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Central America

(Encyclopedia)Central America, narrow, southernmost region (c.202,200 sq mi/523,698 sq km) of North America, linked to South America at Colombia. It separates the Caribbean from the Pacific. Historically, geographe...

West, Dame Rebecca

(Encyclopedia)West, Dame Rebecca, 1892–1983, English novelist and critic, b. Ireland as Cicily Isabel Fairfield. West began her career as a journalist for feminist and suffragist publications. At various times sh...

Kelley, Hall Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Kelley, Hall Jackson, 1790–1874, American propagandist for the settlement of Oregon, b. Northwood, N.H. A schoolmaster in Boston (1818–23) and later a railroad surveyor in Maine, he founded (1829)...

Julian, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)Julian, George Washington jo͞olˈyən [key], 1817–99, American abolitionist, U.S. Representative from Indiana (1849–51, 1861–71), b. Wayne co., Ind. Elected to the Indiana legislature as a Whig...

Chisum, John Simpson

(Encyclopedia)Chisum, John Simpson chĭzˈəm [key], 1824–84, American cattleman, b. Tennessee. In 1837 he moved with his family to Texas. He had no formal education but worked as a builder and contractor, buildi...

topaz

(Encyclopedia)topaz tōˈpăz [key], aluminum silicate mineral with either hydroxyl radicals or fluorine, Al2SiO4(F,OH)2, used as a gem. It is commonly colorless or some shade of pale yellow to wine-yellow; pale bl...

transcontinental railroad

(Encyclopedia)transcontinental railroad, in U.S. history, rail connection with the Pacific coast. In 1845, Asa Whitney presented to Congress a plan for the federal government to subsidize the building of a railroad...

Mumford, Lewis

(Encyclopedia)Mumford, Lewis, 1895–1990, American social philosopher, b. Flushing, N.Y.; educ. City College of New York, Columbia, New York Univ., and the New School for Social Research. A critic of the dehumaniz...

jaguar

(Encyclopedia)jaguar jăgˈwär [key], large New World carnivore of the cat family, Panthera onca. Jaguars range from the SW United States to S central Argentina, though there have been no resident breeding females...

Clurman, Harold

(Encyclopedia)Clurman, Harold klo͝orˈmən [key], 1901–80, American director, manager, critic, and author, b. New York City. In his early years he acted in minor roles, becoming associated with New York's Group ...
 

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