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sugarcane

(Encyclopedia)sugarcane, tall tropical perennials (species of Saccharum, chiefly S. officinarum) of the family Poaceae (grass family), probably cultivated in their native Asia from prehistoric times. Sugarcane some...

fan

(Encyclopedia)fan, device for agitating air or gases or moving them from one location to another. Mechanical fans with revolving blades are used for ventilation, in manufacturing, in winnowing grain, to remove dust...

Franconia

(Encyclopedia)Franconia frăngkōˈnēə [key], Ger. Franken, historic region and one of the five basic or stem duchies of medieval Germany, S Germany. The region was included in the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia, ...

Strauss, Robert Schwarz

(Encyclopedia)Strauss, Robert Schwarz, 1918–2014, American lawyer and government official, b. Lockhart, Tex., grad. Univ. of Texas Law School (1941). The quintessential Washington insider and a partner in one of ...

Stark, Freya Madeline

(Encyclopedia)Stark, Freya Madeline frāˈə [key], 1893–1993, British author, traveler, and Arabist. The first European to visit several areas in the Middle East, she was born in Paris to artist parents and grew...

porcelain

(Encyclopedia)porcelain [Ital. porcellana], white, hard, permanent, nonporous pottery having translucence which is resonant when struck. Porcelain was first made by the Chinese to withstand the great heat generated...

Overijssel

(Encyclopedia)Overijssel ōˌvərīˈsəl [key], province (1994 pop. 1,044,600), c,1,500 sq mi (3,885 sq km), E central Netherlands; it borders on Germany in the east. Zwolle is the capital; other cities include Al...

crucifixion

(Encyclopedia)crucifixion, hanging on a cross, in ancient times a method of capital punishment. It was practiced widely in the Middle East but not by the Greeks. The Romans, who may have borrowed it from Carthage, ...

Christie, Dame Agatha

(Encyclopedia)Christie, Dame Agatha, 1890–1976, English detective story writer, b. Torquay, Devon, as Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller. Christie's second husband was the archaeologist Sir Max Mallowan, and she gained ...

Asia

(Encyclopedia) CE5 Asia āˈzhə [key], the world's largest continent 17,139,000 sq mi (44,390,000 sq km) and most populous (2015 est. pop. 4,419,898,000), with nearly three fifths of the world's total population...
 

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