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Annamese Cordillera

(Encyclopedia)Annamese Cordillera änˌnämēzˈ kôrˌdĭlyârˈə [key], Fr. Chaîne Annamitique, principal mountain range of mainland Southeast Asia, extending c.700 mi (1,130 km) from N central Laos SE to S cen...

John of Ephesus

(Encyclopedia)John of Ephesus ĕfˈəsəs [key], c.505–c.585, Syrian Monophysite historian, bishop of Ephesus. He became a leader of the Monophysites (see Monophysitism), and Byzantine Emperor Justinian, whose fa...

Tacitus, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Tacitus (Marcus Claudius Tacitus) tăsˈĭtəs [key], d. 276, Roman emperor (275–76). An elderly senator with a reputation for honesty and vigor, he was chosen by the senate to succeed the murdered ...

Sivas

(Encyclopedia)Sivas sĭväsˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 219,122), capital of Sivas prov., central Turkey, on the Kizil Irmak. An important trade and manufacturing center, it has cement, textile, and rug factories. Iro...

Bruce, James

(Encyclopedia)Bruce, James, 1730–94, Scottish explorer in Africa. He explored Roman ruins in N Africa (1755) from Tunis to Tripoli and visited Crete, Rhodes, and Asia Minor. In 1768 he traveled down the Red Sea a...

Xanthus

(Encyclopedia)Xanthus zănˈthəs [key], ancient city of Lycia, W Asia Minor, in present Turkey. On the Xanthus River, it was besieged and taken by the Persians (c.546 b.c.) and centuries later (c.42 b.c.) by the R...

White, Theodore H.

(Encyclopedia)White, Theodore H., 1915–86, Americal political journalist, b. Boston. After freelancing for the Boston Globe and the Manchester Guardian, he was recruited by John Hersey to cover East Asia for Time...

Bermuda grass

(Encyclopedia)Bermuda grass, perennial pasture, lawn, and hay grass (Cynodon dactylon) of the family Poaceae (grass family), native to Africa and Asia and now common in warm regions of both hemispheres. It is the s...

black gum

(Encyclopedia)black gum, ornamental deciduous tree (Nyssa sylvatica family Nyssaceae) native to E North America. The leaves turn bright scarlet in the fall. The very tough wood was used for wheel hubs and other pur...

shrew

(Encyclopedia)shrew, common name for the small, insectivorous mammals of the family Soricidae, related to the moles. Shrews include the smallest mammals; the smallest shrews are under 2 in. (5.1 cm) long, excluding...