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albedo

(Encyclopedia)albedo ălbēˈdō [key], reflectivity of the surface of a planet, moon, asteroid, or other celestial body that does not shine by its own light. Albedo is measured as the fraction of incident light th...

dodo, extinct bird

(Encyclopedia)dodo, a flightless forest-dwelling bird of Mauritius, extinct since the late 17th cent. The dodo was closely related to the Rodrigues solitaire, extinct flightless giant found on another island in the...

Glackens, William James

(Encyclopedia)Glackens, William James, 1870–1938, American landscape and genre painter and illustrator, b. Philadelphia. An illustrator for Philadelphia and New York City newspapers and magazines for many years, ...

cameo

(Encyclopedia)cameo kămˈēō [key], small relief carving, usually on striated precious or semiprecious stones or on shell. The design, often a portrait head, is commonly cut in the light-colored vein, and the dar...

trillium

(Encyclopedia)trillium or wake-robin trĭlˈēəm [key], any plant of the large genus Trillium, attractive spring wildflowers of the family Liliaceae (lily family), native to North America and E Asia. The leaves, p...

Nez Percé

(Encyclopedia)Nez Percé nĕz pûrs, nā pĕrsāˈ [key] [Fr.,=pierced nose], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Sahaptin-Chinook branch of the Penutian linguistic stock (see Native American langu...

sunspots

(Encyclopedia)sunspots, dark, usually irregularly shaped spots on the sun's surface that are actually solar magnetic storms. The spots are darker because the temperature of the spots is lower than that of the surro...

Rothstein, Arnold

(Encyclopedia)Rothstein, Arnold rôthˈstēn [key], 1883–1928, American gambler, b. New York City. Supposedly beginning his career at the age of 12, Rothstein became a professional gambler and operated gaming hou...

Storm, Theodor

(Encyclopedia)Storm, Theodor tāˈōdôr shtôrm [key], 1817–88, German poet and novelist, b. Schleswig-Holstein. From 1843 to 1853 he practiced law in his native Husum, but he was exiled (1853–64) by Denmark f...

Highet, Gilbert Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Highet, Gilbert Arthur məkĭnˈəs [key], 1907–85, b. Glasgow, is noted for her fast-paced, intricately plotted novels of espionage, including Above Suspicion (1941), While Still We Live (1944), De...
 

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