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rattlesnake

(Encyclopedia)rattlesnake, poisonous New World snake of the pit viper family, distinguished by a rattle at the end of the tail. The head is triangular, being widened at the base. The rattle is a series of dried, ho...

Health and Human Services, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Health and Human Services, United States Department of, federal executive department charged with administering government health programs. Successor to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfar...

Ahmed II

(Encyclopedia)Ahmed II, 1642–95, Ottoman sultan (1691–95), brother and successor of Sulayman II to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey). Soon after his reign began, the Turkish defeat at Slankamen, Serbia ...

Matthias

(Encyclopedia)Matthias, 1557–1619, Holy Roman emperor (1612–19), king of Bohemia (1611–17) and of Hungary (1608–18), son of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. He was appointed governor of Austria (1593) by h...

Shriver, Robert Sargent

(Encyclopedia)Shriver, Robert Sargent, 1915–2011, U.S. public official, b. Westminster, Md., husband of Eunice Shriver. A lawyer, he served in World War II and was (1945–46) an assistant editor of Newsweek maga...

Delderfield, R. F.

(Encyclopedia)Delderfield, R. F. (Ronald Frederick Delderfield), 1912–73, English writer, b. London. He did not start writing novels until he was 44, after having been a successful playwright and newspaperman. Hi...

Castle Pinckney

(Encyclopedia)Castle Pinckney, fortification on Shutes Folly, an island in the harbor of Charleston, S.C.; built in 1797, when war with France seemed imminent; named for the American diplomat Charles Cotesworth Pin...

Løland, Rasmus

(Encyclopedia)Løland, Rasmus räsˈmo͝os löˈlän [key], 1861–1907, Norwegian novelist. Løland, who suffered from poor health throughout his life, produced numerous works after a late start as a writer. His a...

Springs

(Encyclopedia)Springs, city, now part of Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality, Gauteng prov., NE South Africa. It is an industrial center of the Witwatersrand, a gold- and uranium-mining region. Manufacturing has r...

Stahlberg, Kaarlo Juho

(Encyclopedia)Stahlberg, Kaarlo Juho kärˈlō yo͞oˈhō stälˈbĕrg [key], 1865–1952, first president of independent Finland (1919–25). A professor of law (1908–18) at the Univ. of Helsinki, he was preside...