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Kenya, Mount

(Encyclopedia)Kenya, Mount, or Mount Kirinyaga, extinct volcano, central Kenya, just south of the equator. Its highest peak, Batian, reaches 17,058 ft (5,199 m), making Mt. Kenya the highest mountain in Africa afte...

Smith, Gipsy

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Gipsy, 1860–1947, English evangelist, originally named Rodney Smith, b. Wanstead. His father, a Romani (Gypsy), was also an evangelist. When Rodney was still a youth he became a member of Gen...

Buller, Sir Redvers Henry

(Encyclopedia)Buller, Sir Redvers Henry bŭlˈər [key], 1839–1908, British general. His military career began in China, and he later took part in the suppression of the Red River Rebellion (1870) in Canada. In A...

Westmoreland, William Childs

(Encyclopedia)Westmoreland, William Childs, 1914–2005, U.S. general, b. Spartanburg co., S.C. He graduated from West Point in 1936 and fought with distinction in North Africa and Europe during World War II and la...

Cavendish, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Cavendish, Thomas, 1560–92, English navigator. He commanded a ship in the flotilla under Sir Richard Grenville sent (1585) by Sir Walter Raleigh to establish the first colony in Virginia. In 1586, i...

Klerksdorp

(Encyclopedia)Klerksdorp klĕrksˈdôrp [key], city, part and seat of the City of Matlosana local municipality, North West prov., NE South Africa, on the Schoonspruit River. The town, which has grain elevators, lum...

Johnson, Martin Elmer

(Encyclopedia)Johnson, Martin Elmer, 1884–1937, American explorer and author, b. Rockford, Ill. He left home at 14 to work his way to Europe on a cattle boat, returning as a stowaway. He then joined the crew of J...

Commonwealth of Nations

(Encyclopedia)Commonwealth of Nations, voluntary association of Great Britain and its dependencies, certain former British dependencies that are now sovereign states and their dependencies, and the associated state...

chromite

(Encyclopedia)chromite krōˈmīt [key], dark brown to black mineral. It is an iron-chromium oxide, FeCr2O4, with traces of magnesium and aluminum. Its crystals are octahedral, but rare; it usually occurs as irregu...

Australopithecus

(Encyclopedia)Australopithecus ôstrāˌlōpĭthˈəkəs, –pəthēˈkəs [key], an extinct hominin genus found in Africa between about 4 and 1 million years ago. At least seven species of australopithecines are n...