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babbler

(Encyclopedia)babbler, common name for some members of the large, diversified family Timaliidae, passerine birds found primarily in wooded areas of Asia, Africa, and Australia. Babblers have soft, fluffy plumage an...

Palawan

(Encyclopedia)Palawan päläˈwän [key], island (1990 pop. 528,287), 4,550 sq mi (11,785 sq km), 5th largest of the Philippines, N of Borneo and between the Sulu Archipelago and the South China Sea. Lumbering is a...

cockfighting

(Encyclopedia)cockfighting, sport of pitting gamecocks against one other. Though popular in ancient Greece, Persia, and Rome, cockfighting has been long opposed by clergy and humane groups. Massachusetts passed (18...

rafflesia

(Encyclopedia)rafflesia răflēˈzhə [key], any of a genus (Rafflesia) of parasitic plants native to the rain forests of the Malay peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Philippines. The plants have no roots, stems, ...

Halsey, William Frederick, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Halsey, William Frederick, Jr. (Bull Halsey) hôlˈsē [key], 1882–1959, American admiral, b. Elizabeth, N.J., grad. Annapolis, 1904. In World War II he led (Jan., 1942) a spectacular carrier raid a...

Rowan, Andrew Summers

(Encyclopedia)Rowan, Andrew Summers rouˈən [key], 1857–1943, American army officer, b. Monroe co., Va. (now W.Va.). At the outbreak (1898) of the Spanish-American War he was sent to communicate with the Cuban r...

Osmeña, Sergio

(Encyclopedia)Osmeña, Sergio sārˈhēō ōsmāˈnyä [key], 1878–1961, Filipino statesman, b. Cebu island. He served as provincial governor of Cebu and as first speaker (1907–22) of the Philippine assembly. A...

Philippine Independent Church

(Encyclopedia)Philippine Independent Church, religious body that separated from the Roman Catholic Church in 1902 and rejected the spiritual authority of the pope. It is known popularly as the Aglipayan Church, aft...

Scott, Hugh Lenox

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Hugh Lenox, 1853–1934, U.S. army officer, b. Danville, Ky., grad. West Point, 1876. He was assigned (1876) to military service in the West and took part in the Sioux, Nez Percé, and Cheyenne...

Taxco

(Encyclopedia)Taxco täsˈkō [key], town (1990 pop. 43,836), Guerrero state, S Mexico. Founded in 1529 as a silver-mining community, Taxco was also an important stop between Mexico City and Acapulco in Spanish col...