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Stewart, Alexander Turney

(Encyclopedia)Stewart, Alexander Turney, 1803–76, American merchant, b. Lisburn, Co. Antrim, Ireland. Arriving in New York c.1820, he started in business in 1823 by selling Irish laces. In 1846 he established a w...

Surat

(Encyclopedia)Surat so͝oˈrət, so͝orătˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 1,518,950), Gujarat state, W central India, on the Gulf of Khambat. British and Dutch trading posts were established there in the early 17th cent....

Saratov

(Encyclopedia)Saratov səräˈtəf [key], city (1991 est. pop. 910,000), capital of Saratov region, E European Russia, on the Volga River. It is a major industrial, transportation, and cultural center of the lower ...

Porvoo

(Encyclopedia)Porvoo bôrˈgō [key], city (1996 pop. 21,313), Southern Finland prov., S central Finland, on the Gulf of Finland at the mouth of the Porvoonjoki River. It is an export center for forest products and...

steam engine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Steam engine steam engine, machine for converting heat energy into mechanical energy using steam as a medium, or working fluid. When water is converted into steam it expands, its volume increa...

Niebuhr, Helmut Richard

(Encyclopedia)Niebuhr, Helmut Richard, 1894–1962, American theologian, b. Wright City, Mo., grad. Elmhurst College (Ill.), 1912, and Eden Theological Seminary, 1915, M.A. Washington Univ., 1917, B.D. Yale Divinit...

Pavarotti, Luciano

(Encyclopedia)Pavarotti, Luciano lo͞ochäˈnō pävōräˈtēē [key], 1935–2007, Italian tenor. He made his debut in Italy in 1961, in London in 1963, and in the United States in 1965. He appeared regularly at ...

Scientology, Church of

(Encyclopedia)Scientology, Church of, philosophical religion founded by L(afayette) Ron(ald) Hubbard, 1911–86, b. Tilden, Nebr. Hubbard's book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950) first set forth...

balance of power

(Encyclopedia)balance of power, system of international relations in which nations seek to maintain an approximate equilibrium of power among many rivals, thus preventing the preponderance of any one state. Crucial...

Ajmer

(Encyclopedia)Ajmer ăjmērˈ, əj– [key], former state, NW India. Now part of Rajasthan state, it formerly consisted of two detached areas surrounded by Rajasthan and was identical w...