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Medicine Bow Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Medicine Bow Mountains, outlying eastern range of the Rocky Mts., SE Wyo. and N Colo. It extends from Medicine Bow town, Wyo., NW of Laramie, southward c.100 mi (160 km) to Cameron Pass, Colo. Peaks i...

griffin, legendary creature

(Encyclopedia)griffin, in ancient and medieval legend, creature with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. Its name also appears as griffon and gryphon. The griffin originated in ancient Middle Eas...

Gaspé

(Encyclopedia)Gaspé găspāˈ, găsˈpā, Fr. gäspāˈ [key], city, E Que., Canada, on Gaspé Bay...

Fitzroy

(Encyclopedia)Fitzroy, rivers in Australia. 1 River, 174 mi (280 km) long, formed by the junction of the Dawson and the Mackenzie rivers, E Queensland, Australia, and flowing past Rockhampton to Keppel Bay of the C...

Clew Bay

(Encyclopedia)Clew Bay, inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, c.15 mi (25 km) long and 10 mi (16.1 km) wide, Co. Mayo, W Republic of Ireland. Nearly 300 islands are found in the eastern part of the bay, some of which are cu...

Shamash

(Encyclopedia)Shamash shäˈmäsh [key], sun god of Semitic origin, worshiped in Babylonia and Assyria. He was one of the great deities of ancient Middle Eastern religions, god of law, order, and justice. The chief...

Rawlinson, George

(Encyclopedia)Rawlinson, George, 1812–1902, English Orientalist and historian, educated at Oxford. He is known for his long, authoritative, and still useful histories of the ancient world. His most famous history...

Carpentaria, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Carpentaria, Gulf of kärpəntârˈēə [key], arm of the Arafura Sea, 305 mi (491 km) wide and 370 mi (595 km) long, indenting the northern coast of Australia. On its eastern shore, near Weipa, lies ...

Basil II

(Encyclopedia)Basil II, c.958–1025, Byzantine emperor (976–1025), surnamed Bulgaroktonos [Bulgar slayer]. With his brother, Constantine VIII, he nominally succeeded his father, Romanus II, in 963, but had no sh...

Preemption Act

(Encyclopedia)Preemption Act, statute passed (1841) by the U.S. Congress in response to the demands of the Western states that squatters be allowed to preempt lands. Pioneers often settled on public lands before th...