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White, Peregrine

(Encyclopedia)White, Peregrine, 1620–1704, first child born to English parents in New England. He was born on the Mayflower as she lay at anchor in Cape Cod Bay on Nov. 20. He became a citizen of Marshfield, Mass...

Reed, Ishmael Scott

(Encyclopedia) Reed, Ishmael Scott, 1938- , African-American novelist, poet, and social critic, b. Chattanooga, Tn. When he was a child, Reed’s family moved ...

Blackfoot

(Encyclopedia)Blackfoot, Native North Americans of the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They occupied in the early 19th cent. a large range of territory...

Amundsen Sea

(Encyclopedia)Amundsen Sea, arm of the S Pacific Ocean, W Antarctica, bordered by Thurston Island and Cape Dart. Off the coast of Marie Byrd Land, the sea was named after Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. ...

Sydney Mines

(Encyclopedia)Sydney Mines, town (1991 pop. 7,551), Cape Breton Island, N.S., Canada, on Sydney Harbour. It is a former coal-mining center, coal having been mined in the area from 1784 to 2001. There are steel mill...

Yarmouth, town, United States

(Encyclopedia)Yarmouth, resort town (1990 pop. 21,174), Barnstable co., SE Mass., on the south shore of Cape Cod; settled and inc. 1639. The main street of this residential town is lined with well-preserved old hou...

Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez

(Encyclopedia)Cabrillo, Juan Rodríguez hwän rôᵺrēˈgāth käbrēˈlyō [key], Port. João Rodrigues Cabrilho, d. 1543, Spanish conquistador and discoverer of California, b. Portugal. In 1520 he landed in Mexi...

Henry the Navigator

(Encyclopedia)Henry the Navigator, 1394–1460, prince of Portugal, patron of exploration. Because he fought with extraordinary valor in the Portuguese conquest of Ceuta (1415), he was created duke of Viseu by his ...

Oakley, Annie

(Encyclopedia)Oakley, Annie, 1860–1926, American theatrical performer, b. Darke co., Ohio. Her original name was Phoebe Anne Oakley Mozee. From childhood on she was a “dead shot” with a rifle. She defeated in...

Hollerith, Herman

(Encyclopedia)Hollerith, Herman hōˈlərĭth [key], 1860–1929, American inventor, b. Buffalo, N.Y. After graduating from Columbia Univ. (B.S., 1879), he worked on the U.S. Census of 1880. Intrigued by the proble...

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