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Thirlmere

(Encyclopedia)Thirlmere, lake, c.3 mi (5 km) long, in the Lake District, Cumbria, NW England, near Keswick. In 1894, through the construction of a high dam (which raised the water level c.50 ft/15 m) and an aqueduc...

standpipe

(Encyclopedia)standpipe, tank or pipe for holding water in an elevated position to create pressure in a water supply system. For a tall building, where the pressure from the mains at street level is insufficient to...

U-2 incident

(Encyclopedia)U-2 incident, in U.S. and Soviet history, the events following the Soviet downing of an American U-2 high altitude reconnaissance aircraft over Soviet territory on May 1, 1960. The incident led to the...

capitalism

(Encyclopedia)capitalism, economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, in which personal profit can be acquired through investment of capital and employment of labor. Capitalism is grounde...

Derwent

(Encyclopedia)Derwent dûrˈwənt [key], river, c.60 mi (100 km) long, rising in the Pennines, Derbyshire, central England, and flowing SE past Derby to the River Trent. Reservoirs on its headwaters supply water to...

Ralston, James Layton

(Encyclopedia)Ralston, James Layton rôlˈstən [key], 1881–1948, Canadian cabinet minister, b. Nova Scotia. In the first Mackenzie King administration, he was minister of national defense (1926–30); in the sec...

Pleven

(Encyclopedia)Pleven plĕvˈnə [key], city (1993 pop. 130,354), N Bulgaria. A commercial center for a fertile agricultural region, it has food-processing industries and manufactures cotton textiles, cement, and wo...

Sebago Lake

(Encyclopedia)Sebago Lake sĭbāˈgō [key], c.12 mi (20 km) long and from 1 to 8 mi (1.6–12.9 km) wide, SW Maine, in a resort area. It is the second largest lake in Maine and is the source of Portland's water su...

William II, king of the Netherlands

(Encyclopedia)William II, 1792–1849, king of the Netherlands and grand duke of Luxembourg (1840–49), son and successor of William I. He served with Wellington in the Peninsular War, was wounded at Waterloo, and...

Loa

(Encyclopedia)Loa lōˈä [key], longest river of Chile, 275 mi (443 km) long, flowing S from the Andes, N Chile, then W and N through the Atacama Desert, before turning W to the Pacific Ocean. It is not navigable ...