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Mutis, José Celestino

(Encyclopedia)Mutis, José Celestino hōsāˈ thālĕstēˈnō mo͞oˈtēs [key], 1732–1808, Spanish naturalist and plant explorer. One of Linnaeus' first disciples in Spain, he went to South America and settled ...

Gorton, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Gorton, Samuel, c.1592–1677, Anglo-American religious leader, founder of Warwick, R.I., b. near Manchester, England. Seeking religious freedom, he emigrated to America (1637) but, because of his uno...

Gasparri, Pietro

(Encyclopedia)Gasparri, Pietro pyĕˈtrō gäspärˈrē [key], 1852–1934, Italian churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He taught canon law at the Catholic Institute in Paris (1879–98) and was apost...

Dundonald, Thomas Cochrane, 10th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Dundonald, Thomas Cochrane, 10th earl of dŭndŏnˈəld [key], 1775–1860, British naval commander. He served in the Napoleonic Wars, executing his assignments with a boldness and originality sometim...

Ettwein, John

(Encyclopedia)Ettwein, John ĕtˈvīn [key], 1721–1802, German-American churchman, leader and bishop of the Moravian Church in the United States. He came to America from Germany in 1754 as a missionary. In his mi...

Farrell, Eileen

(Encyclopedia)Farrell, Eileen fârˈəl [key], 1920–2002, American dramatic soprano, b. Willimantic, Conn. Farrell received her early musical training from her vaudvillian mother. Having begun singing on the radi...

pineapple

(Encyclopedia)pineapple, common name for one member of and for the Bromeliaceae, a family of chiefly epiphytic herbs and small shrubs native to the American tropics and subtropics. The spiny leaves of various speci...

river blindness

(Encyclopedia)river blindness or onchocerciasis, disease caused by the parasitic nematode worm Onchocerca volvulus. The worm larvae are transmitted by the bites of blackflies (genus Simulium) that live in fast movi...

pack rat

(Encyclopedia)pack rat, rodent of the genus Neotoma, of North and Central America, noted for its habit of collecting bright, shiny objects and leaving other objects, such as nuts or pebbles, in their place; also ca...

Neuharth, Al

(Encyclopedia)Neuharth, Al (Allen Harold Neuharth), 1924–2013, American media executive, b. Eureka, S.Dak., grad. Univ. of South Dakota (1950). In 1954 he began working as a reporter for The Miami Herald, and by ...