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Baffin Bay

(Encyclopedia)Baffin Bay, ice-clogged body of water, c.700 mi (1,130 km) long, between Greenland and NE Canada. It connects with the Arctic Ocean to the north and west and with the Atlantic Ocean to the south by wa...

Atomic Energy Agency, International

(Encyclopedia)Atomic Energy Agency, International (IAEA), independent intergovernmental organization established in 1957 under the aegis of the United Nations to promote safe, secure, and peaceful uses of atomic e...

Punta del Este

(Encyclopedia)Punta del Este po͞onˈtä ᵺĕl āsˈtā [key], city (1996 pop. 8,252), E Uruguay, on the Atlantic Ocean. Located on a narrow peninsula surrounded by excellent beaches, Punta del Este is one of the ...

Root, Elihu

(Encyclopedia)Root, Elihu, 1845–1937, American cabinet member and diplomat, b. Clinton, N.Y. Admitted to the bar in 1867, he practiced law in New York City, became prominent in Republican politics, and was appoin...

Grechko, Andrei Antonovich

(Encyclopedia)Grechko, Andrei Antonovich əndrāˈ əntôˈnəvĭch grĕchˈkō [key], 1903–76, Soviet army officer and minister of defense. As a World War II commander he took part in the liberation of the Cauca...

détente

(Encyclopedia)détente, relaxation of tensions between nations, applied particularly to a period of improved relations between the United States and Soviet Union in the 1960s and 70s that resulted as the hostilitie...

Arctic Ocean

(Encyclopedia)Arctic Ocean, the smallest ocean, c.5,400,000 sq mi (13,986,000 sq km), located entirely within the Arctic Circle and occupying the region around the North Pole. The Arctic basin was almost wholly u...

Goldsborough, Louis Malesherbes

(Encyclopedia)Goldsborough, Louis Malesherbes mălzûrbˈ gōlˈbərə [key], 1805–77, American naval officer, b. Washington, D.C. Appointed a midshipman in 1812, he fought in the Mediterranean and in the Mexican...

Gadsden Purchase

(Encyclopedia)Gadsden Purchase gădzˈdən [key], strip of land purchased (1853) by the United States from Mexico. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848) had described the U.S.-Mexico boundary vaguely, and Presiden...

Ranjit Singh

(Encyclopedia)Ranjit Singh rŭnˈjĭt sĭng [key], 1780–1839, Indian maharaja, ruler of the Sikhs. Seizing Lahore (1799) and Amritsar (1809), he established himself as the leading Sikh chieftain. In 1809 he made ...