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Pan-Americanism

(Encyclopedia)Pan-Americanism, movement toward commercial, social, economic, military, and political cooperation among the nations of North, Central, and South America. In the early 20th cent., U.S. manipulation ...

dam

(Encyclopedia)dam, barrier, commonly across a watercourse, to hold back water, often forming a reservoir or lake; dams are also sometimes used to control or contain rockslides, mudflows, and the like in regions whe...

European Space Agency

(Encyclopedia)European Space Agency (ESA), multinational agency dedicated to the promotion, for exclusively peaceful purposes, of cooperation among European states in space research and technology. Member states in...

Ignatius of Loyola, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Ignatius of Loyola, Saint loiyōˈlə [key], 1491–1556, Spanish churchman, founder of the Jesuits (see Jesus, Society of), b. Loyola Castle near Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, Spain. In 1539, Ignatius drew u...

Rosas, Juan Manuel de

(Encyclopedia)Rosas, Juan Manuel de hwän mänwĕlˈ dā rôˈsäs [key], 1793–1877, Argentine dictator, governor of Buenos Aires prov. (1829–32, 1835–52). As a boy he served under Jacques de Liniers against ...

leprosy

(Encyclopedia)leprosy or Hansen's disease hănˈsənz [key], chronic, mildly infectious malady capable of producing, when untreated, various deformities and disfigurements. It is caused by the rod-shaped bacterium ...

thorium

(Encyclopedia)thorium thôrˈēəm [key] [from Thor], radioactive chemical element; symbol Th; at. no. 90; mass number of most stable isotope 232; m.p. about 1,750℃; b.p. about 4,790℃; sp. gr. 11.7 at 20℃; va...

rubber

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Basic molecules in rubber rubber, any solid substance that upon vulcanization becomes elastic; the term includes natural rubber (caoutchouc) and synthetic rubber. The term elastomer is sometim...

Pritzker Architecture Prize Recipients (table)

(Encyclopedia)Pritzker Architecture Prize Recipients ...

meningitis

(Encyclopedia)meningitis sĕrˌəbrōspīˈnəl [key], acute inflammation of the meninges, the membranes that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord. It can be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, or other orga...