Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

Bush ran for the U.S. Senate in 1964

June 12,

1924 1966 1976 1980 1988 1991 1992

Bush is born

in Milton,

Massachusetts.

Bush is elected

to the U.S.

House of

Representatives.

Bush becomes

the head of

the Central

Intelligence

Agency.

Bush is elected

vice president

under President

Ronald

Reagan.

Bush is elected

president.

The United

States and

allies defeat

Iraq in the

Persian Gulf

War.

Bush loses the

presidential

election to Bill

Clinton.

T I M E L I N E

George Bush was the 41st president of the

United States.

154 Bush, George BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

June 12,

1924 1966 1976

Bush is born

in Milton,

Massachusetts.

Bush is elected

to the U.S.

House of

Representatives.

the Cent

Intelligen

Agency.

#More to explore

Flower • Marigold • Plant • Sunflower

 

Acropolis means “city at the

top” in Greek.

(See Acropolis.)

Airships float in the air like

balloons, but they have engines

and can be steered.

(See Airship.)

Alchemists were people who

were famous for trying to turn

lead into gold.

(See Alchemy.)

Almonds are commonly called

nuts, but they are actually

seeds.

(See Almond.)

At least six types of amoeba

are found in human beings.

(See Amoeba.)

Knights in Europe once wore

armor made of large steel or

iron plates.

(See Armor.)

Aa

 

Aardvark

The unusual mammal called the aardvark

was named by South Africans in

the early 1800s. In the local language,

Afrikaans, “aardvark” means “earth pig.”

This name aptly describes a large,

heavily built animal with thin hair and

short, stumpy legs. The scientific name

of the aardvark is Orycteropus afer.

Aardvarks live in dry places in Africa

south of the Sahara Desert. The aardvark

can reach a length of 6 feet (1.8 meters).

Its head has huge donkeylike ears, a long

snout, and drooping eyelids with long

lashes. During the day aardvarks sleep in

underground burrows. At night they dig

underground for their favorite food,

termites. They break open the termites’

nests with their massive, flattened claws.

Then they suck up the insects with their

long tongue.

Female aardvarks give birth to one baby

per year. After a few weeks the baby

begins to follow its mother around. It

goes off on its own before it is 1 year

old. Aardvarks can live for more than 20

years in zoos.

Aaron, Hank

On April 8, 1974, major league baseball

star Hank Aaron hit his 715th home

run. That home run broke Babe Ruth’s

record of 714, which had stood since

1935. Aaron broke several other batting

records as well. Because he hit so well he

was sometimes called Hammerin’ Hank.

Early Life

Henry Louis Aaron was born on February

5, 1934, in Mobile, Alabama. Even

as a young boy Hank hoped to play professional

baseball. At age 16 he began

playing shortstop with the semiprofessional

Mobile Black Bears baseball team.

Career

Aaron began his professional career in

1952. He played a few months as a

shortstop with the Indianapolis Clowns

of the Negro American League. In 1954

Although aardvarks look like anteaters, they

are actually related to elephants, manatees,

and dugongs.

Hank Aaron

6 Aardvark BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

Aaron joined the Boston Braves of the

National League, where he played

mostly as an outfielder.

In 1955 Aaron established himself as a

star. He had a .314 batting average, 27

home runs, and 106 runs batted in

(RBI). In 1957 he helped lead the

Braves to their firstWorld Series title.

The Braves moved to Atlanta, Georgia,

at the end of 1965, and Aaron moved

with them. After the 1974 baseball season,

he was traded to the Milwaukee

Brewers of the American League.

Retirement

Aaron retired after the 1976 season with

a lifetime batting average of .305. He

was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame

on January 13, 1982. At the time he held

several career batting records, including

755 home runs, 1,477 extra-base hits,

and 2,297 RBIs. His home run record

was broken in 2007 by Barry Bonds.

..More to explore

Baseball • Ruth, Babe

Abacus

Long before the invention of the electronic

calculator or the computer, people

counted and did calculations with a

device called an abacus. On this instrument,

calculations are made with beads,

or counters, instead of numerals. The

beads are arranged on wires stretched

across a frame. Each wire represents the

ones, tens, hundreds, and so on.

The abacus was probably invented in

Mesopotamia by an ancient group of

people known as Sumerians. The

ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and

Chinese all used the abacus as well.

In about AD 700 the Hindus invented a

numeral system that made adding with

written numbers as easy as adding on an

abacus. The Arabs soon adopted this

system, and they introduced it into

Europe more than 1,000 years ago. As

written calculations became easier, the

abacus passed out of use in Europe. But

it continues to be used by people in

China, Japan, and the Middle East.

Abbreviation

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a

word or a phrase. People use abbreviations

to save time and space. People are

always creating new abbreviations, and

old ones are sometimes forgotten.

Some abbreviations are official, such as

the codes that the U.S. Postal Service

uses for the states. Others are more

informal. People often use the abbrevia-

An abacus

expert can