San Diego Zoological Garden

The largest collection of mammals, birds, and reptiles in the world. This municipal zoo, located in San Diego, Calif., U.S., was founded in 1916 and is administered by the Zoological Society of San Diego. It occupies a 40.5-hectare (100-acre) site in Balboa Park amid hills and canyons. The zoo has about 3,500 animals representing more than 700 species. A noteworthy feature of the zoo is its landscaping.

Mcnally, David Arthur

American professional baseball player (b. Oct. 31, 1942, Billings, Mont.—d. Dec. 1, 2002, Billings), was a phenomenal left-handed pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles; he completed four consecutive 20-win seasons between 1968 and 1971, appeared in three All-Star games (1969, 1970, and 1972), and helped his team win World Series titles in 1966 and 1970. McNally also took part in the landmark 1975 arbitration case that ended baseball's “reserve

Deere, John

Apprenticed to a blacksmith at age 17, Deere set up his own smithy trade four years later and, for 12 years, did work in various towns of his native Vermont. In 1837, when 33 years old, he headed west and eventually settled in Grand Detour, Ill., where he set up a blacksmith's shop, and

Black Duck

(Anas rubripes), highly prized game bird (family Anatidae) of eastern North America, inhabiting salt, brackish, and freshwater marshes, as well as lakes, rivers, and beaver ponds. These ducks winter from Nebraska to Texas and along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to Florida; their preference for seafoods such as periwinkles and mussels enables them to winter so far

Allier River

Latin  Elaver,   river, central France, that joins the Loire River 4 miles (6 km) west of Nevers after a course of 255 miles (410 km). Rising in Lozère département, it races through deep gorges along structural lines of weakness between the Margeride and Velay mountains. Traversing the basins of Langeac and Brioude, it receives torrents from the mountains of Dore and Puy-de-Dôme and flows broad and

Qarmatian

Also spelled  Qarmathian,  Karmatian , or  Karmathian , Arabic  Qarmati , plural  Qaramitah  a member of the Shi'ite Muslim sect known as the Isma'ilites. The Qarmatians flourished in Iraq, Yemen, and especially Bahrain during the 9th to 11th centuries, taking their name from Hamdan Qarmat, who led the sect in southern Iraq in the second half of the 9th century. The Qarmatians became notorious for an insurrection in Syria and Iraq in 903–906 and for the exploits of two Bahraini leaders,

Cell

In electricity, unit structure used to generate an electrical current by some means other than the motion of a conductor in a magnetic field. A solar cell, for example, consists of a semiconductor junction that converts sunlight directly into electricity. A dry cell is a chemical battery in which no free liquid is present, the electrolyte being soaked up by some absorbent

Earth Sciences, Weather and climate

Modern meteorology began when the daily weather map was developed as a device for analysis and forecasting, and the instrument that made this kind of map possible was the electromagnetic telegraph. In the United States the first telegraph line was strung in 1844 between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Concurrently with the expansion of telegraphic networks, the physicist

Ta-tu

Pinyin  Dadu , also spelled  Taidu , Mongol  Khanbaliq  the city of Peking (q.v.) under the Mongols.

Anthimus Vii Tsatsos

Like Anthimus VI, his predecessor of a half-century earlier, Anthimus VII is known for his encyclical letter to the Orthodox world refuting a papal encyclical, Praeclara Gratulationis (“Splendid