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day

(Encyclopedia)day, period of time for the earth to rotate once on its axis. The ordinary day, or solar day, is measured relative to the sun, being the time between successive passages of the sun over a stationary o...

puts and calls

(Encyclopedia)puts and calls, in securities trading. A call is a contract that gives the holder the right to purchase a given stock at a specific price within a designated period of time. It is the opposite of a pu...

atlatl

(Encyclopedia)atlatl ätˈlätəl [key] [Nahuatl], device used to throw a spear with greater propulsion. Atlatls began to be used in the Americas in the post-Pleistocene period and were eventually replaced by the b...

isotherm

(Encyclopedia)isotherm, line drawn on a map of a particular region of the earth's surface connecting points of equal temperature; each point reflects one temperature reading or an average of several readings over a...

Georgian architecture

(Encyclopedia)Georgian architecture. It includes several trends in English architecture that were predominant during the reigns (1714–1830) of George I, George II, George III, and George IV. The first half of the...

Iron Age

(Encyclopedia)Iron Age, period in the development of industry that begins with the general use of iron and continues into modern times. In Asia, Egypt, and Europe it was preceded by the Bronze Age. It did not begin...

Ugarit

(Encyclopedia)Ugarit o͞ogərētˈ [key], ancient city, capital of the Ugarit kingdom, W Syria, on the Mediterranean coast N of modern Latakia. Although the name of this city was known from Egyptian and Hittite sou...

Igarka

(Encyclopedia)Igarka ēgärˈkə [key], city, NW Siberian Russia, on the lower Yenisei River. It has sawmills and is a major lumber port. Igarka was founded in 1928. During the Stalin period forced labor was used i...

Socrates Scholasticus

(Encyclopedia)Socrates Scholasticus, fl. 5th cent., Byzantine historian. His Ecclesiastical History (in Greek, 7 vol.) continues the work of Eusebius for the period from 305 to 439. The work is unusual for its obje...

James III, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)James III, 1452–88, king of Scotland (1460–88), son and successor of James II. During his minority he was under the care of his mother, Mary of Guelders, and her adviser, James Kennedy, bishop of ...