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Falange

(Encyclopedia)Falange fälänˈhā [key] [Span.,=phalanx], Spanish political party, founded in 1933 as Falange Española by José António Primo de Rivera, son of the former Spanish dictator. Professing generally t...

sertão

(Encyclopedia)sertão sərˈtouN [key] [Port.,=backlands], semiarid hinterland of NE Brazil; c.250,000 sq mi (647,500 sq km). Its characteristic landscape is the caatinga, or thorny scrub forest. The chief occupati...

Snyder, Gary

(Encyclopedia)Snyder, Gary, 1930–, American poet, b. San Francisco. Associated with the beat generation of the 1950s, he lived (1956–68) in Japan, where he trained as a Zen monk. His poetry, influenced by Zen B...

Sierra Club

(Encyclopedia)Sierra Club, national organization in the United States dedicated to the preservation and expansion of the world's parks, wildlife, and wilderness areas. Founded (1892) in California by a group led by...

Shotwell, James Thomson

(Encyclopedia)Shotwell, James Thomson, 1874–1965, Canadian-American historian, b. Strathroy, Ont. A teacher of history at Columbia from 1900 and professor from 1908 to 1942, Shotwell also worked tirelessly to pro...

Sacramento, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Sacramento, longest river of Calif., c.380 mi (610 km) long, rising near Mt. Shasta, N Calif., and flowing generally SW to Suisun Bay, an arm of San Francisco Bay, where it forms a large delta with th...

San Andreas fault

(Encyclopedia)San Andreas fault, great fracture (see fault) of the earth's crust in California. It is the principal fault of an intricate network of faults extending more than 600 mi (965 km) from NW California to ...

vigilantes

(Encyclopedia)vigilantes vĭjĭlănˈtēz [key], members of a vigilance committee. Such committees were formed in U.S. frontier communities to enforce law and order before a regularly constituted government could b...

Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe

(Encyclopedia)Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe, 1807–90, Mexican-American political and military leader, b. Monterey, Calif. He entered the Mexican military in 1824 and was appointed to the territorial legislature in 1...

Callao

(Encyclopedia)Callao käyouˈ [key], city, capital of the constitutional prov. of Callao, W Peru, on Callao...