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Amazon, river, Peru and Brazil

(Encyclopedia)Amazon, Port. Amazonas ämäzōˈnəs [key], world's second longest river, c.3,900 mi (6,280 km) long, formed by the junction in N Peru's Andes Mts. of two major headstreams, the Ucayali and the short...

Mansfield, city and district, England

(Encyclopedia)Mansfield, city (71,325) and district, Nottinghamshire, central England, on the western border of Sherwood Forest. The city lies in a coal district, with manufactures of hosiery, shoes, and metal prod...

Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve

(Encyclopedia)Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve ănēăkˈchăk [key], on the Alaska Peninsula, SW Alaska. Located in the Aleutian Range, the monument (137,176 acres/55,556 hectares) and surrounding preserve...

Store Bælt and Lille Bælt

(Encyclopedia)Store Bælt lĭlˈə [key] [Great Belt and Little Belt], two shallow straits, S Denmark, connecting the Kattegat with the Baltic Sea. The Store Bælt, c.40 mi (60 km) long and from 10 to 20 mi (16–3...

earth, in geology and astronomy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Cross section of the earth, showing its shells B. Detailed cross section of the crust and upper mantle: The lithosphere consists of the hard rock in the crust and upper mantle, lying above t...

kite, in aviation and recreation

(Encyclopedia)kite, in aviation, aircraft restrained by a towline and deriving its lift from the aerodynamic action of the wind flowing across it. Commonly the kite consists of a light framework upon which paper, s...

vertical takeoff and landing aircraft

(Encyclopedia)vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOL), craft capable of rising and descending vertically from and to the ground, thus requiring no runway. While a balloon or an airship has obvious VTOL capabil...

Braintree, town and district, England

(Encyclopedia)Braintree, town and district, Essex, E England, between the Pant (Blackwater) and Brain river valleys. It has textile, plastic, and metal-product indust...

Vinson, Frederick Moore

(Encyclopedia)Vinson, Frederick Moore, 1890–1953, 13th chief justice of the United States (1946–53), b. Louisa, Ky. He received his law degree from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky (1911). He served (1923�...

Bethlen, Count Stephen

(Encyclopedia)Bethlen, Count Stephen, 1874–1947?, Hungarian premier (1921–31). A Transylvanian, he entered the Hungarian parliament in 1901, and in 1919 he was a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference. Called t...