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Talon, Jean Baptiste

(Encyclopedia)Talon, Jean Baptiste zhäN bätēstˈ tälôNˈ [key], 1625?–1694, intendant of New France, b. France. He entered French administrative service c.1653. In his short tenure (1665–68, 1670–72) as ...

snail darter

(Encyclopedia)snail darter, a small, rare fish, Percina tanasi, discovered by a zoologist who was snorkeling in the Little Tennessee River upstream from the projected Tellico Dam. Dam opponents fought successfully ...

sphalerite

(Encyclopedia)sphalerite sfălˈərīt, sfāˈ– [key], mineral composed of zinc sulfide, usually containing some iron and a little cadmium. It occurs in crystals of the isometric system but more generally in clea...

Waukegan

(Encyclopedia)Waukegan wôkēˈgən [key], residential and industrial city (1990 pop. 69,392), seat of Lake co., NE Ill., on Lake Michigan; inc. 1859. It has a good harbor and is the first port of call in Illinois ...

landslide

(Encyclopedia)landslide, rapid slipping of a mass of earth or rock from a higher elevation to a lower level under the influence of gravity and water lubrication. More specifically, rockslides are the rapid downhill...

era

(Encyclopedia)era, period of historic time. In geology, it is the name applied to large divisions of geological process, e.g., Paleozoic era (see geology). In chronology an era is a period reckoned from a fixed poi...

melon

(Encyclopedia)melon, fruit of Cucumis melo, a plant of the family Curcurbitaceae (gourd family) native to Asia and now cultivated extensively in warm regions. There are many varieties, differing in taste, color, an...

Melville Peninsula

(Encyclopedia)Melville Peninsula, 24,156 sq mi (62,564 sq km), c.250 mi (400 km) long and from 70 to 135 mi (113–217 km) wide, Nunavut, Canada, between the Gulf of Bothnia and Foxe Basin, and separated from Baffi...

Metcalfe, Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Metcalfe, Charles Theophilus Metcalfe, 1st Baron, 1785–1846, British colonial administrator, b. India. He entered the Indian civil service as a young man, rose quickly, and was provisional governor-...

Saraswati, Dayananda

(Encyclopedia)Saraswati, Dayananda däyənŭnˈdə särŭsˈwətē [key], 1824–83, Indian religious reformer, founder of the Arya Samaj movement. He was a Brahman from Gujarat who became the major spokesman for t...