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capitularies

(Encyclopedia)capitularies kəpĭchˈo͝olĕrˌēz [key], decrees and written commands of the Carolingian kings of the Franks, so called because they were divided into capitula, or chapters. Both legislative and ad...

Madeira Islands

(Encyclopedia)Madeira Islands mədērˈə, –dârˈə [key], archipelago (1991 pop. 257,692), 308 sq mi (798 sq km), autonomous region of Portugal, in the Atlantic Ocean c.350 mi (560 km) off Morocco. Madeira, the...

Colter, John

(Encyclopedia)Colter, John kōlˈtər [key], c.1775–1813, American trapper and guide, b. Virginia. In 1803 he enlisted in the Lewis and Clark expedition and in 1806, on the return trip, was granted a discharge to...

tumbleweed

(Encyclopedia)tumbleweed, any of several plants, particularly abundant in prairie and steppe regions, that commonly break from their roots at maturity and, drying into a rounded tangle of light, stiff branches, rol...

Douglas, Donald Wills

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Donald Wills, 1892–1981, aviation pioneer and aerospace executive, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1914. He helped design the first wind tunnel (1914–15) an...

calypso, in music

(Encyclopedia)calypso, a form of folk song developed on the island of Trinidad and also popular in other Caribbean countries. Thought to have begun with 19th-century black slaves, calypso songs developed and contin...

Balinese music

(Encyclopedia)Balinese music represents, to a large extent, a survival of the pre-Islamic music of Java. It was taken to Bali by Hindu Javanese in the 15th cent. and uses the tonal systems of Javanese music, of whi...

Lambert, John

(Encyclopedia)Lambert, John, 1619–83, English parliamentary general. He fought in the first civil war (1642–46) and assisted Henry Ireton in drawing up the Heads of the Proposals in 1647. In 1648 he commanded t...

mass spectrograph

(Encyclopedia)mass spectrograph, device used to separate electrically charged particles according to their masses; a form of the instrument known as a mass spectrometer is often used to measure the masses of isotop...

San Juan Boundary Dispute

(Encyclopedia)San Juan Boundary Dispute, controversy between the United States and Great Britain over the U.S.–British Columbia boundary. It is sometimes called the Northwest Boundary Dispute. The difficulty aros...