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Oise, river, Belgium and France

(Encyclopedia)Oise, river, 186 mi (299 km) long, rising in the Ardennes Mts., S Belgium, and flowing through N France generally SW past Compiègne to join the Seine River near Pontoise. Navigable for most of its le...

Paraguay, river, Brazil and Paraguay

(Encyclopedia)Paraguay, river, c.1,300 mi (2,090 km) long, rising in the highlands of central Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Flowing generally southward, it forms the border between Brazil and Paraguay in the pantanal,...

Obed Wild and Scenic River

(Encyclopedia)Obed Wild and Scenic River: see National Parks and Monuments (table)national parks and monuments (table). ...

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

(Encyclopedia)Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), U.S. agency established (1970) in the Dept. of Labor (see Labor, United States Department of) to develop and enforce regulations for the safety an...

Owl and the Nightingale, The

(Encyclopedia)Owl and the Nightingale, The, Middle English poem written probably by Nicholas de Guildford of Dorsetshire about the beginning of the 13th cent. Written in 2,000 lines of octosyllabic couplets, it des...

Mansfield, city and district, England

(Encyclopedia)Mansfield, city (71,325) and district, Nottinghamshire, central England, on the western border of Sherwood Forest. The city lies in a coal district, with manufactures of hosiery, shoes, and metal prod...

Madeira, river, Bolivia and Brazil

(Encyclopedia)Madeira mədāˈrə [key], river, c.2,100 mi (3,380 km) long, formed by the junction of the Beni and Mamoré rivers on the Bolivia-Brazil border. It flows north along the border for c.60 mi (100 km), ...

magic, in religion and superstition

(Encyclopedia)magic, in religion and superstition, the practice of manipulating and controlling the course of nature by preternatural means. Magic is based upon the belief that the universe is populated by unseen f...

Lunt, Alfred, and Lynn Fontanne

(Encyclopedia)Lunt, Alfred, 1893–1977, b. Milwaukee, and Lynn Fontanne fŏntănˈ [key], 1887?–1983, b. Essex, England, American acting couple. Lunt made his debut in Boston (1913), toured in vaudeville, and wo...

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