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Cerdic

(Encyclopedia)Cerdic kûrˈdĭk, sûrˈ– [key], d. 534, traditional founder of the kingdom of Wessex. A Saxon, he and his son Cynric landed on the southern coast of England in 495. Little is certain about him exc...

dam

(Encyclopedia)dam, barrier, commonly across a watercourse, to hold back water, often forming a reservoir or lake; dams are also sometimes used to control or contain rockslides, mudflows, and the like in regions whe...

Sabelli

(Encyclopedia)Sabelli səbĕlˈī [key], people of ancient Italy who spoke Oscan. They were a loose group and seemed to have had little or no political unity. Oscan-speaking tribes expanded over central Italy, and ...

Bartlett, John

(Encyclopedia)Bartlett, John, 1820–1905, American compiler and publisher, b. Plymouth, Mass. While he worked in his university book store in Cambridge, he compiled the invaluable Familiar Quotations (1855), which...

Apollinaris Sidonius

(Encyclopedia)Apollinaris Sidonius (Caius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius) əpŏlĭnârˈĭs sīdōˈnēəs, sĭdōˈ– [key], fl. 455–75, Latin writer, b. Lyons. He had a minor role in imperial politics and was bi...

Guernsey cattle

(Encyclopedia)Guernsey cattle, breed of dairy cattle developed on the islands of Alderney, Guernsey, and Sark near the north coast of France. First imported to the United States in about 1830, they are fawn-colored...

Blackburn, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Blackburn, Joseph, b. c.1700, d. after 1765, American portrait painter. Little is known concerning him except that from 1750 to 1765 he painted portraits (usually signed J.B.), chiefly of members of d...

Berger, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Berger, Thomas bûrˈgər [key], 1924–2014, American novelist, b. Cincinnati, grad. Univ. of Cincinnati (B.A., 1948). He is known for bitterly comic novels that often deal with the chasm he perceive...

avalanche

(Encyclopedia)avalanche, rapidly descending large mass of snow, ice, soil, rock, or mixtures of these materials, sliding or falling in response to the force of gravity. Avalanches, which are natural forms of erosio...

Columbia Plateau

(Encyclopedia)Columbia Plateau, physiographic region of North America, c.100,000 sq mi (259,000 sq km), NW United States, between the Rocky Mts. and the Cascade Range in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Most of the p...