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jumping mouse

(Encyclopedia)jumping mouse, rodent slightly larger than the common mouse, found in North America and N Asia, also called the kangaroo mouse. Its long hind legs and tail enable it to leap distances up to 12 ft (3.7...

Baumgartner, Felix

(Encyclopedia)Baumgartner, Felix, 1969–, Austrian skydiver and daredevil. He made his first skydive at age 16, and turned to BASE jumping [Buildings, Antennas, Spans (bridges), and Earth (mountains)] in the 1990s...

Taos, town, United States

(Encyclopedia)Taos tous [key], town (1990 pop. 4,065), alt. c.7,000 ft (2,130 m), seat of Taos co., N N.Mex., between the Rio Grande and the Sangre de Cristo Mts.; founded c.1615, inc. 1934. In an area of pueblos a...

Chihuahua, breed of dog

(Encyclopedia)Chihuahua chəwäˈwə [key], a breed of small toy dog probably of Asian origin and introduced into Mexico by Spanish settlers. It stands about 5 in. (12.7 cm) high at the shoulder and weighs from 1 t...

Cairnes, John Elliot

(Encyclopedia)Cairnes, John Elliot kârnz [key], 1823–75, Irish economist, a follower of John Stuart Mill. His Slave Power (1862), a defense of the North in the American Civil War, made a great impression in Engl...

Knights of the Golden Circle

(Encyclopedia)Knights of the Golden Circle, secret order of Southern sympathizers in the North during the Civil War. Its members were known as Copperheads. Dr. George W. L. Bickley, a Virginian who had moved to Ohi...

Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez

(Encyclopedia)Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez älˈvär no͞oˈnyāth käbāˈthä dā väˈkä [key], c.1490–c.1557, Spanish explorer. Cabeza de Vaca [cow's head] was not actually a surname but a hereditary title...

Elgin, James Bruce, 8th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Elgin, James Bruce, 8th earl of ĕlˈgĭn [key], 1811–63, British statesman, son of the 7th earl. He served as governor of Jamaica (1842–46) and in 1847 was appointed governor-general of Canada. T...

Cardoso, Fernando Henrique

(Encyclopedia)Cardoso, Fernando Henrique fərnäNˈdo͞o ānrēˈkə kärdōˈso͞o [key], 1931–, Brazilian sociologist and politician, president of Brazil (1995–2002), b. Rio de Janeiro. Originally a sociology...

Nahuatlan

(Encyclopedia)Nahuatlan näˈwŏtˌlən [key], group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan branch of the Aztec-Tanoan linguistic stock of North and Central America. A Nahuatlan language of great historical importance is ...
 

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