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Rhodes, Cecil John

(Encyclopedia)Rhodes, Cecil John sĕsˈĭl, rōdz [key], 1853–1902, British imperialist and business magnate. A trip in 1875 through the rich territories of Transvaal and Bechuanaland apparently helped to insp...

Smuts, Jan Christiaan

(Encyclopedia)Smuts, Jan Christiaan yän krĭsˈtyän smŭts [key], 1870–1950, South African statesman and soldier, b. Cape Colony. Of Boer (Afrikaner) stock but a British subject by birth, he was educated at Vic...

Cushing, Harvey Williams

(Encyclopedia)Cushing, Harvey Williams, 1869–1939, American neurosurgeon, b. Cleveland, B.A. Yale, 1891, M.D. Harvard, 1895. Associated with Johns Hopkins (1896–1912), Harvard (1912–32), and Yale (1933–37),...

treehopper

(Encyclopedia)treehopper, any member of three families of winged insects, remarkable for the curious shapes of most species. The shapes are due to the enlargement of the dorsal (upper) covering of the first thoraci...

Hofstadter, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hofstadter, Richard hōfˈstătˌər, hŏfˈ–, hôfˈ– [key], 1916–70, American historian, b. Buffalo, N.Y. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1942 and began teaching there in 1946, becoming...

Buntline, Ned

(Encyclopedia)Buntline, Ned bŭntˈlĭn, –līn [key], pseud. of Edward Zane Carroll Judson, 1823–86, American adventurer and writer. In 1845 he founded in Nashville Ned Buntline's Own, a sensational magazine. A...

Rooke, Sir George

(Encyclopedia)Rooke, Sir George ro͝ok [key], 1650–1709, English admiral. In the War of the Grand Alliance he defeated a French fleet under the comte de Tourville in the battle of La Hogue (1692) and by good judg...

Dover, Strait of

(Encyclopedia)Dover, Strait of, separating Great Britain from France and connecting the English Channel with the North Sea. It is 21 mi (34 km) wide between Dover and Cape Gris-Nez, near Calais, and is called Pas-d...

Boer

(Encyclopedia)Boer bo͝or, bôr [key] [Du.,=farmer], inhabitant of South Africa of Dutch or French Huguenot descent. Boers are also known as Afrikaners. They first settled (1652) near the Cape of Good Hope in what ...

Licata

(Encyclopedia)Licata lēkäˈtä [key], city (1991 pop. 41,300), S Sicily, Italy, on the Mediterranean Sea at the mouth of the Salso River. Licata is a seaport, seaside resort, and commercial and industrial center....