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Sorokin, Vladimir Georgevich

(Encyclopedia)Sorokin, Vladimir Georgevich, 1955–, Russian writer. Trained as an engineer, he turned to Moscow's underground writing world in the 1980s. His iconoclastic work was banned by the Soviets; his first ...

Sligo, county, Ireland

(Encyclopedia)Sligo slīˈgō [key], county (1991 pop. 54,756), 694 sq mi (1,797 sq km), N Republic of Ireland. The county seat is Sligo. The irregular coast line is deeply indented by Killala Bay and Sligo Bay. Th...

Teraina

(Encyclopedia)Teraina tĕrīˈnə [key], atoll (1990 pop. 936), 3 sq mi (7.8 sq km), central Pacific, one of the Line Islands and part of the Republic of Kiribati. Visited by the American explorer Edmund Fanning in...

Yerkes, Charles Tyson

(Encyclopedia)Yerkes, Charles Tyson yûrˈkēz, –kəs [key], 1837–1905, American financier, b. Philadelphia. He began his business career as a clerk in a Philadelphia grain commission house. He became a broker ...

Adolfo

(Encyclopedia)Adolfo, 1923-2021, Cuban-American fashion designer, b. Havana, Cuba, as Adolfo Sardiña. Adolfo came to New York in the 1950s, originally working as a milliner (hat maker/designer). He ope...

Wickremanayake, Ratnasiri

(Encyclopedia)Wickremanayake, Ratnasiri, 1933–2016, Sri Lankan political leader. He entered the Sri Lankan parliament (1960) as a member of the People's United Front; in 1962 he joined the Sri Lanka Freedom party...

Upshaw, Gene

(Encyclopedia)Upshaw, Gene (Eugene Upshaw, Jr.), 1945–2008, American football player and labor union leader, b. Robstown, Tex. He attended Texas College of Arts and Industries (now Texas A&M, Kingsville), whe...

ureter

(Encyclopedia)ureter yo͝orēˈtər [key], thick-walled tube that conveys urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder. It is approximately 10 in. (25.4 cm) long, with the upper half located in the abdomen and the ...

magnetic levitation

(Encyclopedia)magnetic levitation or maglev măgˈlĕv [key], support and often propulsion of objects or vehicles by the use of magnets. The magnets used in magnetic levitation suspend an object free of contact wit...

Jagiello

(Encyclopedia)Jagiello yägĕˈlō [key], dynasty that ruled Poland and Lithuania from 1386 to 1572, Hungary from 1440 to 1444 and again from 1490 to 1526, and Bohemia from 1471 to 1526. It took its name from Ladis...