(Encyclopedia) loessloesslĕs, lōˈəs, Ger. lös [key], unstratified soil deposit of varying thickness, usually yellowish and composed of fine-grained angular mineral particles mixed with clay. It is…
(Encyclopedia) MariMarimäˈrē [key], ancient city of Mesopotamia (modern Syria). It is on the middle Euphrates, south of its junction with the Habor (Khabur). The site was discovered by chance in the…
(Encyclopedia) National Road, U.S. highway built in the early 19th cent. At the time of its construction, the National Road was the most ambitious road-building project ever undertaken in the United…
(Encyclopedia) NayaritNayaritnäyärētˈ [key], state (1990 pop. 824,643), 10,547 sq mi (27,317 sq km), W Mexico, on the Pacific Ocean. Tepic is the capital. Mostly wild and rugged, Nayarit is broken by…
(Encyclopedia) Duveen, Joseph, 1st Baron Duveen of MillbankDuveen, Joseph, 1st Baron Duveen of Millbankdy&oobreve;vēnˈ, d&oomacr;– [key], 1869–1939, English art dealer, b. Hull. Beginning his…
(Encyclopedia) pipe smoking. The habit of smoking various substances probably arose independently in different parts of the world. Herodotus in the 5th cent. b.c. describes the Scythians as inhaling…
(Encyclopedia) Black Country, highly industrialized region, historically mostly in Staffordshire but partly in Worcestershire and Warwickshire, W central England. It includes Dudley, Rowley Regis (…
(Encyclopedia) Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus)Lucretiusl&oomacr;krēˈshəs [key], c.99 b.c.–c.55 b.c., Roman poet and philosopher. Little is known about his life. A chronicle of St. Jerome speaks…
(Encyclopedia) rammed earth, material consisting chiefly of soil of sufficiently stiff consistency that has been placed in forms and pounded down. It has been used for buildings and walls since…
