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Olduvai Gorge

(Encyclopedia)Olduvai Gorge ōlˈdəwāˌ, –vāˌ [key], a feature of the E African Rift Valley in Tanzania. Erosional processes have exposed geological strata in the gorge dating to the lower Pleistocene epoch, ...

Nizhny Novgorod

(Encyclopedia)Nizhny Novgorod nyēshˈnyī nôfˈgərəd [key], formerly Gorky or Gorki, city (1989 pop. 1,438,000), capital of Nizhny Novgorod region and the administrative center of the Volga federal district, E ...

Mainland

(Encyclopedia)Mainland. 1 Island (1991 pop. 14,150), 178 sq mi (461 sq km), N Scotland. The largest of the Orkney Islands, it is also called Pomona. Kirkwall, the seat of the Orkney Islands council area, is on the ...

Assyrian art

(Encyclopedia)Assyrian art. An Assyrian artistic style distinct from that of Babylonian art (see Sumerian and Babylonian art), which was the dominant contemporary art in Mesopotamia, began to emerge c.1500 b.c. and...

Merovingian art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Merovingian art and architecture mĕrˌəvĭnˈjēən [key]. This period is named for Merovech, the founder of the first Germanic-Frankish dynasty (c.a.d. 500–a.d. 751). The Merovingian period was m...

Kingston, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Kingston. 1 City (1990 pop. 23,095), seat of Ulster co., SE N.Y., on the Hudson River at the mouth of Rondout Creek; inc. as a village 1805, and as a city through the union (1872) of Kingston and Rond...

Palma

(Encyclopedia)Palma or Palma de Mallorca pälˈmä ᵺā mälyôrˈkä [key], city (1990 pop. 325,120), capital of Majorca island and of Baleares prov., Spain, on the Bay of Palma. It is the chief port and commerci...

Zumthor, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Zumthor, Peter, 1943–, Swiss architect. He apprenticed with his cabinetmaker father as a teenager, and wood is a recurring material in his work, e.g., his small, shingled St. Benedict Chapel, Sumvit...

sled

(Encyclopedia)sled, vehicle that moves by sliding. A sledge is typically a heavier, load-carrying sled drawn by a horse or dog, while a sleigh is a partially enclosed horse-drawn vehicle with runners that has seats...

Reading, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Reading. rĕdˈĭng [key] 1 Town (1990 pop. 22,539), Middlesex co., NE Mass., a suburb of Boston; settled 1639, set off from Lynn and inc. 1644. Printing is the major industry. A 17th-century tavern i...