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Smith, Jedediah Strong

(Encyclopedia) Smith, Jedediah Strong, 1799–1831, American explorer, one of the greatest of the mountain men, b. near Binghamton, N.Y. Early in 1824, Smith took a party through South Pass, beginning…

dingo

(Encyclopedia) dingodingodĭngˈgō [key], wild dog (Canis lupus dingo) of Australia, believed to have been introduced thousands of years ago from SE Asia by the aboriginal settlers of that continent;…

Sturges, Preston

(Encyclopedia) Sturges, PrestonSturges, Prestonstûrˈjĭs [key], 1898–1959, American film director, screenwriter, and producer, b. Chicago as Edmond Preston Biden. Educated in the United States and…

Basho

(Encyclopedia) Basho (Matsuo Basho)Bashomätˈs&oomacr;ō bäˈshō [key], 1644–94, Japanese poet, critic, and essayist of the early Edo period. His literary name, Basho, is derived from the plantain…

Shirley, Sir Anthony

(Encyclopedia) Shirley or Sherley, Sir Anthony, 1565–1636?, English adventurer. He fought in the Netherlands (1586) under the earl of Leicester and in France (1591) under the earl of Essex, who…

Hsüan-tsang

(Encyclopedia) Hsüan-tsangHsüan-tsangshüän-dzäng [key], 605?–664, Chinese Buddhist scholar and translator. He early entered monastic life and later traveled in China, teaching and studying. Between…

Crichton, Michael

(Encyclopedia) Crichton, MichaelCrichton, Michaelkrīˈtən [key], 1942–2008, American novelist, screenwriter, and director, b. Chicago, grad. Harvard Medical School (1969). He wrote several thrillers…

De Smet, Pierre Jean

(Encyclopedia) De Smet, Pierre JeanDe Smet, Pierre Jeanpyĕr zhäN də smĕtˈ [key], 1801–73, Jesuit missionary in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, b. Belgium. He emigrated to the United States in 1821,…

Fontane, Theodor

(Encyclopedia) Fontane, TheodorFontane, Theodortāˈōdôr fôntäˈnə [key], 1819–98, German writer. Although he is primarily important as a novelist, he did not begin to write fiction until he was almost…

air mass

(Encyclopedia) air mass, large body of air within the earth's atmosphere in which temperature and humidity, although varying at different heights, remain similar throughout the body at any one height…