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airfoil

(Encyclopedia)airfoil, surface designed to develop a desired force by reaction with a fluid, especially air, that is flowing across the surface. For example, the fixed wing surfaces of an airplane produce lift, whi...

Bourbon

(Encyclopedia)Bourbon bo͞orbôNˈ [key], European royal family, originally of France; a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty (see Capetians). One branch of the Bourbons occupies the modern Spanish throne, and othe...

North Africa, campaigns in

(Encyclopedia)North Africa, campaigns in, series of military contests for control of North Africa during World War II. The desert war started in 1940 and for more than two years thereafter seesawed between NE Libya...

Hitchcock, Thomas, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Hitchcock, Thomas, Jr., 1900–1944, American polo player and aviator, b. Aiken, S.C. The son of avid polo players, Tommy Hitchcock played in his first tournament at the age of 13. Hitchcock's polo pl...

Jouhaux, Léon

(Encyclopedia)Jouhaux, Léon lāôNˈ zho͞o-ōˈ [key], 1879–1954, French Socialist labor leader. He headed the Confédération Générale du Travail from 1909 to 1947, when he resigned in protest against its al...

Doctors Without Borders

(Encyclopedia)Doctors Without Borders, Fr. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), international organization that provides emergency medical assistance to people suffering from a natural or societal disaster, such as an...

Carr, Edward Hallett

(Encyclopedia)Carr, Edward Hallett, 1892–1982, English political scientist and historian. Educated at Cambridge, he was in the diplomatic service until 1936, professor of international relations (1936–47) at Un...

Montreux Convention

(Encyclopedia)Montreux Convention, 1936, international agreement regarding the Dardanelles. The Turkish request for permission to refortify the Straits zone was favorably received by nations anxious to return to in...

Hague Conferences

(Encyclopedia)Hague Conferences, term for the International Peace Conference of 1899 (First Hague Conference) and the Second International Peace Conference of 1907 (Second Hague Conference). Both were called by Rus...

Kingsport

(Encyclopedia)Kingsport, city (1990 pop. 36,365), Hawkins and Sullivan counties, NE Tenn., on the Holston River near the Va. line; inc. 1917. Industries include one of the largest printing and bookbinding plants in...