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strychnine

(Encyclopedia)strychnine strĭkˈnĭn [key], bitter alkaloid drug derived from the seeds of a tree, Strychnos nux-vomica, native to Sri Lanka, Australia, and India. It has been used as a rat poison for five centuri...

Baze, Russell Avery

(Encyclopedia)Baze, Russell Avery, 1958–, Canadian-American jockey, b. Vancouver, Canada. He rode primarily at tracks in N California. In 2006 he surpassed Laffit Pincay, Jr.'s record for career wins, and in 2008...

Sunbury

(Encyclopedia)Sunbury, city (1990 pop. 11,591), seat of Northumberland co., E central Pa., on the Susquehanna River at the confluence of its north and west branches; laid out 1772, inc. 1921. It is in an agricultur...

Sparks

(Encyclopedia)Sparks, city (1990 pop. 53,367), Washoe co., W Nev., just E of Reno; inc. 1905. The Southern Pacific RR was the major employer until the dieselization of railroad engines forced the closing (1957) of ...

Yining

(Encyclopedia)Yining go͝olˈjäˈ [key], city (1994 est. pop. 197,500), W Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the Ili River in the Dzungarian basin. An old commercial center trading in tea and cattle, it i...

Carolingian architecture and art

(Encyclopedia)Carolingian architecture and art, art forms and structures created by the Carolingians. Toward the beginning of the Carolingian Period, in the 8th cent., a gradual change appeared in Western culture a...

Leopold III, margrave of Austria

(Encyclopedia)Leopold III or Saint Leopold, c.1073–1136, margrave of Austria (1095–1136). By his marriage (1106) with Agnes, widow of Duke Frederick I of Swabia (see Hohenstaufen), he became the stepfather of G...

Lombardi, Vince

(Encyclopedia)Lombardi, Vince (Vincent Thomas Lombardi), 1913–70, American football coach, b. New York City. As a student at Fordham, he was a member of the famed “Seven Blocks of Granite” line. After great s...

manna

(Encyclopedia)manna mănˈə [key], in the Bible, edible substance provided by God for the people of Israel in the wilderness. In the Book of Exodus it is compared to coriander seed and described as fine, white, an...

Hornsby, Rogers

(Encyclopedia)Hornsby, Rogers, 1896–1963, American baseball player and manager, b. Winters, Tex. He started in major league baseball in 1915 as a shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals and later (1920) became a se...