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United States, Great Seal of the

(Encyclopedia)United States, Great Seal of the, official impression that validates a United States government document. It was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1782 and, with only minor changes in the design,...

Sturzo, Luigi

(Encyclopedia)Sturzo, Luigi lo͞oēˈjē sto͞orˈtsō [key], 1871–1959, Italian priest and political leader. He taught philosophy and sociology at a seminary in his native Sicily. In 1919 he founded the Popular ...

smoking

(Encyclopedia)smoking, inhalation and exhalation of the fumes of burning tobacco in cigars and cigarettes and pipes; in the 21st cent., vaping, the similar use of e-cigarettes, also has become common. Some persons ...

Jordan, David Starr

(Encyclopedia)Jordan, David Starr, 1851–1931, American scientist and educator, b. Gainesville, N.Y., M.S. Cornell, 1872, M.D. Indiana Medical College, 1875, and studied under Louis Agassiz at Penikese Island. He ...

civil defense

(Encyclopedia)civil defense, nonmilitary activities designed to protect civilians and their property from enemy actions in time of war. A civil defense program usually includes measures taken during peace (e.g., bu...

dust, atmospheric

(Encyclopedia)dust, atmospheric, minute particles slowly settling or suspended by slight currents and existing in varying amounts in all air. There is least dust at high levels over the ocean and most at low levels...

Home, Daniel Dunglas

(Encyclopedia)Home, Daniel Dunglas hyo͞om [key], 1833–86, Scottish-American spiritualist medium, b. Edinburgh, Scotland. He was taken to the United States when a small child. At age 13 he claimed to have discove...

Melbourne, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Melbourne, city (1990 pop. 59,646), Brevard co., E Fla., on Indian River (a lagoon); inc. 1888, consolidated with Eau Gallie 1969. It is a tourist and aerospace center near the Atlantic Ocean. The lea...

foehn

(Encyclopedia)foehn fān, Ger. fön [key], warm, dry wind that occurs on the leeward slopes of a ridge of mountains. The term was originally applied to a wind of the Alps but is now used as a generic term for all w...
 

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