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zoological garden

(Encyclopedia)zoological garden or zoo, public or private park where living animals are kept for exhibition and study. The menageries and aviaries of China, Egypt, and Rome were famous in ancient times. From the la...

zinnia

(Encyclopedia)zinnia, any species of the genus Zinnia of the family Asteraceae (aster family), native chiefly to Mexico, though some range as far north as Colorado and as far south as Guatemala. The common zinnia o...

Sligo, county, Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Sligo slīˈgō [key], county (1991 pop. 54,756), 694 sq mi (1,797 sq km), N Republic of Ireland. The county seat is Sligo. The irregular coast line is deeply indented by Killala Bay and Sligo Bay. Th...

bazooka

(Encyclopedia)bazooka, in warfare, portable, lightweight metal tube from which rockets are launched, usually operated by two men. It is used by infantry as an antitank weapon and also for attacking pillboxes and bu...

Valera, Diego de

(Encyclopedia)Valera, Diego de dyāˈgō dā välāˈrä [key], 1412?–1488?, Spanish adventurer and writer. Reared at the Castilian court, he was page to John II and later became one of his diplomatic agents. He ...

Baez, Joan

(Encyclopedia)Baez, Joan bīpstr;ĕz, bäˈ– [key], 1941–, American folk singer and political activist, b. New York City. Baez began singing traditional folk ballads, blues, and spirituals in Cambridge, Mass., ...

bandicoot

(Encyclopedia)bandicoot, small marsupial mammal native to Australia and nearby islands. There are 19 species in eight genera. Bandicoots have long, pointed, shrewlike faces; gray or brown fur; and long, bushy, ratl...

Baird, Spencer Fullerton

(Encyclopedia)Baird, Spencer Fullerton, 1823–87, American zoologist, b. Reading, Pa., grad. Dickinson College, 1840. He was professor of natural history at Dickinson from 1846 to 1850. While at the Smithsonian In...

Ozanam, Antoine Frédéric

(Encyclopedia)Ozanam, Antoine Frédéric äNtwänˈ frādārēkˈ ōzänämˈ [key], 1813–53, French Roman Catholic scholar. In 1831 he first achieved notice with his pamphlet against the Saint-Simonians. In Pari...

Viardot-Garcia, Pauline

(Encyclopedia)Viardot-Garcia, Pauline pōlēnˈ vyärdōˈ-gärsēäˈ [key], 1821–1910, French mezzo-soprano; sister of Maria Malibran; pupil of her father, Manuel García. Following her concert debut in Brussel...