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Mansa Musa

(Encyclopedia)Mansa Musa (Musa I) mänˈsä mo͞oˈsä [key], c.1280–1337, ruler of the Mali empire (1312–37). A devout Muslim, he brought the Mali empire to its greatest height, encompassing what is now Niger ...

Slave Coast

(Encyclopedia)Slave Coast, name given by European traders to the coast bordering the Bight of Benin on the Gulf of Guinea, W Africa. It was the principal source of slaves from W Africa from the 16th cent. to the mi...

echidna, in zoology

(Encyclopedia)echidna ĭkĭdˈnə [key] or spiny anteater, animal of the order Monotremata, the egg-laying mammals. A short-legged, grayish brown animal, the echidna is covered with sharp quills and can protect its...

darter, bird

(Encyclopedia)darter or anhinga ănhĭngˈgə [key], common name for a very slender, black water bird very closely related to the cormorant. It frequents the wooded borders of freshwater lakes, rivers, and swamps i...

Halmahera

(Encyclopedia)Halmahera jīlôˈlô [key], island, c.7,000 sq mi (18,100 sq km), E Indonesia, between New G...

John Maurice of Nassau

(Encyclopedia)John Maurice of Nassau, 1604–79, Dutch general and colonial administrator, a prince of the house of Nassau-Siegen; grandnephew of William the Silent. The Dutch West India Company appointed him (1636...

Ternate

(Encyclopedia)Ternate tĕrnäˈtā [key], volcanic island (c.40 sq mi/100 sq km), E Indonesia, in the Molucca Sea, one of the Moluccas. Forested and mountainous, the nearly conical Ternate rises to the summit of Ga...

Carmichael, Stokely

(Encyclopedia)Carmichael, Stokely, 1941–98, African-American social activist, b. Trinidad. He lived in New York City from 1952 and graduated from Howard Univ. in 1964. Carmichael participated in the Congress of R...

pelican

(Encyclopedia)pelican, common name for a large, gregarious aquatic bird of warm regions, allied to the cormorants and gannets. Pelicans are heavy-bodied, long-necked birds with large, flat bills. They are graceful ...

Cotonou

(Encyclopedia)Cotonou kōtōno͞oˈ [key], city, capital of Atlantique prov., S Benin, on the Gulf of Guinea. ...