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John, Elton Hercules

(Encyclopedia)John, Elton Hercules, 1947–, English popular singer, pianist, and composer, b. Reginald Kenneth Dwight. By the mid-1970s he had become famous presenting his own and other composers' songs in spectac...

Aeolus

(Encyclopedia)Aeolus ēˈələs [key], in Greek mythology. 1 The wind god. He lived on the island of Aeolia, where he kept the winds in a cave. 2 Son of Hellen and ancestor of the Aeolian branch of the Hellenic rac...

puna

(Encyclopedia)puna po͞oˈnä [key], high plateau region, 12,000 to 16,000 ft (3,658–4,877 m) high, between ridges of the Andes in Peru and Bolivia. Arid, cold, and in general, covered by short coarse grass, the ...

crumhorn

(Encyclopedia)crumhorn, J-shaped, double-reed musical instrument used throughout Europe from the 15th cent. through the 17th cent. It possesses a soft, reedy tone. The reed is enclosed by a wooden cap with a hole a...

kamikaze

(Encyclopedia)kamikaze käˌməkäˈzē [key] [Jap.,=divine wind], the typhoon that destroyed Kublai Khan's fleet, foiling his invasion of Japan in 1281. In World War II the term was used for a Japanese suicide air...

Bates, H. E.

(Encyclopedia)Bates, H. E. (Herbert Ernest Bates), 1905–74, English author, b. Rushden, Northamptonshire. During World War II he served with the Royal Air Force. A good storyteller, Bates had the ability to rende...

Sprengel, Christian Konrad

(Encyclopedia)Sprengel, Christian Konrad krĭsˈtyän kônˈrät shprĕngˈəl [key], 1750–1816, German botanist. Although director of a school at Spandau and tutor in Berlin, he devoted himself chiefly to the st...

loess

(Encyclopedia)loess lĕs, lōˈəs, Ger. lös [key], unstratified soil deposit of varying thickness, usually yellowish and composed of fine-grained angular mineral particles mixed with clay. It is found in many reg...

Van Allen radiation belts

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Van Allen radiation belts: The solar wind, a stream of protons, electrons, and ions coming from the sun, gives the belts their asymmetrical shape. Van Allen radiation belts, belts of radiation...

Hyacinth, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Hyacinth hīəsĭnˈthəs [key], in Greek mythology, beautiful youth loved by Apollo. He was killed accidentally by a discus thrown by the god. According to another legend, the wind god Zephyr, out of...