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dementia

(Encyclopedia)dementia dĭmĕnˈshə [key] [Lat.,=being out of the mind], progressive deterioration of intellectual faculties resulting in apathy, confusion, and stupor. In the 17th cent. the term was synonymous wi...

Northeast Passage

(Encyclopedia)Northeast Passage, water route along the northern coast of Europe and Asia, between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Beginning in the 15th cent., efforts were made to find a new all-water route to Ind...

vulture

(Encyclopedia)vulture, common name for large birds of prey of temperate and tropical regions. The Old World vultures (family Accipitridae) are allied to hawks and eagles; the more ancient American vultures and cond...

Brodie, Bernard

(Encyclopedia)Brodie, Bernard, 1910–78, American military strategist, b. Chicago. Brodie edited The Absolute Weapon (1946), the first book on nuclear strategy, and was a strategic theorist at the Rand Corporation...

avalanche

(Encyclopedia)avalanche, rapidly descending large mass of snow, ice, soil, rock, or mixtures of these materials, sliding or falling in response to the force of gravity. Avalanches, which are natural forms of erosio...

Sault Sainte Marie Canals

(Encyclopedia)Sault Sainte Marie Canals, two ship canals bypassing the rapids on the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, at the cities of Sault Ste Marie, Mich. and Ont. The Canadian canal (1.4 mi...

roller skating

(Encyclopedia)roller skating, gliding on a hard, smooth, durable surface on skates with rollers or wheels, in recent years has become a popular adult sport. Skates mounted on wooden rollers date from the 1860s, and...

Sevan

(Encyclopedia)Sevan syĭvänˈ [key], lake, c.540 sq mi (1,400 sq km), NE Armenia, at an altitude of 6,280 ft (1,914 m); it is 324 ft (99 m) deep. The largest lake of the Caucasus, it is fed by some 30 streams, but...

Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

(Encyclopedia)Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, SE Alaska, near Juneau. The park (3,224,840 acres/1,305,603 hectares) and the preserve (58,406 acres/23,646 hectares) were established in 1925 as a national mon...

Gretzky, Wayne

(Encyclopedia)Gretzky, Wayne (Wayne Douglas Gretzky), 1961–, Canadian ice hockey player, b. Brantford, Ont. He played with the Edmonton Oilers (1978–88), Los Angeles Kings (1988–96), St. Louis Blues (1996), a...