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Kelly, Gene

(Encyclopedia)Kelly, Gene, 1912–96, American dancer, choreographer, movie actor, and director, b. Pittsburgh as Eugene Curran Kelly. Kelly started dancing on Broadway in 1938 and first gained fame in the title ro...

klezmer

(Encyclopedia)klezmer klĕzˈmər [key], form of instrumental folk music developed in the Eastern European Jewish community. The style had its beginnings in the Middle Ages; its name is a Yiddishized version of the...

Canyonlands National Park

(Encyclopedia)Canyonlands National Park, 337,598 acres (136,679 hectares), SE Utah; est. 1964. Located in a desert region, the park contains a maze of deep canyons and many unusual features carved by wind and water...

Varèse, Edgard

(Encyclopedia)Varèse, Edgard värĕzˈ [key], 1883–1965, French-American composer. In Paris he first studied mathematics and science but became more interested in music. He then studied composition with Roussel ...

speedometer

(Encyclopedia)speedometer, instrument that indicates speed. A cable from an automotive speedometer is attached to the rear of the transmission of an automobile; the cable turns at a rate proportional to the speed o...

temperature inversion

(Encyclopedia)temperature inversion, condition in which the temperature of the atmosphere increases with altitude in contrast to the normal decrease with altitude. When temperature inversion occurs, cold air underl...

Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Exupéry, Antoine de (Antoine-Marie-Roger de Saint-Exupéry) äNtwänˈ-märēˈ-rôzhāˈ də săNtĕgzüpārēˈ [key], 1900–1944, French aviator and writer. He became a commercial pilot and...

pollen

(Encyclopedia)pollen, minute grains, usually yellow in color but occasionally white, brown, red, or purple, borne in the anther sac at the tip of the slender filament of the stamen of a flowering plant or in the ma...

atmosphere

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Atmosphere atmosphere [Gr.,=sphere of air], the mixture of gases surrounding a celestial body with sufficient gravity to maintain it. Although some details about the atmospheres of other plane...

derecho

(Encyclopedia)derecho dərāˈchō [key], a long-lived windstorm over a wide expanse that is associated with a line of rapidly moving thunderstorms or showers. The winds in a derecho generally exceed 57 mph (92 kph...