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Sturt, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Sturt, Charles stûrt [key], 1795–1869, English explorer and administrator in Australia, b. India. In 1827 he arrived in Sydney with a detachment of the British army. While in command of an expediti...

Cameron, John

(Encyclopedia)Cameron, John kămˈərən [key], c.1579–1625, Scottish scholar and theologian. As teacher, lecturer, and preacher at Bordeaux, Saumur, and other cities on the Continent, he came to be celebrated fo...

Antarctica

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Antarctica ăntärkˈtĭkə, –ärˈtĭkə [key], the fifth largest continent, c.5,500,000 sq mi (14,245,000 sq km), asymmetrically centered on the South Pole and almost entirely within the An...

Dumont d'Urville, Jules Sébastien César

(Encyclopedia)Dumont d'Urville, Jules Sébastien César zhül sābästyăNˈ sāzärˈ dümôNˈ dürvēlˈ [key], 1790–1842, French navigator. While on duty (1819–20) in the E Mediterranean, he saw and recogni...

Ascham, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Ascham, Roger ăsˈkəm [key], 1515–68, English humanist and scholar, b. Yorkshire. Ascham was a major intellectual figure of the early Tudor period. His Toxophilus (1545), an essay on archery, prov...

umbrella

(Encyclopedia)umbrella, a small canopy used as a protection against the sun in China, Egypt, and elsewhere in remote antiquity. It was often an emblem of rank. During the Middle Ages the umbrella became almost exti...

Aymer of Valence

(Encyclopedia)Aymer of Valence āˈmər, vəlĕnsˈ, väläNsˈ [key], d. 1260, bishop of Winchester; son of Isabella (widow of King John of England) and Hugh X, count of La Marche. He was thus half-brother of King...

Tasmania

(Encyclopedia)Tasmania tăzmāˈnēə [key], island state (2016 pop. 509,965), 26,383 sq mi (68,332 sq km), SE Commonwealth of Australia. It is separated from Australia by the Bass Strait and lies 150 mi (240 km) s...

Dunstan, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Dunstan, Saint dŭnsˈtən [key], c.910–88, English monk, archbishop of Canterbury (960–88), b. near Glastonbury. He lived as a monk until called (940) to court by King Edmund of Wessex. He became...

Crashaw, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Crashaw, Richard krăshˈô [key], 1612?–1649, one of the English metaphysical poets. He was graduated from Cambridge in 1634 and remained there as a fellow at Peterhouse until the Puritan uprising,...