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Gajdusek, Daniel Carleton

(Encyclopedia)Gajdusek, Daniel Carleton gīdˈəshĕkˌ [key], 1923–2008, American virologist, b. Yonkers, N.Y., grad. Univ. of Rochester; M.D. Harvard, 1945. He worked in the United States, Iran, Australia, and ...

Hovhaness, Alan

(Encyclopedia)Hovhaness, Alan hōvhäˈnəs [key], 1911–2000, American composer, b. Somerville, Mass., as Alan Vaness Chakmakjian. Hovhaness was of Armenian and Scottish descent, and many of his works are based o...

Arafat

(Encyclopedia)Arafat äräfäˈ [key], granite hill, Saudi Arabia, near Mecca. The hill was an ancient pagan sanctuary and is shrouded in many legends. It is a site for prayers during the hajj, the annual Muslim pi...

sky

(Encyclopedia)sky, apparent dome over the earth, background of the clouds, sun, moon, and stars. The blue color of the clear daytime sky results from the selective scattering of light rays by the minute particles o...

Bynner, Witter

(Encyclopedia)Bynner, Witter bĭnˈər [key], 1881–1968, American poet, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Harvard, 1902. As a poet Bynner had a remarkable facility for catching the cadences of other writers and cultures. ...

Baguio

(Encyclopedia)Baguio băˈgēō, Sp. bägyōˈ [key], city, Benguet prov., NW Luzon, the Philippine...

Weimaraner

(Encyclopedia)Weimaraner vīˈməräˌnər, wīˈmərāˌ– [key], breed of large, muscular sporting dog developed in Germany in the early 19th cent. It stands between 23 and 27 in. (58.4–68.6 cm) high at the sh...

Beskids

(Encyclopedia)Beskids bĕskēˈdē [key], mountain range of the Carpathians, extending c.200 mi (320 km) along Poland's border with the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The highest peak, Babia Góra (Slovak Babí Hora)...

Cévennes

(Encyclopedia)Cévennes sāvĕnˈ [key], mountain range, S France, bordering the Massif Central on the southeast. The Cévennes proper occupy the central section of a mountainous arc (average height 3,000 ft/910 m)...

black snake

(Encyclopedia)black snake, name for several snakes, not all closely related, that are black in color. In the United States the name is applied chiefly to the black racer and to the black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta)...