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San Juan Islands

(Encyclopedia)San Juan Islands săn wän [key], archipelago of 172 islands constituting San Juan co., NW Wash., E of Vancouver Island. The islands were visited and named c.1790 by Spanish explorers. The islands wer...

Van Allsburg, Chris

(Encyclopedia)Van Allsburg, Chris, 1949–, American writer and illustrator of children's books, b. East Grand Rapids, Mich., B.F.A. Univ. of Michigan, 1972, M.F.A. Rhode Island School of Design, 1975. Originally a...

Pell, Claiborne de Borda

(Encyclopedia)Pell, Claiborne de Borda, 1918–2009, U.S. politician, b. New York City, grad. Princeton (B.A., 1940), Columbia (M.A., 1946). From an old, distinguished American family, he served (1941–45) in the ...

Niagara Falls, waterfall, United States and Canada

(Encyclopedia)Niagara Falls, in the Niagara River, W N.Y. and S Ont., Canada; one of the most famous spectacles in North America. The falls are on the international line between the cities of Niagara Falls, N.Y., a...

López, Narciso

(Encyclopedia)López, Narciso lōˈpās [key], 1798?–1851, Spanish-American soldier, b. Venezuela. After serving in the Spanish army during the Venezuelan revolution against Spain, he left his native country for...

Portman, John Calvin, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Portman, John Calvin, Jr., 1924–2017, American architect and developer, b. Walhalla, S.C., grad. Georgia Institute of Technology (1950). In the 1960s and 70s, he radically changed the look of the ho...

charleston, dance

(Encyclopedia)charleston, social dance of the United States popular in the mid-1920s. The charleston is characterized by outward heel kicks combined with an up-and-down movement achieved by bending and straightenin...

Whipple, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Whipple, Abraham, 1733–1819, American Revolutionary naval officer, b. Providence, R.I. In 1759–60, as captain of the privateer Game Cock in the French and Indian Wars, he captured numerous prizes....

Kona

(Encyclopedia)Kona kōˈnə [key], district, along the western coast of the island of Hawaii. It is Hawaii's coffee belt and the only coffee-producing area in the United States. The Kona coast, with fine deep-sea f...

Valley Stream

(Encyclopedia)Valley Stream, village (1990 pop. 33,946), Nassau co., SE N.Y., on Long Island, a residential suburb of New York City; inc. 1925. Kennedy International Airport is to the west. Valley Stream is the sit...