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Niagara, river, United States and Canada

(Encyclopedia)Niagara nīăgˈrə [key], river, 34 mi (55 km) long, issuing from Lake Erie between Buffalo, N.Y., and Fort Erie, Ont., Canada. It flows north around Grand Island and over Niagara Falls to Lake Ontar...

Humphreys, David

(Encyclopedia)Humphreys, David, 1752–1818, American diplomat and poet, b. present Ansonia (then in Derby), Conn. His military talents and patriotism won the friendship of General Washington and a place on his sta...

Heathcote, Caleb

(Encyclopedia)Heathcote, Caleb hēthˈkōt [key], 1666–1721, merchant and public official in colonial New York, b. England. He arrived in New York in 1692. He became a member of the governor's council and, in Wes...

Colorado, rivers, United States and Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Colorado [1] kŏlərădˈə, –rădˈō, –räˈdō [2] kŏlərāˈdə, –räˈdə [key]. 1 Great river of the SW United States, 1,450 mi (2,334 km) long, rising in the Rocky Mts. of N Colo., and f...

governor, in government

(Encyclopedia)governor, chief executive of a dependent or component unit in a political system. In the United States, a governor is the chief executive of each state and is elected by the people of the state. In th...

Wilkes-Barre

(Encyclopedia)Wilkes-Barre wĭlks-bârˈē [key], city (1990 pop. 47,523), seat of Luzerne co., E Pa., on the east bank of the Susquehanna River; settled 1769, inc. as a city 1871. Once a major anthracite coal cent...

Luce, Clare Boothe

(Encyclopedia)Luce, Clare Boothe, 1903–87, American playwright and diplomat, whose name originally was Anne Clare Boothe, b. New York City. Witty, outspoken, glamorous, and an articulate political conservative, L...

Mason, John, c.1600–1672, American colonial military commander

(Encyclopedia)Mason, John, c.1600–1672, American colonial military commander, b. England. He was an army officer before emigrating (c.1630) to Massachusetts and then (1635) to Windsor, Conn. When the Pequot threa...

Red River, rivers, United States and Canada

(Encyclopedia)Red River. 1 River, 1,222 mi (1,967 km) long, southernmost of the large tributaries of the Mississippi River. It rises in two branches in the Texas Panhandle and flows SE between Texas and Oklahoma an...

eminent domain

(Encyclopedia)eminent domain, the right of a government to force the owner of private property sell it if it is needed for a public use. The right is based on the doctrine that a sovereign state has dominion over a...