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Castor and Pollux

(Encyclopedia)Castor and Pollux pŏlˈəks [key], in classical mythology, twin heroes called the Dioscuri; Castor was the son of Leda and Tyndareus, Pollux the son of Leda and Zeus. They were brothers to Helen and ...

Trafalgar, battle of

(Encyclopedia)Trafalgar, battle of trəfălˈgər [key], naval engagement fought off Cape Trafalgar on the SW coast of Spain on Oct. 21, 1805, in which the British fleet under Horatio Nelson won a famous victory ov...

Tian Shan

(Encyclopedia)Tian Shan or Tien Shan both: tēĕn shän [key] [Chin.,=celestial mountains], mountain system of central Asia, extending c.1,500 mi (2,410 km) from the Pamir Mts., Tajikistan, NE through the Xinjiang ...

Sequoia National Park

(Encyclopedia)Sequoia National Park, 402,510 acres (162,960 hectares), E central Calif.; est. 1890. In the park are 35 groves of giant sequoias, spectacular granite mountains, and deep canyons. The General Sherman ...

Conway, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Conway, Thomas, 1735–1800?, general in the Continental army in the American Revolution, b. Ireland. Educated in France, he was an officer in the French army before coming (1777) to America. He fough...

Inside Passage

(Encyclopedia)Inside Passage, natural, protected waterway, c.950 mi (1,530 km) long, threading through the Alexander Archipelago off the coast of British Columbia and SE Alaska. From Seattle, Wash., to Skagway, Ala...

Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument

(Encyclopedia)Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument, 4,913 sq mi (12,725 sq km), NW Atlantic Ocean, 130 mi (210 km) off the coast of Cape Cod; est. 2016. The monument is divided into two areas; o...

Sherman, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Sherman, Roger, 1721–93, American political leader, b. Newton, Mass. Sherman helped to draft and signed the Declaration of Independence. He was long a member (1774–81, 1783–84) of the Continenta...

rhyolite

(Encyclopedia)rhyolite, fine-grained light-colored acidic volcanic rock. Rhyolite is chemically the equivalent of granite, and is thus composed primarily of quartz and orthoclase feldspar with subordinate amounts o...

Allen, Ethan

(Encyclopedia)Allen, Ethan, 1738–89, hero of the American Revolution, leader of the Green Mountain Boys, and promoter of the independence and statehood of Vermont, b. Litchfield (?), Conn. He had some schooling a...