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Arafat

(Encyclopedia)Arafat äräfäˈ [key], granite hill, Saudi Arabia, near Mecca. The hill was an ancient pagan sanctuary and is shrouded in many legends. It is a site for prayers during the hajj, the annual Muslim pi...

Carter Family

(Encyclopedia)Carter Family, group of singers that specialized in traditional music of the Southern Appalachian Mountains; it consisted of A(lvin) P(leasant) Carter, 1891–1960, b. Maces Spring, Va.; his wife, Sar...

Wichita, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Wichita wĭchˈĭtô [key], city (1990 pop. 304,011), seat of Sedgwick co., S central Kans., at the confluence of the Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers; inc. 1870. It is the chief commercial and ind...

Nye, Edgar Wilson

(Encyclopedia)Nye, Edgar Wilson nī [key], known as Bill Nye, 1850–96, American humorist and journalist, b. Shirley Mills, Maine. He lived in Wisconsin from 1852 to 1876, when he went to Wyoming. There he was adm...

Tallinn

(Encyclopedia)Tallinn täˈlĭn [key], Ger. Reval, city (1994 pop. 442,679), capital of Estonia, on the Gulf of Finland, opposite Helsinki. It is a major Baltic port, a rail and highway junction, and an industrial ...

Fisher, John

(Encyclopedia)Fisher, John (Saint John Fisher), c.1469–1535, English prelate, cardinal, bishop of Rochester (1504–34). Known for his scholarship at Cambridge, he was chosen confessor to Margaret Beaufort, mothe...

Segovia, city, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Segovia, city (1990 pop. 55,188), capital of Segovia prov., central Spain, in Castile and León, on the Eresma River. It stands on a rocky hill (3,297 ft/1,005 m high) crowned by the cathedral and the...

Patrick, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Patrick, Saint, c.385–461, Christian missionary, the Apostle of Ireland, b. Bannavem Taberniae (an unknown place in Britain, possibly near the Severn or in Pembroke). He was one of the most successf...

Dorking

(Encyclopedia)Dorking, town, Surrey, SE England. It is a market town and residential suburb of London. Leith Hill, the highest point in SE England (965 ft/294 m), is ...

Boston College

(Encyclopedia)Boston College, main campus at Chestnut Hill, Mass.; coeducational; Jesuit; est. and opened 1863. Actually a university, the school's Chestnut Hill campus comprises colleges of arts and sciences and b...