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Pierce, Franklin

(Encyclopedia)Pierce, Franklin, 1804–69, 14th President of the United States (1853–57), b. Hillsboro, N.H., grad. Bowdoin College, 1824. Admitted to the bar in 1827, he entered politics as a Jacksonian Democrat...

Pinter, Harold

(Encyclopedia)Pinter, Harold, 1930–2008, English dramatist. Born in Hackney in London's East End, the son of an English tailor of Eastern European Jewish ancestry, he studied at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic...

radar

(Encyclopedia)radar, system or technique for detecting the position, movement, and nature of a remote object by means of radio waves reflected from its surface. Although most radar units use microwave frequencies, ...

Oregon, state, United States

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Oregon ŏrˈĭgən, –gŏn [key], state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. It is bordered by Washington, largely across the Columbia River (N), Idaho, partially across the Snake Ri...

ivory

(Encyclopedia)ivory, type of dentin present only in the tusks of the elephant. Ivory historically has been obtained mainly from Africa, where elephant tusks are larger than they are in Asia, the second major source...

gold

(Encyclopedia)gold, metallic chemical element; symbol Au [Lat. aurum=shining dawn]; at. no. 79; at. wt. 196.96657; m.p. 1,064.43℃; b.p. 2,808℃; sp. gr. 19.32 at 20℃; valence +1 or +3. Gold is very ductile and...

flatfish

(Encyclopedia)flatfish, common name for any member of the unique and widespread order Pleuronectiformes containing over 500 species (including the flounder, halibut, plaice, sole, and turbot), 130 of which are Amer...

Strategic Defense Initiative

(Encyclopedia)Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), former U.S. government program responsible for research and development of a space-based system to defend the nation from attack by strategic ballistic missiles (se...

squirrel

(Encyclopedia)squirrel, name for small or medium-sized rodents of the family Sciuridae, found throughout the world except in Australia, Madagascar, and the polar regions; it is applied especially to the tree-living...

Carboniferous period

(Encyclopedia)Carboniferous period kärbənĭfˈərəs [key], fifth period of the Paleozoic era of geologic time (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table), from 350 to 290 million years ago. The pl...