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kingfisher

(Encyclopedia)kingfisher, common name for members of the family Alcedinidae, essentially tropical and subtropical land birds, related to the bee-eaters, rollers, and todies. Kingfishers have chunky bodies, short ne...

League City

(Encyclopedia)League City, city (1990 pop. 30,159), Galveston co., SE Tex.; inc. 1961. The aeronautics industry is of prime importance; NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is nearby. There is also diversified lig...

Jamestown, town, St. Helena

(Encyclopedia)Jamestown, town, port, and capital (1998 pop. 864) of Saint Helena, in the S Atlantic. Once a busy coaling station on the East India route, it lost its importance after the opening of the Suez Canal, ...

Bandar Abbas

(Encyclopedia)Bandar Abbas bändärˈ äb-bäsˈ [key], city, S Iran, on the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian ...

Otis, Elisha Graves

(Encyclopedia)Otis, Elisha Graves, 1811–61, American inventor, b. Halifax, Vt. From his invention (1852) of an automatic safety device to prevent the fall of hoisting machinery he developed the first passenger el...

geopark

(Encyclopedia)geopark, area identified by UNESCO as encompassing one or more sites of geological as well as archaeological, ecological, or cultural importance. The Global Network of National Geoparks was officially...

Washington-on-the-Brazos

(Encyclopedia)Washington-on-the-Brazos, former town, S central Tex., on the Brazos River; settled 1821. It was the scene of the Texas declaration of independence from Mexico on Mar. 2, 1836, and in 1842 it was the ...

ford

(Encyclopedia)ford, shallow place in a body of water, especially a river, that may be crossed by wading. Around the crossings habitually forded, cities sprang up; hence fords came to be the sites of numerous river ...

Aden

(Encyclopedia)Aden äˈdən, āˈdən [key], city, SW Yemen, on the Gulf of Aden near the southern entrance to the Red Sea. It is the chief port of Yemen. Aden consists of two peninsula...

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