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birling

(Encyclopedia)birling bûrˈlĭng [key], sport in which two competitors try to maintain balance on a floating log, each seeking to rotate the log and spill the other into the water. With origins in the spring log d...

Skövde

(Encyclopedia)Skövde skövˈdə [key], city (1990 pop. 30,540), Skaraborg co., S Sweden, midway between lakes Vänern and Vättern. During the Middle Ages many pilgrims visited the shrine of St. Elin (Helen) of Sk...

Thorndike, Lynn

(Encyclopedia)Thorndike, Lynn, 1882–1965, American historian, b. Lynn, Mass. He taught history at Northwestern Univ. (1907–9), at Western Reserve Univ. (1909–24), and at Columbia (1924–50). Among his books ...

Villanova University

(Encyclopedia)Villanova University vĭlˌənōˈvə [key], at Villanova, Pa., near Philadelphia; Roman Catholic; est. 1842 as a men's school, coeducational since 1967. It has schools of arts and sciences, engineeri...

Euroclydon

(Encyclopedia)Euroclydon yûrˌəklīˈdŏn [key], in the New Testament, east or northeast storm wind that caused Paul's shipwreck on Malta. ...

Arnon

(Encyclopedia)Arnon ärˈnŏn [key], river of Jordan, entering the east side of the Dead Sea, called today Wadi Mojib. ...

Westerville

(Encyclopedia)Westerville, city (1990 pop. 30,269), Delaware and Franklin counties, central Ohio; inc. 1858. Seed and grain cleaners, fabricated steel, and dairy products are made. Otterbein College is there. Hoove...

desert

(Encyclopedia)desert, arid region, usually partly covered by sand, having scanty vegetation or sometimes almost none, and capable of supporting only a limited and specially adapted animal population. The so-called ...

Alencar, José de

(Encyclopedia)Alencar, José de älāNngkârˈ [key], 1829–77, Brazilian jurist and author. Alencar was one of the founders of modern Brazilian literature. His historical novels (O Guarani, 1857; Iracema, 1865, t...

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