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Tropic of Cancer

(Encyclopedia)Tropic of Cancer, parallel of latitude at 23°30′ north of the equator; it is the northern boundary of the tropics. This parallel marks the farthest point north at which the sun can be seen directly...

Troyes

(Encyclopedia)Troyes trwä [key], city (1990 pop. 60,755), capital of Aube dept., NE France, on the Seine River. It is an industrial town. Hosiery is the main product. Troyes became an episcopal see in the 4th cent...

Beckford, William

(Encyclopedia)Beckford, William, 1760–1844, English author. A wealthy dilettante, Beckford had a great desire to ascend to the nobility. Unfortunately his erratic and strange behavior often worked against his amb...

thirst

(Encyclopedia)thirst, sensation indicating the body's need for water. Dry or salty food and dry, dusty air may induce such a sensation by depleting moisture in the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat. Relief t...

Bhaskara

(Encyclopedia)Bhaskara əchärˈyə [key] [Skt.,=learned], b. 1114, Indian mathematician and astronomer. According to the custom, he put his learned treatises into verse, adding, however, explanations in prose. His...

Black Monday

(Encyclopedia)Black Monday, Oct. 19, 1987, in U.S. history, day of financial panic. The Dow Jones Average fell 508.32 points, a drop of 22.6%, the largest since 1914. The point decline as well as the volume, 604.33...

Zephaniah, book of the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Zephaniah zĕfˌənīˈə [key], prophetic book of the Bible. The prophet, who lived in the reign (c.640–609 b.c.) of King Josiah of Judah, traces his genealogy to King Hezekiah. Zephaniah denounces...

Rasles, Sébastien

(Encyclopedia)Rasles, Sébastien sābästyăNˈ räl [key], 1657?–1724, French Jesuit missionary in North America. Arriving in present-day Maine in 1689, he spent two years with the Abnaki in Acadia. He then beca...

Scott, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Scott, Paul (Paul Mark Scott), 1930–78, British author, b. London. He joined the British army in 1940 and served in India, Burma, and Malaya from 1943 to 1946. His observations of the British there ...

shamrock

(Encyclopedia)shamrock, a plant with leaves composed of three leaflets. According to legend it was used by St. Patrick in explaining the doctrine of the Trinity; it is now used as the emblem of Ireland. An artifici...