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Dunbar, William, American scientist

(Encyclopedia)Dunbar, William, 1749–1810, American scientist in the old Southwest, b. near Elgin, Scotland. He came to America in 1771. Commissioned by President Jefferson to investigate the Ouachita and Red Rive...

Puy de Dôme

(Encyclopedia)Puy de Dôme, extinct volcano of the Massif Central and the second highest peak (4,806 ft/1,465 m) of the Auvergne Mts., central France, W of Clermont-Ferrand. Crops are raised on the lower slopes; th...

Ohio State University

(Encyclopedia)Ohio State University, main campus at Columbus; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1870, opened 1873 as Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College, renamed 1878. There are also cam...

Williams College

(Encyclopedia)Williams College, at Williamstown, Mass.; coeducational; chartered 1785, opened as a free school 1791, became a college 1793, named for Ephraim Williams. The Williams campus, noted for its fine old bu...

Wrangell Mountains

(Encyclopedia)Wrangell Mountains, S Alaska, extending c.100 mi (160 km) SE from the Copper River to the Canadian border, where they meet the St. Elias Mts. Mt. Blackburn (16,523 ft/5,036 m) is the highest peak. The...

Hubble Space Telescope

(Encyclopedia)Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the first large optical orbiting observatory. Built from 1978 to 1990 at a cost of $1.5 billion, the HST (named for astronomer E. P. Hubble) was expected to provide the c...

Montserrat, island, West Indies

(Encyclopedia)Montserrat mŏntsərătˈ [key], British dependency and island (2015 est. pop. 5,000), 38 sq mi (98 sq km), West Indies, one of the Leeward Islands. It is a rugged, scenic island of volcanic origin. C...

Benjamin, Judah Philip

(Encyclopedia)Benjamin, Judah Philip, 1811–84, Confederate statesman and British barrister, b. Christiansted, St. Croix, Virgin Islands, of Jewish parents. His family moved (c.1813) to Wilmington, N.C., and final...

Europe

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Europe yo͝orˈəp [key], 6th largest continent, c.4,000,000 sq mi (10,360,000 sq km) including adjacent islands (2015 est. pop. 740,814,000). It is actually a vast peninsula of the great Euras...

Juba, city, South Sudan

(Encyclopedia)Juba jo͞oˈbə [key], city (1993 pop. 114,980), capital and largest city of South Sudan, a port on the White Nile in the southern part of the country. It is the southern terminus of river traffic in ...