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kettledrum

(Encyclopedia)kettledrum, in music, percussion instrument consisting of a hemispherical metal vessel over which a membrane is stretched, played with soft-headed wooden drumsticks. Of ancient origin, it appeared ear...

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve

(Encyclopedia)Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve ănēăkˈchăk [key], on the Alaska Peninsula, SW Alaska. Located in the Aleutian Range, the monument (137,176 acres/55,556 hectares) and surrounding preserve...

Flexner, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Flexner, Abraham, 1866–1959, American educator, b. Louisville, Ky., grad. Johns Hopkins, 1886. After 19 years as a secondary school teacher and principal, he took graduate work at Harvard and at the...

Huntington's disease

(Encyclopedia)Huntington's disease, hereditary, acute disturbance of the central nervous system usually beginning in middle age and characterized by involuntary muscular movements and progressive intellectual deter...

Denali

(Encyclopedia)Denali, formerly Mount McKinley, peak, 20,310 ft (6,190 m) high, S central Alaska, in the Alaska Range; highest point in North America. Permanent snowfields cover more than half the mountain and feed ...

Devils Lake

(Encyclopedia)Devils Lake. 1 200 sq mi (520 sq km), NE central N.Dak., the largest natural body of water in the state. In an area of typically inland drainage, Devils Lake can range from a dry lakebed to more than ...

Cruz, Celia

(Encyclopedia)Cruz, Celia, 1929–2003, Cuban-American singer, b. Havana. The “Queen of Salsa” began singing as a teenager, and in 1950 joined Sonora Matancera, Cuba's most popular band. She left Cuba a year af...

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...

Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich

(Encyclopedia)Fischer-Dieskau, Dietrich dēˈtrĭkh fĭshˈər-dēsˈkou [key], 1925–2012, German baritone. Possessed of a sensitive voice capable of a wide variety of range and expression, Fischer-Dieskau was th...

fatty acid

(Encyclopedia)fatty acid, any of the organic carboxylic acids present in fats and oils as esters of glycerol. Molecular weights of fatty acids vary over a wide range. The carbon skeleton of any fatty acid is unbran...