(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) 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) 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) 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) shale, sedimentary rock formed by the consolidation of mud or clay, having the property of splitting into thin layers parallel to its bedding planes. Shale tends to be fissile, i.e.,…
(Encyclopedia) Basket Makers, name given to the members of an early Native North American culture in the Southwest, predecessors of the Pueblo. Because of the cultural continuity from the Basket…
