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Alaska Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Alaska Peninsula, SW Alaska, extending 500 mi (800 km) SW from the mainland, separating Bristol Bay and the Bering Sea from Cook Inlet, the Shelikof Strait, and Pacific Ocean. The Aleutian Range, runn...

chernozem

(Encyclopedia)chernozem chĕrˈnəzĕmˌ [key] or black earth, variety of soil rich in organic matter in the form of humus. It is generally a modified type of loess. True chernozem is black in color, but there are ...

chalcedony

(Encyclopedia)chalcedony kălsĕdˈənē [key] [from Chalcedon], form of quartz the crystals of which are so minute that its crystalline structure cannot be seen except with the aid of a microscope. Chalcedony has ...

Clinton, George

(Encyclopedia) Clinton, George, 1941- , American singer, songwriter, producer, and bandleader, b. Kannapolis, N.C. Although born in North Carolina, Clinton was ...

satinwood

(Encyclopedia)satinwood, name for a hard and durable wood with a satinlike sheen, much used in cabinetmaking, especially in marquetry. It comes from two tropical trees of the family Rutaceae (rue family). East Indi...

Portinari, Cândido

(Encyclopedia)Portinari, Cândido känˈdēᵺō pôrtēnäˈrē [key], 1903–62, Brazilian painter. He studied at the National School of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro. In 1928 a European fellowship enabled him to v...

Rural Electrification Administration

(Encyclopedia)Rural Electrification Administration (REA), former agency of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture charged with administering loan programs for electrification and telephone service in rural areas. The REA wa...

Parra, Nicanor

(Encyclopedia)Parra, Nicanor nēkänōrˈ päˈrä [key], 1914–2018, Chilean poet, grad. Univ. of Chile (1938), studied at Brown, Oxford. A poet who was also a mathematician and physicist and a professor of theor...

turpentine

(Encyclopedia)turpentine, yellow to brown semifluid oleoresin exuded from the sapwood of pines, firs, and other conifers. It is made up of two principal components, an essential oil and a type of resin that is call...

nutcracker

(Encyclopedia)nutcracker, common name for a small crow of the genus Nucifraga in the family Corvidae (crow family). The Old World nutcracker (N. caryocatactes) is found throughout the colder regions of Europe, incl...