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rock

(Encyclopedia)rock, aggregation of solid matter composed of one or more of the minerals forming the earth's crust. The scientific study of rocks is called petrology. Rocks are commonly divided, according to their o...

housing

(Encyclopedia)housing, in general, living accommodations available for the inhabitants of a community. Throughout the 19th cent., with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, housing as a problem worsened as urban...

Hundred Years War

(Encyclopedia)Hundred Years War, 1337–1453, conflict between England and France. The Hundred Years War inflicted untold misery on France. Farmlands were laid waste, the population was decimated by war, famine, ...

Napoleon I

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Napoleonic Europe (1812) Napoleon I nəpōˈlēən, Fr. näpôlāōNˈ [key], 1769–1821, emperor of the French, b. Ajaccio, Corsica, known as “the Little Corporal.” The Napoleonic...

language

(Encyclopedia)language, systematic communication by vocal symbols. It is a universal characteristic of the human species. Nothing is known of its origin, although scientists have identified a gene that clearly cont...

English language

(Encyclopedia)English language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world...

Caucasus

(Encyclopedia)Caucasus kôˈkəsəs [key], Rus. Kavkaz, region and mountain system, SE European Russia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Armenia is not crossed by the Caucasus range but is considered part of the greater re...

migration

(Encyclopedia)migration, of people, geographical movements of individuals or groups for the purpose of permanently resettling. Normal internal migration has been characterized by a population shift from rural t...

Madison, James

(Encyclopedia)Madison, James, 1751–1836, 4th President of the United States (1809–17), b. Port Conway, Va. When Jefferson triumphed in the election of 1800, Madison became (1801) his secretary of state. He se...

Hoover, Herbert Clark

(Encyclopedia)Hoover, Herbert Clark, 1874–1964, 31st President of the United States (1929–33), b. West Branch, Iowa. Except for major speeches before the Republican conventions and a 1938 European tour, Hoove...