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Manila hemp

(Encyclopedia)Manila hemp, the most important of the cordage fibers. It is obtained chiefly from the Manila hemp plant (Musa textilis) of the family Musaceae (banana family). It is grown mainly in its native Philip...

manorial system

(Encyclopedia)manorial system sēnyôrˈēəl [key], economic and social system of medieval Europe under which peasants' land tenure and production were regulated, and local justice and taxation were administered. ...

Mansfield, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Mansfield. 1 Town (1990 pop. 20,634), Tolland co., NE Conn.; settled c.1692, inc. 1702. It is an agricultural and manufacturing town. The Univ. of Connecticut is in Storrs, which is included within Ma...

mantis shrimp

(Encyclopedia)mantis shrimp, marine crustacean of the order Stomatopoda, characterized by a pair of enlarged appendages, called maxillipeds, that form powerful claws for seizing prey. The last two segments of each ...

Mao Zedong

(Encyclopedia)Mao Zedong or Mao Tse-tung mou dzŭ-do͝ong [key], 1893–1976, founder of the People's Republic of China. Mao was one of the most prominent Communist theoreticians and his ideas on revolutionary stru...

map projection

(Encyclopedia)map projection, transfer of the features of the surface of the earth or another spherical body onto a flat sheet of paper. Only a globe can represent accurately the shape, orientation, and relative ar...

Ashokan Reservoir

(Encyclopedia)Ashokan Reservoir əshōˈkən [key], 13 sq mi (34 sq km), SE N.Y., completed 1912. It is supplied by the Esopus and Schoharie watersheds and provides part of New York City's water supply. Water is ca...

marble

(Encyclopedia)marble, metamorphic rock composed wholly or in large part of calcite or dolomite crystals, the crystalline texture being the result of metamorphism of limestone by heat and pressure. The term marble i...

Klein, Ralph Phillip

(Encyclopedia)Klein, Ralph Phillip, 1942–2013, Canadian politician, b. Calgary. He served in the Canadian air force and worked in public relations and as a weathercaster and reporter in radio and television befor...

Ardennes, region, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France

(Encyclopedia)Ardennes, wooded plateau, from 1,600 to 2,300 ft (488–701 m) high, in SE Belgium, N Luxembourg, and Ardennes dept., N France, E and S of the Meuse River. The plateau is cut into wild crags and ravin...