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Helms, Jesse Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Helms, Jesse Alexander, 1921–2008, U.S. senator from North Carolina (1973–2003), b. Monroe, N.C. He served in the navy, chiefly as a recruiter, during World War II. A local radio broadcasting exec...

Hausa

(Encyclopedia)Hausa or Haussa both: houˈsə, –sä [key], black African ethnic group, numbering about 23 million, chiefly in N Nigeria and S Niger. The Hausa are almost exclusively Muslim and practice agriculture...

Funston, Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Funston, Frederick, 1865–1917, U.S. general, b. New Carlisle, Ohio. He was a newspaper reporter and a field agent (1888–95) of the Dept. of Agriculture, exploring Death Valley and the Yukon. Love ...

diminishing returns, law of

(Encyclopedia)diminishing returns, law of, in economics, law stating that if one factor of production is increased while the others remain constant, the overall returns will relatively decrease after a certain poin...

chernozem

(Encyclopedia)chernozem chĕrˈnəzĕmˌ [key] or black earth, variety of soil rich in organic matter in the form of humus. It is generally a modified type of loess. True chernozem is black in color, but there are ...

Scottsbluff

(Encyclopedia)Scottsbluff skŏtsˈblŭfˌ [key], city (1990 pop. 13,711), Scotts Bluff co., W Nebr., on the North Platte River near the Wyo. line; inc. 1900. It is the market, distribution, and processing point of ...

Sholokhov, Mikhail Aleksandrovich

(Encyclopedia)Sholokhov, Mikhail Aleksandrovich mēkhəyĕlˈ əlyĭksänˈdrəvĭch shôˈləkhŏf [key], 1905–84, Russian novelist. Sholokhov won international fame for an epic novel of his native land, The Sil...

Potosí

(Encyclopedia)Potosí pōtōsēˈ [key], city (1992 pop. 112,078), capital of Potosí dept., S Bolivia, at the foot of one of the world's richest ore mountains. In the cold, bleak, high Andes at an altitude of c.13...

Plunkett, Sir Horace Curzon

(Encyclopedia)Plunkett, Sir Horace Curzon, 1854–1932, Irish statesman and agricultural reformer. Educated in England, Plunkett spent 10 years (1879–89) in Wyoming as a cattle rancher. Returning to Ireland, he b...

Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Pierre pēr [key], city (1990 pop. 12,906), state capital (since 1889) and seat of Hughes co., central S.Dak., on the east bank of the Missouri River, opposite Fort Pierre; inc. 1883. Its economy is c...