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potato

(Encyclopedia)potato or white potato, common name for a perennial plant (Solanum tuberosum) of the family Solanaceae (nightshade family) and for its swollen underground stem, a tuber, which is one of the most widel...

disarmament, nuclear

(Encyclopedia)disarmament, nuclear, the reduction and limitation of the various nuclear weapons in the military forces of the world's nations. The atomic bombs dropped (1945) on Japan by the United States in World ...

Russian Revolution

(Encyclopedia)Russian Revolution, violent upheaval in Russia in 1917 that overthrew the czarist government. The civil war between the Bolsheviks (Reds) and the anti-Bolsheviks (Whites) ravaged Russia until 1920. ...

manganese

(Encyclopedia)manganese măngˈgənēs, mănˈ– [key] [Lat.,=magnet], metallic chemical element; symbol Mn; at. no. 25; at. wt. 54.93805; m.p. about 1,244℃; b.p. about 1,962℃; sp. gr. 7.2 to 7.45, depending o...

coal

(Encyclopedia)coal, fuel substance of plant origin, largely or almost entirely composed of carbon with varying amounts of mineral matter. Coal is found in beds or seams interstratified with shales, clays, sands...

John Paul II, Saint

(Encyclopedia)John Paul II, Saint 1920–2005, pope (1978–2005), a Pole (b. Wadowice) named Karol Józef Wojtyła; successor of John Paul I. He was the first non-Italian pope elected since the Dutch Adrian VI (15...

Moldavia

(Encyclopedia)Moldavia mŏldāˈvēə [key], historic Romanian province (c.14,700 sq mi/38,100 sq km), extending from the Carpathians in Romania east to the Dnieper River in Moldova. The region was part of the Ro...

atomic bomb

(Encyclopedia)atomic bomb or A-bomb, weapon deriving its explosive force from the release of nuclear energy through the fission (splitting) of heavy atomic nuclei. The first atomic bomb was produced at the Los Alam...

Russian language

(Encyclopedia)Russian language, also called Great Russian, member of the East Slavic group of the Slavic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Slavic languages). The principal language of administ...

Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich

(Encyclopedia)Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich bərēsˈ nyĭkəlīˈəvĭch yĕltˈsĭn [key], 1931–2007, Soviet and Russian politician, president of Russia (1991–99). Born in Yekaterinburg (then Sverdlovsk) and ed...