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illiteracy

(Encyclopedia)illiteracy, inability to meet a certain minimum criterion of reading and writing skill. Throughout most of history most people have been illiterate. In feudal society, for example, the ability to re...

Smuts, Jan Christiaan

(Encyclopedia)Smuts, Jan Christiaan yän krĭsˈtyän smŭts [key], 1870–1950, South African statesman and soldier, b. Cape Colony. Of Boer (Afrikaner) stock but a British subject by birth, he was educated at Vic...

Garner, Erroll Louis

(Encyclopedia)Garner, Erroll Louis, 1921–77, American jazz pianist and composer, b. Pittsburgh. He wrote some 200 songs, including “Misty,” “Dreamy,” and “Solitaire.” He developed a unique style of pi...

Sudbury, city, Canada

(Encyclopedia)Sudbury, city (1991 pop. 92,884), central Ont., Canada. It is the center of Canada's largest mining region, which produces much of the world's nickel and large quantities of copper, platinum, gold, si...

shell mound

(Encyclopedia)shell mound, in archaeology, a mound consisting largely of the shells of edible mollusks. It is a kind of kitchen midden found in various parts of the world. ...

Sandy Island

(Encyclopedia)Sandy or Sable Island, Fr. Île de Sable, misreported island, New Caledonia, S Pacific, in the Coral Sea some 70 mi (110 km) E of the Chesterfield Islands. Long shown as a sizable island on marine cha...

Punchbowl

(Encyclopedia)Punchbowl, hill, 500 ft (152 m) high, in the city of Honolulu, SE Oahu island, Hawaii. In the bowllike extinct volcanic crater at the summit (reached by a scenic drive) is the National Memorial Cemete...

London Conference

(Encyclopedia)London Conference, several international conferences held at London, England, in the 19th and 20th cent. The following list includes only the most important of these meetings. At the London Conference...

Sunday school

(Encyclopedia)Sunday school, institution for instruction in religion and morals, usually conducted in churches as part of the church organization but sometimes maintained by other religious or philanthropic bodies....

Affton

(Encyclopedia)Affton, uninc. city, St. Louis co., E Mo., a suburb of St. Louis. Manufacturing includes machinery and medical equipment. Settled in the mid-1800s largely by German immigrants, Affton main...