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Baja California Sur

(Encyclopedia)Baja California Sur so͝or [key], state, 27,571 sq mi (71,428 sq km), NW Mexico, on the S Baja California peninsula. ...

Opie, Iona

(Encyclopedia)Opie, Iona, 1923–2017, b. Iona Margaret Balfour Archibald, and Peter Mason Opie, 1918–1982, British folklorists of the rhymes, games, and songs of children's culture and literature. They met durin...

pacemaker, artificial

(Encyclopedia)pacemaker, artificial, device used to stimulate a rhythmic heartbeat by means of electrical impulses. Implanted in the body when the heart's own electrical conduction system (natural pacemaker) does n...

parathyroid glands

(Encyclopedia)parathyroid glands pârˌəthīˈroid [key], four small endocrine bodies, located behind the thyroid gland, that govern calcium and phosphorus metabolism. These four masses of tissue (each about the s...

Frederick William I

(Encyclopedia)Frederick William I, 1688–1740, king of Prussia (1713–40), son and successor of Frederick I. He continued the administrative reforms and the process of centralization begun by Frederick William, t...

herbaceous plant

(Encyclopedia)herbaceous plant hûrbāˈshəs [key], plant whose stem is soft and green and shows little growth of wood. The term is used to distinguish such plants from woody plants. Herbaceous plants, or herbs, a...

Anouilh, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Anouilh, Jean zhäN änwēˈyə [key], 1910–87, French dramatist. Anouilh's many popular plays range from tragedy to sophisticated comedy. His first play, L'hermine, was published in 1932. During th...

Antofagasta

(Encyclopedia)Antofagasta äntōfägäˈstä [key], city, capital of Antofagasta region, N Chile, a port on the Pacific Ocean. Antofagasta was founded by Chileans in 1870 to exploit nit...

Eleusinian Mysteries

(Encyclopedia)Eleusinian Mysteries ĕlyo͞osĭnˈēən [key], principal religious mysteries of ancient Greece. The mysteries may have originated as part of an early agrarian festival peculiar to certain families in...

Harris, Julie

(Encyclopedia)Harris, Julie, 1925–2013, American actress, b. Grosse Point, Mich. Harris made her New York debut in It's a Gift (1945). Her versatility and power won her enormous critical acclaim, and she appeared...