Encyclopedia)Schenck, Robert Cumming skĕngk [key], 1809–90, American politician and diplomat, Union general in the Civil War, b. Franklin, Ohio. He studied law and practiced in Dayton. Schenck was a Whig in Con...

carnauba

(Encyclopedia)carnauba kärnôˈbə, –nouˈ– [key], wax obtained from the wax palm, or carnauba (Copernicia cerifera), of Brazil. It is secreted by the leaves, apparently in defense against the hot winds and dr...

Campinas

(Encyclopedia)Campinas kəmpēˈnəs [key], city, São Paulo state, S Brazil. It is a growing industrial an...

Guiana Highlands

(Encyclopedia)Guiana Highlands, mountainous tableland, c.1,200 mi (1,930 km) long and from 200 to 600 mi (322–966 km) wide, N South America, bounded by the Orinoco and Amazon river basins, and by the coastal lowl...

Dutch West India Company

(Encyclopedia)Dutch West India Company, trading and colonizing company, chartered by the States-General of the Dutch republic in 1621 and organized in 1623. Through its agency New Netherland was founded. The phenom...

Lupescu, Magda

(Encyclopedia)Lupescu, Magda mägˈdä lo͞opĕˈsko͞o [key], 1896?–1977, wife of Carol II of Romania. Her given name was Elena. Carol renounced (1925) his succession to the throne for her, but after becoming ki...

Hilliard, Henry Washington

(Encyclopedia)Hilliard, Henry Washington hĭlˈyərd [key], 1808–92, American statesman and diplomat, b. Fayetteville, N.C. After teaching English literature (1831–34) at the Univ. of Alabama, he began to pract...

Franco, Itamar Augusto

(Encyclopedia)Franco, Itamar Augusto, 1930–2011, Brazilian political leader. He began his political career as mayor (1966–74) of his hometown, Juiz de Fora, and was subsequently (1974, 1982) elected to the Braz...