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rancheria

(Encyclopedia)rancheria ränchāˈrēä [key], type of communal settlement formerly characteristic of the Yaqui Indians of Sonora, Mexico, and of various small Native American groups of the SW United States, especi...

Rogers, William Pierce

(Encyclopedia)Rogers, William Pierce, 1913–2001, U.S. government official, b. Norfolk, N.Y. Admitted to the bar in 1937, he served (1947–50) as chief counsel to two Senate investigating committees before becomi...

Sitter, Willem de

(Encyclopedia)Sitter, Willem de vĭlˈəm də sĭtˈər [key], 1872–1934, Dutch astronomer and mathematician. He was professor from 1908 at the Univ. of Leiden and in 1919 became director of its observatory. His ...

peritoneum

(Encyclopedia)peritoneum pĕrətənēˈəm [key], multilayered membrane which lines the abdominal cavity, and supports and covers the organs within it. The part of the membrane that lines the abdominal cavity is ca...

geology

(Encyclopedia)geology, science of the earth's history, composition, and structure, and the associated processes. It draws upon chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and mathematics (notably statistics) for suppor...

radio

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. AM transmitter B. AM receiver radio, transmission or reception of electromagnetic radiation in the radio frequency range. The term is commonly applied also to the equipment used, especially...

Drabble, Margaret

(Encyclopedia)Drabble, Margaret, 1939–, English novelist, b. Sheffield, Yorkshire; sister of A. S. Byatt. Drabble's rigorous and unsentimentally realistic vision of an England split between traditional values and...

Duluth, Daniel Greysolon, sieur

(Encyclopedia)Duluth or Du Lhut, Daniel Greysolon, sieur dəlo͞othˈ, Fr. dülütˈ [key], 1636–1710, French explorer in Canada. He went to Canada with his younger brother c.1672. In 1678 he set out on an expedi...

chartered companies

(Encyclopedia)chartered companies, associations for foreign trade, exploration, and colonization that came into existence with the formation of the European nation states and their overseas expansion. An associatio...

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey

(Encyclopedia)Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 1537?–1583, English soldier, navigator, and explorer; half-brother of Sir Walter Raleigh. Knighted (1570) for his service in the campaigns in Ireland, he later (1572) served i...