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Bruce, William Speirs

(Encyclopedia)Bruce, William Speirs spĭrz [key], 1867–1921, Scottish explorer and authority on the polar regions. He first went to the Antarctic as ship's surgeon in 1892 and later did survey work in Franz Josef...

Waddell, James Iredell

(Encyclopedia)Waddell, James Iredell wŏdĕlˈ [key], 1824–86, Confederate naval officer in the American Civil War, b. Pittsboro, N.C. He was appointed a midshipman in the U.S. navy in 1841. On return from duty i...

Cape Town, City of

(Encyclopedia)Cape Town, City of, metropolitan municipality (2021 est. pop. 4,710,000), Western Cape prov., South Africa, on the Atlantic Ocean. Cape Town is the ...

propeller

(Encyclopedia)propeller, device consisting of a hub with one or more blades that propels a craft to which it is attached by rotating its blades in a fluid such as air or water. In the latter part of the 1830s the S...

Jones, John Paul

(Encyclopedia)Jones, John Paul, 1747–92, American naval hero, b. near Kirkcudbright, Scotland. His name was originally simply John Paul. After the Revolution Jones was sent to Europe to collect the prize mone...

Noah

(Encyclopedia)Noah nōˈə [key] [Heb.,=to rest], in the Bible, the builder of the ark. Righteous Noah and his family were the only people God saved from a world sunk in sin. At divine direction Noah built the ship...

lignum vitae

(Encyclopedia)lignum vitae lĭgˈnəm vīˈtē [key] [Lat.,=wood of life], tropical American evergreen tree of the genus Guaiacum. The hard, dense, and extremely durable wood, obtained chiefly from G. officinale an...

Mason, James Murray

(Encyclopedia)Mason, James Murray, 1798–1871, U.S. Senator and Confederate diplomat, b. Georgetown, D.C.; grandson of George Mason. He began to practice law in Winchester, Va., in 1820. Mason served in the Virgin...

San Jacinto

(Encyclopedia)San Jacinto, river, c.130 mi (210 km) long, rising in SE Texas as the West Fork and flowing S to Galveston Bay. Its chief tributary is Buffalo Bayou, and both the bayou and the lower river are used fo...

barge

(Encyclopedia)barge, large boat, generally flat-bottomed, used for transporting goods. Most barges on inland waterways are towed, but some river barges are self-propelled. There are also sailing barges. On the Grea...