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wilderness

(Encyclopedia)wilderness, land retaining its primeval character with the imprint of humans minimal or unnoticeable. In the United States, the Wilderness Act of 1964 established the National Wilderness Preservation ...

Bophuthatswana

(Encyclopedia)Bophuthatswana bōpo͞oˈtätswänˌə [key], former black “homeland” and nominal republic, c.17,000 sq mi (44,000 sq km), N South Africa. Bophuthatswana comprised seven separate areas, one along ...

microwave oven

(Encyclopedia)microwave oven, device that uses microwaves to rapidly cook food. The microwaves cause water molecules in the food to vibrate, producing heat, which is distributed through the food by induction. A spe...

Alcuin

(Encyclopedia)Alcuin ălbīˈnəs [key], 735?–804, English churchman and educator. He was educated at the cathedral school of York by a disciple of Bede; he became principal in 766. Charlemagne invited him (781?)...

American Civil Liberties Union

(Encyclopedia)American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), nonpartisan organization devoted to the preservation and extension of the basic rights set forth in the U.S. Constitution. Founded (1920) by such prominent figur...

esophagus

(Encyclopedia)esophagus ĭsŏfˈəgəs [key], portion of the digestive tube that conducts food from the mouth to the stomach. When food is swallowed it passes from the pharynx into the esophagus, initiating rhythmi...

Waters, Alice

(Encyclopedia)Waters, Alice, 1944–, American chef and author whose advocacy of organically grown, locally produced seasonal food and of sustainable agriculture has influenced America's approach to food, b. Chatha...

Wiley, Harvey Washington

(Encyclopedia)Wiley, Harvey Washington, 1844–1930, American chemist, b. Kent, Ind., grad. Hanover College (B.A., 1867), M.D. Indiana Medical College, 1871. After serving (1874–83) as state chemist of Indiana, h...

Little Entente

(Encyclopedia)Little Entente äntäntˈ [key], loose alliance formed in 1920–21 by Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia. Its specific purposes were the containment of Hungarian revisionism (of the terms of the...

Seeger, Ruth Crawford

(Encyclopedia)Seeger, Ruth Crawford, 1901–53, American composer and folklorist, b. East Liverpool, Ohio, as Ruth Porter Crawford, studied American Conservatory, Chicago; stepmother of Pete Seeger and mother of Mi...