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Wight, Isle of

(Encyclopedia)Wight, Isle of wīt [key], island and county (1991 pop. 126,600), 147 sq mi (381 sq km), S England, across the Solent and Spithead channels from Hampshire. The administrative center is Newport. The is...

rain

(Encyclopedia)rain, precipitation in liquid form. It consists of drops of water falling from clouds; if the drops are very small, they are collectively termed drizzle. Rain plays a key role in the hydrologic, or wa...

North Africa, campaigns in

(Encyclopedia)North Africa, campaigns in, series of military contests for control of North Africa during World War II. The desert war started in 1940 and for more than two years thereafter seesawed between NE Libya...

Lakshadweep

(Encyclopedia)Lakshadweep ləkshädˈwēpˌ [key], union territory (2001 provisional pop. 60,595), 11 sq mi (28 sq km), SW India, consisting of the Laccadive, Minicoy, and Amindivi islands in the Arabian Sea off th...

Molokai

(Encyclopedia)Molokai mōˈlōkīˈ [key], island (1990 pop. 6,587), 261 sq mi (676 sq km), Maui co., Hawaii, between Oahu and Maui islands. Molokai is generally mountainous, with Mt. Kamakou (4,970 ft/1,515 m) the...

Luce, Stephen Bleecker

(Encyclopedia)Luce, Stephen Bleecker, 1827–1917, American naval officer, b. Albany, N.Y. He entered the navy as a midshipman in 1841. In the Civil War he was head of the department of seamanship at the Naval Acad...

Los Cabos

(Encyclopedia)Los Cabos, resort area centered on the towns of Cabo San Lucas and San José del Cabo, Baja California Sur state, Mexico, encompassing much of the S tip of the Baja California peninsula. The communiti...

Marblehead

(Encyclopedia)Marblehead, town (1990 pop. 19,971), Essex co., NE Mass., on the Atlantic coast; inc. 1649. A fishing village for many years, Marblehead became a resort in the 19th cent.; it is especially famous for ...

Kingston

(Encyclopedia)Kingston, town, capital of the Australian territory of Norfolk Island, located on the island's S coast, on Emily Bay. Kingston is the administrative and historic center of Norfolk Island; its commerci...

Hall, Basil

(Encyclopedia)Hall, Basil, 1788–1844, British naval officer and traveler. In the service from 1802 to 1823, he commanded vessels on scientific assignments and voyages of exploration. He wrote of them in his Accou...