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Chichén Itzá

(Encyclopedia)Chichén Itzá chēchānˈ ētsäˈ [key], city of the ancient Maya, central Yucatán, Mexico. It was founded around two large cenotes, or natural wells. According to one system of dating, it was foun...

Wegener, Alfred Lothar

(Encyclopedia)Wegener, Alfred Lothar älˈfrĕt lōtärˈ vĕgˈənər [key], 1880–1930, German geologist, meteorologist, and Arctic explorer. Early in his life, he was on the staff of the aeronautical observator...

Oxford, city, England

(Encyclopedia)Oxford, city (1991 pop. 113,847) and district, county seat of Oxfordshire, S central England. In addition to its importance as the site of the Univ. of Oxford, the city has significant industries, inc...

satellite, artificial

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Nimbus weather satellite B. Syncom communications satellite satellite, artificial, object constructed by humans and placed in orbit around the earth or other celestial body (see also space ...

gamma-ray astronomy

(Encyclopedia)gamma-ray astronomy, study of astronomical objects by analysis of the most energetic electromagnetic radiation they emit. Gamma rays are shorter in wavelength and hence more energetic than X rays (see...

Donner Party

(Encyclopedia)Donner Party, group of emigrants to California who in the winter of 1846–47 met with one of the most famous tragedies in Western history. The California-bound families were mostly from Illinois and ...

Henry the Navigator

(Encyclopedia)Henry the Navigator, 1394–1460, prince of Portugal, patron of exploration. Because he fought with extraordinary valor in the Portuguese conquest of Ceuta (1415), he was created duke of Viseu by his ...

Yekaterinburg

(Encyclopedia)Yekaterinburg or Ekaterinburg svyĭrdlôfskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 1,365,000), capital of the Sverdlovsk region and the administrative center of the Ural federal district, E European Russia, in the ...

Smithsonian Institution

(Encyclopedia)Smithsonian Institution, research and education center, mainly at Washington, D.C.; founded 1846 under the terms of the will of James Smithson of London, who in 1829 bequeathed his fortune to the Unit...

dark energy

(Encyclopedia)dark energy, repulsive force that opposes the self-attraction of matter (see gravitation) and causes the expansion of the universe to accelerate. The search for dark energy was triggered by the discov...