Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

submarine. Around theWorld in Eighty

Days is the story of Phileas Fogg, an

English gentleman who makes a very

speedy (for the 1870s) trip to win a bet.

Verne died in Amiens, France, on March

24, 1905. His works were translated into

many languages and continue to be

popular. Several successful movies were

made from his works.

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Science Fiction

Verrazzano,

Giovanni da

Giovanni da Verrazzano was an Italian

explorer who worked for the French

government. He explored the Atlantic

coast of what is now the United States.

He was the first European to see New

York Bay.

Verrazzano was born near Florence, Italy.

As an adult he moved to France. Then

he went to sea on French ships. He

made several trips to the Middle East.

An illustration from Jules Verne’s

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under

the Sea shows Captain Nemo

looking at an octopus through a

window in his submarine, the

Nautilus.

70 Verne, Jules BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

In 1524 Verrazzano commanded a ship

that went across the Atlantic Ocean.

Like many other European explorers, he

was looking for something that did not

exist—a short route to Asia. He landed

at Cape Fear, which is now in North

Carolina. He first went south but soon

turned north because he did not want to

meet the Spanish.

Verrazzano soon found New York Bay.

He sailed by a narrow waterway that

separated two parts of New York that are

now called Long Island and Staten

Island. Verrazzano then explored what is

now Rhode Island and met Native

Americans. He continued all the way to

Newfoundland before returning home.

He claimed everything he saw for

France. The French later made colonies

in the northern part of the lands he

claimed.

Verrazzano later made two more trips to

the Americas. In 1527 he commanded

ships that went to South America. He

returned with a cargo of valuable wood.

In 1528 Verrazzano made a trip to

Florida, the Bahamas, and finally the

islands of the Caribbean Sea. His trip

ended when he was captured and killed

by the Carib people.

The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which

spans part of New York Bay, was named

for the explorer. The bridge uses a different

spelling of Verrazzano’s name.

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Americas, Exploration and Settlement

of the

Versailles

Versailles is a city in France. It is about

14 miles (22 kilometers) southwest of

Paris. Versailles is famous for a palace

built in the 1600s under the guidance of

King Louis XIV. The Palace of Versailles

was one of the most costly and extravagant

buildings in the world. French

kings lived there for more than 100

years.

Versailles was not even a town when

King Louis XIII built a hunting lodge

there in the 1630s. The expansion of the

lodge into the palace began in the

1660s. Construction went on through

the next century. When the building was

completed, about 5,000 people lived

there. Other buildings on the palace

grounds include the Grand Trianon and

the Petit (Small) Trianon. They were

built as private residences for the royal

family and special guests.

The town of Versailles grew around the

palace. It was founded in 1671. Many of

the first residents were people who had

The Palace of Versailles is known for its

extensive gardens as well as its grand

buildings.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Versailles 71

 

come to work on the palace. When

Louis XIV died in 1715, after 72 years

as king, the town of Versailles had a

population of 30,000.

The Palace of Versailles was used as the

royal residence until the French Revolution

started in 1789. After the revolution,

the palace was nearly destroyed. In

1837 King Louis-Philippe restored it

and turned it into a museum.

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France

Vertebrate

A vertebrate is an animal with a backbone.

(An invertebrate is an animal

without a backbone.) Fishes, amphibians,

reptiles, birds, and mammals,

including humans, are all vertebrates.

Vertebrates share some basic characteristics.

A hollow backbone and the cranium,

or skull, protect the spinal cord

and brain of most vertebrates. All vertebrates

reproduce by mating between

males and females.

Fish are the oldest known vertebrates.

Most fish have a bony skeleton. However,

sharks and rays have a skeleton

made of cartilage, a strong and flexible

tissue. Fish gradually evolved, or

changed, into land animals.

Mammals are the most complex kind of

vertebrate. They feed their babies with

milk from the mother, they develop

inside their mother’s body, and they

have hair. Their highly developed brains

make them more intelligent than other

groups of animals.

Vespucci,

Amerigo

Amerigo Vespucci was an explorer from

Europe. The Americas are named for

him though he was not the first European

to visit North or South America.

He crossed the Atlantic Ocean several

years after Christopher Columbus made

his first voyage of discovery.

Vespucci was born in 1454 in Florence,

Italy. In 1491 he went to live in Spain.

There he worked for a company that

helped people prepare ships for voyages.

Through his work he met Columbus.

He helped to gather supplies for the

second and third voyages of Columbus.

In about 1499 Vespucci himself set

sail on a Spanish ship. He was the

Vertebrates

with two pairs

of limbs are