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Smeaton, John

(Encyclopedia)Smeaton, John smēˈtən [key], 1724–92, English civil engineer. He became an instrument maker, improved navigation instruments, and carried out many experiments on mechanical apparatus. Between 175...

Nutley

(Encyclopedia)Nutley, town (1990 pop. 27,099), Essex co., NE N.J., a residential suburb of Newark, on the Passaic River; settled 1680, inc. 1902. Pharmaceuticals, dyestuffs, and machinery are made. After the Civil ...

McPherson

(Encyclopedia)McPherson, city (1990 pop. 12,422), seat of McPherson co., central Kans., in a farm area on the old Santa Fe Trail; inc. 1874. The city has an oil refinery and factories that make plastics, railroad e...

Bethpage

(Encyclopedia)Bethpage bĕthpājˈ [key], uninc. village (2020 pop. 17,627, including Old Bethpage), Nassau ...

Sugar Land

(Encyclopedia)Sugar Land, city (2000 pop. 63,328), Fort Bend co., SE Texas, on the Brazos River and Oyster Creek, a W suburb of Houston; inc. 1959. The city, which now has a diversified economy, began as a pre–Ci...

dime novels

(Encyclopedia)dime novels, swift-moving, thrilling novels, mainly about the American Revolution, the frontier period, and the Civil War. The books were first sold in 1860 for 10 cents by the firm of Beadle and Adam...

Geary, John White

(Encyclopedia)Geary, John White gērˈē [key], 1819–73, American politician and Union general in the Civil War, b. Mt. Pleasant, Pa. In San Francisco from 1849 to 1852, Geary was the first U.S. postmaster, the l...

Czech Legion

(Encyclopedia)Czech Legion, military force of about 40,000 to 50,000 men, composed mostly of Czech and Slovak Russian prisoners of war and deserters from the Austro-Hungarian army who enrolled in the Russian army d...

Gorgas, Josiah

(Encyclopedia)Gorgas, Josiah gôrˈgəs [key], 1818–83, chief of ordnance in the Confederate army during the American Civil War, b. Dauphin co., Pa.; father of William Crawford Gorgas. He was commissioned in the ...

Carrera, José Miguel

(Encyclopedia)Carrera, José Miguel hōsāˈ mēgĕlˈ [key], 1785–1821, Chilean revolutionist. With his brothers, Juan José and Luis, he overthrew the revolutionary junta headed by Martínez de Rozas in 1813 an...