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thunder

(Encyclopedia)thunder, sound produced along a path of a lightning flash, caused by the rapid heating and expansion of the adjacent air; lightning can heat air to temperatures as much as five times hotter than those...

Whittingham, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Whittingham, Charles hwĭtˈĭnjəm, –ĭng-əm [key], 1767–1840, English printer. He established a printery in London in 1789, removing to Chiswick and founding the Chiswick Press in 1810. He was ...

timberline

(Encyclopedia)timberline, elevation above which trees cannot grow. Its location is influenced by the various factors that determine temperature, including latitude, prevailing wind directions, and exposure to sunli...

Pyatigorsk

(Encyclopedia)Pyatigorsk pyĭtyēgôrskˈ [key], city (1989 pop. 129,500), Stavropol Territory, SE European Russia, on the Podkumok River in the N Caucasus. The administrative center of the North Caucasian federal ...

Taichung

(Encyclopedia)Taichung or T'ai-chung both: tīˈjo͞ongˈ [key], special municipality (2010 pop. 2,731,056), 855 sq mi (2,214 sq km), W central Taiwan. It was created in 2010 by merging the city of Taichung with Ta...

tick

(Encyclopedia)tick, small, parasitic arachnid of the order Ixodida, closely related to the mites. Ticks, which are larger than the often microscopic mites, are all parasitic in at least one developmental stage; mos...

Gray, Asa

(Encyclopedia)Gray, Asa, 1810–88, one of America's leading botanists and taxonomists, b. Oneida co., N.Y. As professor of natural history at Harvard from 1842, he was the teacher of many eminent botanists. Throug...

Ascension, island

(Encyclopedia)Ascension əsĕnˈchən [key], island, 34 sq mi (88 sq km), in the S Atlantic, NW of Saint Helena and belonging to the British St. Helena overseas territory. Georgetown i...

Midwest

(Encyclopedia)Midwest or Middle West, region of the United States centered on the western Great Lakes and the upper-middle Mississippi valley. It is a somewhat imprecise term that has been applied to the northern s...

Areopagus

(Encyclopedia)Areopagus ărēŏpˈəgəs [key] [Gr.,=hill of Ares], rocky hill, 370 ft (113 m) high, NW of the Acropolis of Athens, famous as the sacred meeting place of the prime council of Athens. This council, a...
 

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