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Kiner, Ralph McPherran

(Encyclopedia)Kiner, Ralph McPherran, 1922–2014, American baseball player and sportscaster, b. Santa Rita, N. Mex. A right-handed slugger and outfielder, he played with the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates (1...

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

(Encyclopedia)Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, c.639 sq mi (1,655 sq km), S Calif., occupying most of E San Diego co. and neighboring portions of Riverside and Imperial cos.; est. 1933. Part of the Colorado Desert, ...

Cosa, Juan de la

(Encyclopedia)Cosa, Juan de la hwän dā lä kōˈsä [key], c.1460–1510, Spanish navigator. He sailed with Columbus in 1492 (as pilot of the flagship Santa María) and again in 1498. After accompanying Alonso de...

Pecos National Historical Park

(Encyclopedia)Pecos National Historical Park, 6,671 acres (2,702 hectares), N New Mexico; est. as a national monument 1965, designated a national historical park 1990. The park contains the remains of the Pecos pue...

Travis, William Barrett

(Encyclopedia)Travis, William Barrett trăvˈĭs [key], 1809–36, hero of the Texas Revolution, b. Edgefield co., S.C. He moved to Claiborne, Ala., where he practiced law. Travis later moved (1831) to Texas and so...

Ripley, Robert LeRoy

(Encyclopedia)Ripley, Robert LeRoy, 1890–1949, American cartoonist, b. Santa Rosa, Calif., as Leroy Robert Ripley. The creator of the Believe It or Not! newspaper cartoon, Ripley began his career at 16 as a sport...

pantheon

(Encyclopedia)pantheon päNtāôNˈ [key] in Paris was designed by J. G. Soufflot and was begun in 1764; the dome was completed (1781) after his death. An earlier church on the site was dedicated to St. Geneviève....

Bastidas, Rodrigo de

(Encyclopedia)Bastidas, Rodrigo de rôᵺrēˈgō dā bästēˈᵺäs [key], c.1460–1526, Spanish conquistador in Colombia. In 1501, accompanied by Balboa and Juan de la Cosa, he discovered the mouths of the Magd...

Bollinger, Lee C.

(Encyclopedia)Bollinger, Lee C., 1947–, American educator, b. Santa Rosa, Calif., grad. Univ. of Oregon (B.A.), Columbia (M.A.; LL.B.). He joined the faculty of the Univ. of Michigan Law School in 1973 and later ...

Big Bend National Park

(Encyclopedia)Big Bend National Park, 801,163 acres (324,471 hectares), W Tex.; authorized 1935, est. 1944. It is a triangle formed where the Rio Grande runs southeast then northeast in a big bend along the U.S.-Me...