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Vidal, Gore

(Encyclopedia)Vidal, Gore (Eugene Luther Gore Vidal, Jr.), 1925–2012, American writer, b. West Point, N.Y. He grew up in Washington, D.C., where a formative influence was his witty and scholarly grandfather, Sena...

hygrometer

(Encyclopedia)hygrometer hīgrŏmˈətər [key], instrument used to measure the moisture content of a gas, as in determining the relative humidity of air. The temperature at which dew or frost forms is a measure of...

casino

(Encyclopedia)casino or cassino both: kəsēˈnō [key]. 1 Card game played with a full deck by two to four players. Its origins are obscure though it probably traces back to the Italian game of Scopa. It is a very...

school

(Encyclopedia)school, term commonly referring to institutions of pre-college formal education. It also properly includes colleges, universities, and many types of special training establishments (see adult educatio...

Natural Bridges National Monument

(Encyclopedia)Natural Bridges National Monument, 7,636 acres (3,093 hectares), SE Utah; est. 1908. Located in an area of colored cliffs and box canyons, the monument contains three huge natural sandstone bridges: O...

La Guajira

(Encyclopedia)La Guajira lä gwähēˈrä [key], peninsula, c.100 mi (160 km) long, N Colombia, extending into the Caribbean Sea. Punta Gallinas, at the tip, is the northernmost point of South America. On the spars...

Malakhov

(Encyclopedia)Malakhov məläˈkhəf [key], hill overlooking Sevastopol, S Crimea, just east of the city. A major fortified point in the Crimean War, it was stormed (1855) by the French after an 11-month siege. The...

Kofu

(Encyclopedia)Kofu kōˈfo͞o [key], city (1990 pop. 200,626), capital of Yamanashi prefecture, central Honshu, Japan. It is an industrial center, with manufactures of silk textiles, jewelry, and crystal ware, as w...

Tonawanda

(Encyclopedia)Tonawanda tŏnəwŏnˈdə [key], city (1990 pop. 17,284), Erie co., NW N.Y., on the Niagara River at the terminus of the Erie Canal; inc. as a village 1854, as a city 1903. An industrial suburb of Buf...

top

(Encyclopedia)top, toy with a tapering point on which it can be made to spin. Tops were known in antiquity and appeared in Europe during the Middle Ages; they are used today in many different regions of the world b...