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Wash, The

(Encyclopedia)Wash, The, inlet of the North Sea, 20 mi (32 km) long and 15 mi (24 km) wide, between Lincolnshire and Norfolk, E England. It receives the Witham, Wellend, Nene, and Ouse rivers. It is mostly shallow ...

Charles II, emperor of the West and king of the West Franks

(Encyclopedia)Charles II or Charles the Bald, 823–77, emperor of the West (875–77) and king of the West Franks (843–77); son of Emperor Louis I by a second marriage. The efforts of Louis to create a kingdom f...

Mountain, the

(Encyclopedia)Mountain, the, in French history, the label applied to deputies sitting on the raised left benches in the National Convention during the French Revolution. Members of the faction, known as Montagnards...

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

(Encyclopedia)Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve, S central Idaho; est. 1924. The monument (53,438 acres/21,625 hectares) lies at the north end of the much larger preserve (698,940 acres/282,851 hec...

Accademia della Crusca

(Encyclopedia)Accademia della Crusca äk-kädĕˈmēä dĕlˈlä kro͞osˈkä [key] [Ital.,=academy of the chaff], Italian literary society founded in Florence in 1582 to maintain the purity of the language. Leonar...

Plain, the

(Encyclopedia)Plain, the, in French history, term designating the independent members of the National Convention during the French Revolution. The name was applied to them because, in contrast to the radical Mounta...

Solent, The

(Encyclopedia)Solent, The sōˈlənt [key], channel, c.30 mi (50 km) long and 3⁄4 to 5 mi (1.2–8 km) wide, between the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, S England. It serves as an anchorage for ships entering Southa...

Five, The

(Encyclopedia)Five, The, name of a group of late 19th-century Russian composers. They were Balakirev, the leader, Cui, Moussorgsky, Borodin, and Rimsky-Korsakov. These men, united by a nationalistic fervor, tried t...

Grampians, the

(Encyclopedia)Grampians, the, or Grampian Mountains, highest mountain system of Great Britain, extending northeast to southwest along the southern fringe of the Highlands, central Scotland. Ben Nevis (4,411 ft/1,34...

Nore, the

(Encyclopedia)Nore, the, sandbank in the Thames estuary, SE England, 3 mi (4.8 km) E of Sheerness. At the east end is Nore Lightship. The name is also applied to part of the Thames estuary, a famous anchorage. A mu...