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Maury, Matthew Fontaine

(Encyclopedia)Maury, Matthew Fontaine fŏntānˈ môrˈē [key], 1806–73, American hydrographer and naval officer, b. near Fredericksburg, Va. Appointed a midshipman in 1825, he saw varied sea duty until a stagec...

Champollion, Jean François

(Encyclopedia)Champollion, Jean François –fēzhäkˈ [key], 1778–1867, was an archaeologist and paleographer, a professor of Greek at Grenoble, and a curator of manuscripts at the Bibliothèque nationale. He a...

Faidherbe, Louis Léon César

(Encyclopedia)Faidherbe, Louis Léon César lwē lāôNˈ sāzärˈ fādĕrbˈ [key], 1818–89, French colonial administrator. He was a leading participant in the establishment of the French colonial empire in Afr...

Hakluyt, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Hakluyt, Richard hăkˈlo͞ot, hăkˈəlwĭt [key], 1552?–1616, English geographer. He graduated in 1574 from Oxford, where he later lectured on geography. A passionate interest in the history of di...

graphite

(Encyclopedia)graphite grăfˈīt [key], an allotropic form of carbon, known also as plumbago and black lead. It is dark gray or black, crystalline (often in the form of slippery scales), greasy, and soft, with a m...

Osterman, Andrei Ivanovich, Count

(Encyclopedia)Osterman, Andrei Ivanovich, Count əndrāˈ ēväˈnəvĭch əstyĭrmänˈ [key], 1686–1747, Russian statesman, b. Germany. His original name was Heinrich Johann Friedrich Ostermann. Under Czar Pete...

Yenisei

(Encyclopedia)Yenisei yĕnĭsāˈ, Rus. yĕnyĭsyāˈ [key], chief river of Siberia, c.2,500 mi (4,020 km) long, central Siberian Russia. It is formed at Kyzyl, Tuva Republic, by the junction of the Bolshoi Yenisei...

Walvis Bay

(Encyclopedia)Walvis Bay wôlˈvĭs [key], municipality (1991 pop. 12,100), W central Namibia, on Walvis Bay, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean. Walvis Bay is Namibia's most important port and the terminus of a railroad...

Eyre, Edward John

(Encyclopedia)Eyre, Edward John âr [key], 1815–1901, British colonial administrator. In Australia (1833–45) he was a magistrate, explorer, and writer on Australian geography, and had a reputation for sympathy ...

Eskimo

(Encyclopedia)Eskimo ĕsˈkəmō [key], a general term used to refer to a number of groups inhabiting the coastline from the Bering Sea to Greenland and the Chukchi Peninsula in NE Siberia. A number of distinct gro...