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jumping mouse

(Encyclopedia)jumping mouse, rodent slightly larger than the common mouse, found in North America and N Asia, also called the kangaroo mouse. Its long hind legs and tail enable it to leap distances up to 12 ft (3.7...

Olympia, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Olympia, city (1990 pop. 33,840), state capital, and seat of Thurston co., W Wash., at the southern tip of Puget Sound, on Budd Inlet; inc. 1859. A port of entry, it ships lumber products and agricult...

Le Duc Tho

(Encyclopedia)Le Duc Tho fän dĭn kī [key], 1911–90, Vietnamese political leader. A Vietnamese nationalist and one of the founders (1930) of the Indochinese Communist party, he opposed the French colonial regim...

arborvitae

(Encyclopedia)arborvitae ärˌbərvīˈtē [key] [Lat.,=tree of life], aromatic evergreen tree of the genus Thuja of the family Cupressaceae (cypress family), with scalelike leaves borne on flattened branchlets of ...

Tonkin Gulf resolution

(Encyclopedia)Tonkin Gulf resolution, in U.S. history, Congressional resolution passed in 1964 that authorized military action in Southeast Asia. On Aug. 4, 1964, North Vietnamese torpedo boats in the Gulf of Tonki...

Saskatchewan, river, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Saskatchewan, river, c.340 mi (550 km) long, formed by the confluence of the North Saskatchewan (c.760 mi/1,220 km long) and the South Saskatchewan (c.550 mi/890 km long) rivers near Prince Albert, ce...

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 ...

Vietnam War

(Encyclopedia)Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam. The war began soon after th...

Saxony

(Encyclopedia)Saxony săkˈsənē [key], Ger. Sachsen, Fr. Saxe, state (1994 pop. 4,901,000), 7,078 sq mi (18,337 sq km), E central Germany. Dresden is the capital. In its current form, Saxony is a federal state of...

Crossfield, Scott

(Encyclopedia)Crossfield, Scott (Albert Scott Crossfield), 1921–2006, American aviator, b. Berkeley, Calif. A fighter pilot and flight instructor in the navy (1942–46) during World War II, he studied aeronautic...