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Pheidippides

(Encyclopedia)Pheidippides fīdĭpˈĭdēz [key], fl. 490 b.c., semilegendary Athenian courier sent to Sparta to request help when the Persians landed at Marathon. He ran 150 miles in two days. At the conclusion of...

Acton

(Encyclopedia)Acton, town (2020 pop. 24,021), Middlesex co., E Mass., NW of Boston; settled c.1680, inc. 1735. Among its manufactures are electrical machinery, chemicals, prefabricated houses, and preci...

Cimarron

(Encyclopedia)Cimarron sĭmˈərŏnˌ [key], river, 698 mi (1,123 km) long, rising in NE N.Mex., and flowing generally E to the Arkansas River, W of Tulsa, Okla. It follows the direct route of the Santa Fe Trail fo...

Malamud, Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Malamud, Bernard mălˈəməd [key], 1914–86, American author, b. New York City, grad. College of the City of New York (B.A., 1936), Columbia (M.A., 1942). His works frequently reflect a concern wit...

Mer de Glace

(Encyclopedia)Mer de Glace mĕr də gläs [key] [Fr.,=sea of ice], glacier (3.5 mi/5.6 km long; 16 sq mi/41 sq km), Haute-Savoie dept., E France, on the northern slope of Mont Blanc. It is formed by the junction of...

Simpson Desert

(Encyclopedia)Simpson Desert, c.50,000 sq mi (130,000 sq km), barren region of central Australia, predominantly in the southeastern portion of the Northern Territory, extending S into Queensland and E into South Au...

asthenosphere

(Encyclopedia)asthenosphere ăsthēnˈəsfēr [key], region in the upper mantle of the earth's interior, characterized by low-density, semiplastic (or partially molten) rock material chemically similar to the overl...

Rhett, Robert Barnwell

(Encyclopedia)Rhett, Robert Barnwell, 1800–1876, American politician, b. Beaufort, S.C. His family changed its name from Smith to Rhett (after a colonial ancestor) in 1837. A lawyer, he was a state legislator, st...

Layton

(Encyclopedia)Layton, city (1990 pop. 41,784), Davis co., N Utah, between the Wasatch Range and Great Salt Lake. In an irrigated farm area served by the Weber basin project, it produces fruits and vegetables. Cattl...

Borg, Björn

(Encyclopedia)Borg, Björn byörn bôrg, bôrˈyə [key], 1956–, Swedish tennis player. As a teenage star he led (1975) Sweden to its first Davis Cup victory. One of the most successful modern tennis players, Bor...

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