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Vaiont Dam

(Encyclopedia)Vaiont Dam, 858 ft (262 m) high, on the Vaiont River, a tributary of the Piave River, in Venetia, NE Italy, near Belluno. Vaiont Dam, one of the highest in the world, was completed in 1961 and is used...

Rowley, Keith Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Rowley, Keith Christopher, 1949–, Trinidadian political leader, b. Tobago, grad. Univ. of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. A volcanologist, he worked in academia and industry before entering politics...

Perry, Antoinette

(Encyclopedia)Perry, Antoinette, 1888–1946, American actress, manager, producer, b. Denver, Colo. Perry began her career as an actress. She later produced several successful plays with Brock Pemberton, including ...

Chilkoot Pass

(Encyclopedia)Chilkoot Pass chĭlˈko͞ot [key], alt. c.3,500 ft (1,070 m), in the Coast Mts., on the British Columbia–Alaska line. The Chilkoot people long used it to pass between the Pacific coast and the Yukon...

Heng Swee Keat

(Encyclopedia)Heng Swee Keat, 1961–, Singaporean political leader. A member of the People's Action party (PAP), he was secretary (1997–2000) to Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and head of Singapore's central bank ...

jargon

(Encyclopedia)jargon, pejorative term applied to speech or writing that is considered meaningless, unintelligible, or ugly. In one sense the term is applied to the special language of a profession, which may be unn...

Mossi

(Encyclopedia)Mossi mŏsˈē [key], African people, numbering about 2.5 million, mostly in Burkina Faso. From c.a.d. 1000 the Mossi were organized into several kingdoms, one of which has continued to the present da...

motion sickness

(Encyclopedia)motion sickness, waves of nausea and vomiting experienced by some people, resulting from the sudden changes in movement of a vehicle. The ailment is also known as seasickness, car sickness, train sick...

Arpad, chief of the Magyars

(Encyclopedia)Arpad ŏrˈpäd [key], c.840–907?, chief of the Magyars. He led his people into Hungary c.895. The leaders of the Magyars and the first dynasty of Hungarian kings (St. Stephen I to Andrew III) were ...

Minturnae

(Encyclopedia)Minturnae mĭntûrˈnē [key], ancient town of Latium, Italy, 7 mi (11.3 km) E of Formia. It was important because it controlled the bridge on the Appian Way over the Liris River. Founded by a people ...