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mammoth

(Encyclopedia)mammoth, name for several large prehistoric relatives (genus Mammuthus) of modern elephants which ranged over Eurasia and North America in the Pleistocene epoch. The shoulder height of the Siberian, o...

Bakunin, Mikhail

(Encyclopedia)Bakunin, Mikhail mēkhəyēlˈ bəko͞oˈnyĭn [key], 1814–76, Russian revolutionary and leading exponent of anarchism. He came from an aristocratic family but entered upon revolutionary activities ...

Samara, city, Russia

(Encyclopedia)Samara səmäˈrə [key], formerly Kuybyshev, city (1989 pop. 1,254,000), capital of its region, E central European Russia, on the left bank of the Volga and at the mouth of the Samara River. It is a ...

Simpson, Sir George

(Encyclopedia)Simpson, Sir George, 1792?–1860, governor of the Hudson's Bay Company in Canada (1821–56), b. Scotland. In 1820 he was sent by the Hudson's Bay Company to Canada, where he took charge of the impor...

permafrost

(Encyclopedia)permafrost, permanently frozen soil, subsoil, or other deposit, characteristic of arctic and some subarctic regions; similar conditions are also found at very high altitudes in mountain ranges. In 196...

crater

(Encyclopedia)crater, circular, bowl-shaped depression on the earth's surface. (For a discussion of lunar craters, see moon.) Simple craters are bowl-shaped with a raised outer rim. Complex craters have a raised ce...

Ledyard, John

(Encyclopedia)Ledyard, John lĕdˈyərd [key], 1751–89, American adventurer, b. Groton, Conn. He studied at Dartmouth for year, but left college to ship as a sailor. In 1776 he joined Capt. James Cook's last expe...

Kamenev, Lev Borisovich

(Encyclopedia)Kamenev, Lev Borisovich lyĕf bərēˈsəvĭch käˈmĭnyĭf [key], 1883–1936, Soviet Communist leader. His original name was Rosenfeld. He joined (1901) the Social Democratic party and sided with t...

Bering Strait

(Encyclopedia)Bering Strait, c.55 mi (90 km) wide, between extreme NE Asia and extreme NW North America, connecting the Arctic Ocean and the Bering Sea. It is usually completely frozen over from October to June. Th...

international date line

(Encyclopedia)international date line, imaginary line on the earth's surface, generally following the 180° meridian of longitude, where, by international agreement, travelers change dates. Traveling eastward acros...