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McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold

(Encyclopedia)McClintock, Sir Francis Leopold, 1819–1907, British arctic explorer. As a lieutenant in the navy he was assigned to his first arctic service in 1848, when Sir James Clark Ross went in search of the ...

Sousa, John Philip

(Encyclopedia)Sousa, John Philip so͞oˈzə, –sə [key], 1854–1932, American bandmaster and composer, b. Washington, D.C. He studied violin and harmony in his native city and learned band instruments as an appr...

Rolland, Romain

(Encyclopedia)Rolland, Romain rômăNˈ rôläNˈ [key], 1866–1944, French novelist, biographer, playwright, and musicologist. After studying in Paris he spent two crucial years in Rome, where he was influenced b...

Petén

(Encyclopedia)Petén pātānˈ [key], region, c.15,000 sq mi (38,850 sq km), N Guatemala. A humid expanse of dense, tropical hardwood forests interrupted by savannas and crisscrossed by ranges of hills, it is relat...

Deng Xiaoping

(Encyclopedia)Deng Xiaoping or Teng Hsiao-p'ing both: dŭngˈ shouˈpĭngˈ [key], 1904–97, Chinese revolutionary and government leader, b. Sichuan prov. Deng became a member of the Chinese Communist party while ...

Jim Crow laws

(Encyclopedia)Jim Crow laws, in U.S. history, statutes enacted by Southern states and municipalities, beginning in the 1880s, that legalized segregation between blacks and whites. The name is believed to be derived...

Sichuan

(Encyclopedia)Sichuan or Szechwan sŭˈchwänˈ [key] [four rivers], province (2010 pop. 80,418,200), c.220,000 sq mi (569,800 sq km), SW China. The capital is Chengdu. A naturally isolated region surrounded by mou...

Lewis and Clark expedition

(Encyclopedia)Lewis and Clark expedition, 1803–6, U.S. expedition that explored the territory of the Louisiana Purchase and the country beyond as far as the Pacific Ocean. The men were gathered and in the winte...

Farrakhan, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Farrakhan, Louis fârˈəkănˌ, färˈəkänˌ [key], 1933–, African-American religious leader, b. New York City, as Louis Eugene Walcott. A former calypso singer known as “The Charmer,” he joi...

Elgar, Sir Edward William

(Encyclopedia)Elgar, Sir Edward William ĕlˈgär [key], 1857–1934, English composer. He received his training from his father, who was an organist, music seller, and amateur violinist. In 1885 he succeeded his f...