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Bailly, Jean Sylvain

(Encyclopedia)Bailly, Jean Sylvain zhäN sēlvăNˈ bäyēˈ [key], 1736–93, French astronomer and politician. His works on astronomy and on the history of science (notably the Essai sur la théorie des satellite...

purification

(Encyclopedia)purification, in religion, the ceremonial removal of what the religion deems unclean. The usual agents of purification are water (as in baptism), bodily alteration (as in circumcision), and fire. The ...

Ball, Lucille

(Encyclopedia)Ball, Lucille, 1911–89, American actress and producer, b. Celoron, N.Y. At first promoted by Hollywood as another glamorous movie star, Ball was often cast as a spunky sidekick in second features. I...

Flaming Gorge Dam

(Encyclopedia)Flaming Gorge Dam, in a deep canyon of the Green River, NE Utah; built 1958–63 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as a major unit in the Colorado River storage project. The dam regulates the flow of ...

Fuego

(Encyclopedia)Fuego fwēˈgō [key] [Span.,=volcano of fire], active volcano, 12,346 ft (3,763 m) high, S central Guatemala, near the colonial city of Antigua Guatemala. One of Central America's most active volcan...

Gateshead

(Encyclopedia)Gateshead gātsˈhĕd [key], metropolitan borough, NE England, on the Tyne River opposite ...

Heron of Alexandria

(Encyclopedia)Heron of Alexandria hērˈŏn [key] or Hero, mathematician and inventor. The dates of his birth and death are unknown; conjecture places them between the 2d cent. b.c. and the 3d cent. a.d. He is beli...

Holyrood Palace

(Encyclopedia)Holyrood Palace hŏlˈēro͞od [key] [i.e., holy cross], royal residence, Edinburgh, SE Scotland. In 1128, David I founded Holyrood Abbey on this site, where according to legend he was saved from an i...

Habib, Philip Charles

(Encyclopedia)Habib, Philip Charles häbēbˈ [key], 1920–92, American diplomat, b. New York City. A career foreign service officer (1949–80), he served in various embassy and State Dept. posts. Habib took part...

sod house

(Encyclopedia)sod house, house with walls made of strips of sod laid horizontally in courses like bricks. Sod houses were common in the frontier days on the western plains of the United States, where wood and stone...