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Julian Day calendar

(Encyclopedia)Julian Day calendar, system of astronomical dating that allows the difference between two dates to be calculated more easily than conventional civil calendars with their uneven months. It was devised ...

Regiomontanus

(Encyclopedia)Regiomontanus rēˌjēōmŏnˌtāˈnəs [key] [Lat.,=belonging to the royal mountain, i.e., to Königsberg], 1436–76, German astronomer and mathematician, b. Königsberg. His original name was Johan...

Slipher, Vesto Melvin

(Encyclopedia)Slipher, Vesto Melvin slīˈfər [key], 1875–1969, American astronomer, b. Mulberry, Ind. From 1901 he was at Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, Ariz., where he served as director (1917–54). Much of h...

Caffieri

(Encyclopedia)Caffieri Fr. käfyārēˈ, Ital. käf-fyāˈrē [key], French family of artists. Philippe Caffieri, 1634–1716, left Italy to enter the service of Louis XIV at the Gobelin factory. He and a son, Jacq...

Yerkes Observatory

(Encyclopedia)Yerkes Observatory, astronomical observatory located in Williams Bay, Wis., on the shore of Lake Geneva. It was founded in 1892 with funds provided by Charles T. Yerkes and its first director was Geor...

kilogram

(Encyclopedia)kilogram, abbr. kg, fundamental unit of mass in the metric system, defined as the mass of the International Prototype Kilogram, a platinum-iridium cylinder kept at Sèvres, France, near Paris. Copies ...

Fredonia

(Encyclopedia)Fredonia frēdōˈnēə [key], village (2020 pop. 9,585), Chautauqua co., SW N.Y., near Lake Erie; ...

horsepower

(Encyclopedia)horsepower, unit of power in the English system of units. It is equal to 33,000 foot-pounds per minute or 550 foot-pounds per second or approximately 746 watts. The term horsepower originated with Jam...

Oahe Dam

(Encyclopedia)Oahe Dam ōwäˈhē [key], major unit of the Missouri River basin project, 242 ft (74 m) high and 9,360 ft (2,853 m) long, on the Missouri River, central S.Dak., near Pierre; built 1948–63 by the U....

North Platte project

(Encyclopedia)North Platte project, unit of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, in the North Platte River valley, W Nebr. and E Wyo. It supplies hydroelectric power to many towns and industries and provides irrigation ...