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Weald, the

(Encyclopedia)Weald, the wēld [key], area between the North Downs and the South Downs, SE England, forming part of the counties of East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey, and Kent. Formerly forested and once noted for i...

Oder-Neisse line

(Encyclopedia)Oder-Neisse line, frontier established in 1945 between Germany and Poland; it followed the Oder and W Neisse rivers from the Baltic Sea to the Czechoslovak border. The boundary, desired by most Poles ...

Ranjit Singh

(Encyclopedia)Ranjit Singh rŭnˈjĭt sĭng [key], 1780–1839, Indian maharaja, ruler of the Sikhs. Seizing Lahore (1799) and Amritsar (1809), he established himself as the leading Sikh chieftain. In 1809 he made ...

Sinuiju

(Encyclopedia)Sinuiju sēnˈo͝oˈēˈjo͞o [key], Jap. Shingishu, city (1993 pop. 326,011), W North Korea, on the Yellow Sea (or West Sea) at the mouth of the Yalu River. A main northern gateway to Korea, it devel...

Zuider Zee

(Encyclopedia)Zuider Zee zīˈdər zē, zā, Du. zoiˈdər zā [key], former shallow inlet of the North Sea, c.80 mi (130 km) long, indenting NE Netherlands. In ancient times Lake Flevo, it was joined to the North ...

Torneälv

(Encyclopedia)Torneälv tōrˈnəĕlv [key], Finnish Torniojoki, river, c.320 mi (510 km) long, rising in N Sweden at the Norwegian border. The river, which drains Torneträsk lake (126 sq mi/326 sq km), flows SW i...

Westmoreland, William Childs

(Encyclopedia)Westmoreland, William Childs, 1914–2005, U.S. general, b. Spartanburg co., S.C. He graduated from West Point in 1936 and fought with distinction in North Africa and Europe during World War II and la...

transcontinental railroad

(Encyclopedia)transcontinental railroad, in U.S. history, rail connection with the Pacific coast. In 1845, Asa Whitney presented to Congress a plan for the federal government to subsidize the building of a railroad...

King, Charles Bird

(Encyclopedia)King, Charles Bird, 1785–1862, American portrait painter, b. Newport, R.I. He studied under Edward Savage and with Benjamin West in London. His work, executed in Washington, D.C., included Native Am...

Heshbon

(Encyclopedia)Heshbon hĕshˈbŏn, khĕshbōnˈ [key], ancient city, E of the Jordan. It was an Amorite capital, located at the crossroads of the east-west road to Jericho and the north-south road paralleling the J...