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peddler

(Encyclopedia)peddler or hawker, itinerant vendor of small goods. In rural America peddlers carried their packs or drove a horse and cart from door to door. While the importance of peddlers to the small American co...

Pegasus, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Pegasus, in Greek mythology, winged horse that carries the thunderbolt of Zeus. He sprang full-grown from the neck of the dying Gorgon Medusa. With a slash of his hoof, he created the Hippocrene, a sa...

Starr, Belle

(Encyclopedia)Starr, Belle, 1848?–89, American outlaw, b. near Carthage, Mo. Her original name was Myra Belle (or Maybelle) Shirley. Her family members were Confederate sympathizers, and her father was a farmer w...

cassowary

(Encyclopedia)cassowary kăsˈəwârˌē [key], common name for a flightless, swift-running, pugnacious forest bird of Australia and the Malay Archipelago, smaller than the ostrich and emu. The plumage is dark and ...

Lebanon, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Lebanon, city (1990 pop. 24,800), seat of Lebanon co., SE Pa., in the Pennsylvania Dutch farm country; founded 1753, inc. as a city 1868. Its manufactures include fabricated metal products, lumber, ap...

Kalispell

(Encyclopedia)Kalispell kălˈĭspĕlˌ, –pĕlˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 11,917), seat of Flathead co., NW Mont., at the head of Flathead Lake near Glacier National Park; inc. 1892. It is the tourist and trade cen...

Hazard, Ebenezer

(Encyclopedia)Hazard, Ebenezer, 1744–1817, American public official and historian, b. Philadelphia. He became a publisher in New York City. He was appointed (1775) first postmaster of the city under the Continent...

horsepower

(Encyclopedia)horsepower, unit of power in the English system of units. It is equal to 33,000 foot-pounds per minute or 550 foot-pounds per second or approximately 746 watts. The term horsepower originated with Jam...

travois

(Encyclopedia)travois trăvoiˈ [key], device used by Native North Americans of the Great Plains for transporting their tepees and household goods. It consisted of two poles, lashed one on either side of a dog or, ...

Canonsburg

(Encyclopedia)Canonsburg, borough (2020 pop. 8,672), Washington co., SW Pa., inc. 1802. Its steel and coal industries have declined significantly. A gram of radium pr...

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