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ironclad

(Encyclopedia)ironclad, mid-19th-century wooden warship protected from gunfire by iron armor. The success of the ironclad when first employed by the French in the Crimean War sparked a naval armor and armaments rac...

Borchgrevink, Carsten Egeberg

(Encyclopedia)Borchgrevink, Carsten Egeberg kärˈstən āˈgəbĕrˈ bôrkˈgrāˌvĭngk [key], 1864–1934, Norwegian-Australian antarctic explorer. He emigrated to Australia in 1888, and in 1894 he went south in...

Strachey, William

(Encyclopedia)Strachey, William, 1572–1621, English colonial historian; educated at Cambridge. In 1609 he sailed to Virginia with Sir Thomas Gates. A storm wrecked his ship in the Bermudas, and the party remained...

Tryon, William

(Encyclopedia)Tryon, William, 1729–88, English colonial governor in North America. After a distinguished army career he was appointed (1764) lieutenant governor of North Carolina and succeeded (1765) Arthur Dobbs...

Boethus

(Encyclopedia)Boethus bōēˈthəs [key], fl. 1st half of 2d cent. b.c., Greek sculptor of genre subjects and worker in silver. He was born in Chalcedon and seems to have worked mainly at Rhodes. In the writings of...

Bremerhaven

(Encyclopedia)Bremerhaven brāˈmərhäˌfən [key], city, in the state of Bremen, NW Germany, at the mouth of the Weser ...

Saint Elmo's fire

(Encyclopedia)Saint Elmo's fire, luminous discharge of electricity extending into the atmosphere from some projecting or elevated object. It is usually observed (often during a snowstorm or a dust storm) as brushli...

sloop

(Encyclopedia)sloop, fore-and-aft-rigged, single-masted sailing vessel with a single headsail jib. A sloop differs from a cutter in that it has a jibstay—a support leading from the bow to the masthead on which th...

Camões, Luís de

(Encyclopedia)Camões or Camoens, Luís de both: lo͞oēshˈ dĭ kəmoiNshˈ [key], 1524?–1580, Portuguese poet, the greatest figure in Portuguese literature. Born of a poor family, Camões gained wide familiarit...

dry rot

(Encyclopedia)dry rot, fungus disease that attacks both softwood and hardwood timber. Destruction of the cellulose causes discoloration and eventual crumbling of the wood. This frequently results in the collapse of...