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beet

(Encyclopedia)beet, biennial or annual root vegetable of the family Chenopodiaceae (goosefoot family). The beet (Beta vulgaris) has been cultivated since pre-Christian times. Among its numerous varieties are the re...

Illinois, state, United States

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Illinois, midwestern state in the N central United States. It is bordered by Lake Michigan and Indiana (E); Kentucky, across the Ohio River (SE); Missouri and Iowa, across the Mississippi River...

Mantegna, Andrea

(Encyclopedia)Mantegna, Andrea ändrĕˈä mäntĕˈnyä [key], 1431–1506, Italian painter of the Paduan school. He was adopted by Squarcione, whose apprentice he remained until 1456, when he procured his release...

Henry the Navigator

(Encyclopedia)Henry the Navigator, 1394–1460, prince of Portugal, patron of exploration. Because he fought with extraordinary valor in the Portuguese conquest of Ceuta (1415), he was created duke of Viseu by his ...

Central American Federation

(Encyclopedia)Central American Federation or Central American Union, political confederation (1825–38) of the republics of Central America—Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador. United under ...

Madonna

(Encyclopedia)Madonna (Madonna Louise Ciccone) mədŏnˈə, chĭkōˈnē [key], 1958–, American p...

Harrison, Jim

(Encyclopedia)Harrison, Jim (James Thomas Harrison), 1937–2016, American novelist, poet, and essayist, b. Grayling, Mich., grad. Michigan State Univ. (B.A., 1960; M.A., 1965). He began his writing career as a poe...

Jolliet, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Jolliet or Joliet, Louis both: jōˈlēĕtˌ, jōˌlēĕtˈ, Fr. lwē zhôlyāˈ [key], 1645–1700, French explorer, joint discoverer with Jacques Marquette of the upper Mississippi River, b. Quebec ...

Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe

(Encyclopedia)Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, 1793–1864, American ethnologist, b. near Albany, N.Y. He gave enormous impetus to the study of Native American culture and may be regarded as the foremost pioneer in Native ...

Shiller, Robert James

(Encyclopedia)Shiller, Robert James, 1946–, American economist, b. Detroit, grad. Univ. of Michigan (B.A., 1967), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (S.M., 1968; Ph.D., 1972). A professor at Yale since 1982, S...
 

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