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mystery

(Encyclopedia)mystery or mystery story, literary genre in which the cause (or causes) of a mysterious happening, often a crime, is gradually revealed by the hero or heroine; this is accomplished through a mixture o...

State, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)State, United States Department of, executive department of the federal government responsible, under the President's direction, for the making and execution of American foreign policy. Before and ...

flood, in hydrology

(Encyclopedia)flood, inundation of land by the rise and overflow of a body of water. Floods occur most commonly when water from heavy rainfall, from melting ice and snow, or from a combination of these exceeds the ...

Picasso, Pablo

(Encyclopedia)Picasso, Pablo (Pablo Ruiz y Picasso) päˈblō pēkäˈsō; ro͞oēthˈ ē [key], 1881–1973, Spanish painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and ceramist, who worked in France. He is generally considere...

economics

(Encyclopedia)economics, study of how human beings allocate scarce resources to produce various commodities and how those commodities are distributed for consumption among the people in society (see distribution). ...

landscape painting

(Encyclopedia)landscape painting, portrayal of scenes found in the natural world; these scenes are treated as the subject of the work of art rather than as an element in another kind of painting. In China landsca...

Monroe Doctrine

(Encyclopedia)Monroe Doctrine, principle of American foreign policy enunciated in President James Monroe's message to Congress, Dec. 2, 1823. It initially called for an end to European intervention in the Americas,...

mining

(Encyclopedia)mining, extraction of solid mineral resources from the earth. These resources include ores, which contain commercially valuable amounts of metals, such as iron and aluminum; precious stones, such as d...

Saint Petersburg, city, Russia

(Encyclopedia)Saint Petersburg, formerly Leningrad, Rus. Sankt-Peterburg, city (1990 est. pop. 5,036,000), capital of the Leningrad region (although not administratively part of it) and the administrative center of...

Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de

(Encyclopedia)Voltaire, François Marie Arouet de fräNswäˈ märēˈ ärwāˈ də vôltĕrˈ [key], 1694–1778, French philosopher and author, whose original name was Arouet. One of the towering geniuses in lite...