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Mikoyan, Anastas Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Mikoyan, Anastas Ivanovich ənəstäsˈ ēväˈnəvĭch myĭkəyänˈ [key], 1895–1978, Soviet Communist leader. He joined the Communist party in 1915, became a member of the party's central committ...

Vienne, river, France

(Encyclopedia)Vienne, river, 230 mi (370 km) long, rising in the Massif Central, central France, and flowing W past Limoges, then N into the Loire near Saumur. ...

West Lothian

(Encyclopedia)West Lothian, council area (1993 est. pop. 146,730), 164 sq mi (425 sq km), and former county, S central Scotland. Under the Local Government Act of 1973, West Lothian was divided between the Lothian ...

chapter house

(Encyclopedia)chapter house, a building in which the chapter of the clergy meets. Its plan varies, the simplest being a rectangle. At Worcester, England, the Norman builders created a circular chapter house (c.1100...

Cher, river, France

(Encyclopedia)Cher, river, c.200 mi (320 km) long, rising in the Massif Central and flowing generally NW across central France to join the Loire below Tours. The Berry Canal parallels part of the river. ...

Ubangi

(Encyclopedia)Ubangi o͞obängˈgē, yo͞obăngˈ– [key], Fr. Oubangui, river, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long, formed on the Congo (Kinshasa)–Central African Republic border, central Africa, by the confluence of the ...

Copperbelt

(Encyclopedia)Copperbelt, mining region, N central Zambia, central Africa. A natural extension of the mineral-rich region of SE Congo, the Copperbelt is one of the richest sources of copper in the world. Cobalt, se...

asbestos, mineral

(Encyclopedia)asbestos, common name for any of a variety of silicate minerals within the amphibole and serpentine groups that are fibrous in structure and more or less resistant to acid and fire. Chrysotile asbesto...

toxic waste

(Encyclopedia)toxic waste is waste material, often in chemical form, that can cause death or injury to living creatures. It usually is the product of industry or commerce, but comes also from residential use, agric...

Shriver, Robert Sargent

(Encyclopedia)Shriver, Robert Sargent, 1915–2011, U.S. public official, b. Westminster, Md., husband of Eunice Shriver. A lawyer, he served in World War II and was (1945–46) an assistant editor of Newsweek maga...