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Pacific Margin

(Encyclopedia)Pacific Margin, western section of the great North American Cordillera, W United States and W Canada, stretching from SW Alaska to S Calif. It is composed of a central lowland region (Central Valley, ...

gambling

(Encyclopedia)gambling or gaming, betting of money or valuables on, and often participation in, games of chance (some involving degrees of skill). In England and in the United States, gambling was not a common-law ...

Chisum, John Simpson

(Encyclopedia)Chisum, John Simpson chĭzˈəm [key], 1824–84, American cattleman, b. Tennessee. In 1837 he moved with his family to Texas. He had no formal education but worked as a builder and contractor, buildi...

Rif

(Encyclopedia)Rif rĭf [key] or Rif Atlas, range of the Atlas Mts., NE Morocco, NW Africa, curving along the Mediterranean coast from Ceuta to Melilla. Tidighin (8,056 ft/2,455 m) is the highest peak. Composed of s...

Owens

(Encyclopedia)Owens, river, c.120 mi (190 km) long, rising in the Sierra Nevada, E Calif., SE of Yosemite National Park and flowing SE, to enter Owens Lake, near Mt. Whitney. Since 1913, at a point c.45 mi (70 km) ...

Yamagata, Aritomo

(Encyclopedia)Yamagata, Aritomo ärēˈtōmō yämäˈgätä [key], 1838–1922, Japanese soldier and statesman, chief founder of the modern Japanese army. A samurai of Choshu, he took part in the Meiji restoration...

Gallaudet, Thomas Hopkins

(Encyclopedia)Gallaudet, Thomas Hopkins gălˌədĕtˈ, gôˈlə– [key], 1787–1851, American educator of the deaf, b. Philadelphia, grad. Andover Theological Seminary. In England and France he studied methods o...

American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters

(Encyclopedia)American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, honorary academy of notable American artists, writers, and composers. The National Institute of Arts and Letters, founded in 1898, served as the par...

Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College

(Encyclopedia)Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, mainly at Baton Rouge; land-grant and state supported; coeducational; chartered 1853, opened as a state seminary 1860 near Alexandri...

écarté

(Encyclopedia)écarté āˌkärtāˈ [key], card game similar to euchre, played by two persons. The pack has 32 cards, seven through ace in each suit; the king is the highest card, and the ace ranks below the jack ...