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Powers, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Powers, Richard, 1957–, American novelist, b. Evanston, Ill., grad. Univ of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana (B.A., 1978; M.A, 1980). He taught at his alma mater from 1996 to 2013, when he joined Stanford...

fishing

(Encyclopedia)fishing, act of catching fish for consumption or display. Fishing—usually by hand, club, spear, net, and (at least as early as 23,000 years ago) by hook—was known to prehistoric people. It was pra...

Erie Canal

(Encyclopedia)Erie Canal, artificial waterway, c.360 mi (580 km) long; connecting New York City with the Great Lakes via the Hudson River. Locks were built to overcome the 571-ft (174-m) difference between the leve...

DeBakey, Michael Ellis

(Encyclopedia)DeBakey, Michael Ellis dəbāˈkē [key], 1908–2008, American surgeon, b. Lake Charles, La. While still at Tulane medical school (M.D., 1932), DeBakey developed the roller pump, which later became a...

horology

(Encyclopedia)horology hōrŏlˈəjē [key], science of measuring time and technology of constructing instruments for its measurement or recording. Early measurements of the passage of time were based on observatio...

Grand Island

(Encyclopedia)Grand Island <1> City (2020 pop. 53,131), seat of Hall co., S Nebr., on the Wood River near its junction with the Platte; settled 1857 on the Plat...

Joliot-Curie

(Encyclopedia)Joliot-Curie ērĕnˈ [key], 1897–1956, daughter of Pierre and Marie Curie, were married in 1926. Both were assistants at the Radium Institute in Paris, of which Irène, succeeding her mother, was d...

Kandy

(Encyclopedia)Kandy kănˈdē [key], city (1995 est. pop. 108,000), capital of Central prov., Sri Lanka, on the Kandy Plateau. Once the capital of the Sinhalese Kandyan kingdom, it is now a mountain resort and mark...

burn

(Encyclopedia)burn, injury resulting from exposure to heat, electricity, radiation, or caustic chemicals. Three degrees of burn are commonly recognized. In first-degree burns the outer layer of skin, called epiderm...

Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent

(Encyclopedia)Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent ôˈbrē, bĭrdzˈlē [key], 1872–98, English illustrator and writer, b. Brighton. Beardsley exemplifies the aesthetic movement in English art of the 1890s (see decadents)....