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communications industry

(Encyclopedia)communications industry, broadly defined, the business of conveying information. Although communication by means of symbols and gestures dates to the beginning of human history, the term generally ref...

Ariel, in the Bible

(Encyclopedia)Ariel āˈrēĕl [key], in the Bible, aide of Ezra. In two other passages AV calls them “lionlike men” (“two ariels of Moab” in RV). Nothing is known of them. Ariel is also used as a symbolic ...

Somerville

(Encyclopedia)Somerville. 1 City (1990 pop. 76,210), Middlesex co., E Mass., a residential and industrial suburb of Boston, on the Mystic River; settled 1630, set off from Charlestown 1842, inc. as a city 1871. The...

Virginius affair

(Encyclopedia)Virginius affair, 1873, incident that came near to causing war between the United States and Spain. The Virginius, a filibustering ship, was fraudulently flying the American flag and carrying arms to ...

Maracay

(Encyclopedia)Maracay märäkīˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 354,196), capital of Aragua state, N Venezuela, at the eastern end of Lake Valencia. It is a commercial, agricultural, and industrial city. Its products incl...

polyvinyl chloride

(Encyclopedia)polyvinyl chloride (PVC), thermoplastic that is a polymer of vinyl chloride. Resins of polyvinyl chloride are hard, but with the addition of plasticizers a flexible, elastic plastic can be made. This ...

Cuiabá

(Encyclopedia)Cuiabá ko͞oyəbäˈ [key], city, capital of Mato Grosso state, SW Brazil, at the head of na...

Capito, Wolfgang Fabricius

(Encyclopedia)Capito, Wolfgang Fabricius kăpˈĭtō, Ger. vôlfˈgäng fäbrēˈtsyo͝os käˈpētō [key], 1478–1541, German Protestant reformer, whose original family name was Köpfel. As a well-known humanist...

absinthe

(Encyclopedia)absinthe ăbˈsĭnth [key], an emerald-green liqueur distilled from wormwood and other aromatics, including angelica root, sweet-flag root, star anise, and dittany, which have been macerated and steep...

Saint Eustatius

(Encyclopedia)Saint Eustatius sānt yo͞ostāˈshəs [key], island (1989 pop. 1,861), 8 sq mi (20.7 sq km), a special municipality of the Netherlands, one of the Leeward Islands, West Indies. Called Statia by its i...