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ballad

(Encyclopedia)ballad, in literature and music, short, narrative poem or song usually relating a single, dramatic event. Two forms of the ballad are often distinguished—the folk ballad, dating from about the 12th ...

Krzyzewski, Mike

(Encyclopedia)Krzyzewski, Mike (Michael William Krzyzewski) shəshĕvˈskē [key], 1947–, American basketball coach, b. Chicago. He attended West Point (grad. 1969), where he played basketball under Bobby Knight....

Mallory, Stephen Russell

(Encyclopedia)Mallory, Stephen Russell, c.1813–73, U.S. Senator, secretary of the navy in the Confederacy, b. Trinidad, West Indies. He was raised in Key West, Fla., where he practiced law and was a customs offic...

Main

(Encyclopedia)Main mīn [key], river, c.310 mi (500 km) long, formed near Kulmbach, E central Germany, by the confluence of the Roter Main and the Weisser Main, both of which rise in the Fichtelgebirge. It then win...

Kingston, city, Jamaica

(Encyclopedia)Kingston, city (1991 pop. 97,424), capital and largest city of Jamaica, SE Jamaica. The country's chief port, it has one of the finest harbors in the West Indies and exports sugar, rum, molasses, and ...

Foot Resolution

(Encyclopedia)Foot Resolution, offered in 1829 by Samuel Augustus Foot in the U.S. Senate. This resolution instructed the committee on public lands to inquire into the limiting of public land sale. The Jacksonian D...

Frisian language

(Encyclopedia)Frisian language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages). It has a number of dialects and is spoken by more than ...

Humboldt, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Humboldt, river, c.300 mi (480 km) long, rising in several branches in the mountains of NE Nev. It meanders generally west to disappear in Humboldt Sink, W Nevada. Along with its tributaries, the Humb...

Downs, North, and South Downs

(Encyclopedia)Downs, North, and South Downs, parallel ranges of chalk hills, SE England. They rise to 965 ft (294 m) at Leith Hill, Surrey. The North Downs range, extending c.100 mi (160 km) from near Farnham, Surr...

Saint Eustatius

(Encyclopedia)Saint Eustatius sānt yo͞ostāˈshəs [key], island (1989 pop. 1,861), 8 sq mi (20.7 sq km), a special municipality of the Netherlands, one of the Leeward Islands, West Indies. Called Statia by its i...