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polo

(Encyclopedia)polo, indoor or outdoor ball and goal game played on horseback. Some historians claim that polo originated in Persia in the 6th cent.; it spread to Turkey, India, and Tibet and, with some modificati...

boat

(Encyclopedia)boat, small, open nautical vessel propelled by sail, oar, pole, paddle, or motor. The use of the term boat for larger vessels, although common, is somewhat improper, but the line between boats and shi...

Nitze, Paul Henry

(Encyclopedia)Nitze, Paul Henry nĭtˈsə [key], 1907–2004, American public official, b. Amherst, Mass., grad. Harvard, 1927. After working in investment banking, he entered government service in 1940 and served ...

Dimona

(Encyclopedia)Dimona dīmōˈnə [key] [Heb.,=wasting], town, S Israel, in the Negev Desert. It is the seat...

Edwards Air Force Base

(Encyclopedia)Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the wo...

Martinez

(Encyclopedia)Martinez märtēˈnəs [key], city (1990 pop. 31,808), seat of Contra Costa co., W Calif., on Carquinez Strait between San Pablo and Suisun bays, in a farm area; inc. 1884. Its major industry is petro...

Margaret of Valois

(Encyclopedia)Margaret of Valois välwäˈ [key], 1553–1615, queen of France and Navarre, daughter of King Henry II of France and of Catherine de' Medici. She was known as Queen Margot. Her wedding (1572) with He...

Victoria, Lake

(Encyclopedia)Victoria, Lake, or Victoria Nyanza nēănˈzə, nī– [key], largest lake of Africa and the world's second largest freshwater lake, c.26,830 sq mi (69,490 sq km), E central Africa, on the Uganda-Tanz...

hornpipe

(Encyclopedia)hornpipe, English folk dance known since the 16th cent., when it obtained its name from the wind instrument that accompanied it. The hornpipes of the 17th and 18th cent. have moderate 3–2 time and 4...

Browne, Thomas Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Browne, Thomas Alexander, pseud. Rolf Boldrewood rōf bôlˈdərwo͝odˌ, rôlf [key], 1826–1915, Australian author. A squatter, a magistrate, and a commissioner in the gold fields, he wrote many bo...