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Hunyadi, John

(Encyclopedia)Hunyadi, John ho͝onˈyŏdĭ [key], Hung. Hunyadi János, c.1385–1456, Hungarian national hero, leader of the resistance against the Ottomans. He was chosen (1441) voivode [governor] of Transylvania...

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...

differential

(Encyclopedia)differential, in the automobile, a set of gears used on the driving (usually rear) axle. The two wheels on the driving axle must be interconnected in order to receive their energy from the same source...

Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan

(Encyclopedia)Chandrasekhar, Subrahmanyan so͝obˌrəmänˈyən chŭnˌdrəsāˈkər [key], 1910–95, American astrophysicist, b. Lahore, India (now Pakistan). He became a professor at the Univ. of Chicago in 1938...

Saint-Malo

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Malo săN-mälōˈ [key], town (1990 pop. 49,274), Ille-et-Vilaine dept., NW France, on the English Channel. Built on a rocky promontory, Saint-Malo is a fishing port and one of the great touris...

nucleotide

(Encyclopedia)nucleotide no͞oˈklēətīdˌ, nyo͞oˈ– [key], organic substance that serves as a monomer in forming nucleic acids. Nucleotides consist of either a purine or a pyrimidine base, a ribose or deoxyri...

Slim Helú, Carlos

(Encyclopedia)Slim Helú, Carlos cärˈlōs slēm hēlo͞oˈ [key], 1940–, Mexican business executive. The son of a Lebanese Maronite immigrant who became a successful merchant and real-estate investor, Slim was ...

Yucca Mountain

(Encyclopedia)Yucca Mountain, mountain in the SW Nevada desert about 100 mi (161 km) northwest of Las Vegas. It is the proposed site of a Dept. of Energy (DOE) repository for up to 77,000 metric tons of nuclear was...

Verhaeren, Émile

(Encyclopedia)Verhaeren, Émile āmēlˈ vārärĕnˈ, vərhäˈrən [key], 1855–1916, Belgian poet and critic, a Fleming who wrote in French. His dominant passion for social reform found expression successively ...

brake, in technology

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Shoe brake CE5 Disk brake brake, in technology, device to slow or stop the motion of a mechanism or vehicle. The vacuum brake system, or vacuum brake, depends upon the use of a vacuum to ...