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Caldicott, Helen Broinowski ... Calistoga
Caldicott, Helen Broinowski
Australian-born American physician and activist whose advocacy focused on the medical and environmental hazards of nuclear weapons.
Caldwell
borough (township), Essex county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S. It lies 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Newark. Settled in the 1780s and incorporated in 1892, it is known as the birthplace of Grover Cleveland, the only American president born (1837) ...
Caldwell
city, seat (1892) of Canyon county, southwestern Idaho, U.S., on the Boise River. It originated (1883) as a construction camp for the Oregon Short Line Railroad and was named for Alexander Caldwell, the railroad president. Lake Lowell (formerly Deer Flat ...
Caldwell, Erskine
American author whose unadorned novels and stories about the rural poor of the American South mix violence and sex in grotesque tragicomedy. His works achieved a worldwide readership and were particularly esteemed in France and the Soviet Union.
Caldwell, Sarah
American opera conductor, producer, and impresario, noted for her innovative productions of challenging and difficult works.
Caldwell, Taylor
highly popular American novelist, known for her family sagas and historical fiction.
Caleb
in the Old Testament, one of the spies sent by Moses from Kadesh in southern Palestine to spy out the land of Canaan. Only Caleb and Joshua advised the Hebrews to proceed immediately to take the land; for his faith ...
Caledon River
tributary of the Orange River in southeastern Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg, on the Lesotho-South Africa border, and flows generally southwest, forming most of the boundary between Lesotho and Free State province, South Africa. Maseru, capital of Lesotho, lies ...
Caledonia
historical area of north Britain beyond Roman control, roughly corresponding to modern Scotland. It was inhabited by the tribe of Caledones (Calidones). The Romans first invaded the district under Agricola about AD 80 and later won a decisive battle at ...
Caledonia
county, northeastern Vermont, U.S., bounded on the southeast by New Hampshire, the Connecticut River constituting the border. Piedmont terrain occupies most of the county except the northeastern corner, which lies in a highland region. The principal waterways are the Passumpsic, ...
Caledonian Canal
waterway running southwest to northeast across the Glen Mor fault of northern Scotland and connecting the North Sea with the North Atlantic. In 1773 James Watt was employed by the British government to make a survey for such a canal, ...
Caledonian orogenic belt
range of mountains situated in northwestern Europe, developed as a result of the opening, closure, and destruction of the Iapetus Ocean in the period from the start of the Cambrian (540 million years ago) to the end of the Silurian ...
calendar
any system for dividing time over extended periods, such as days, months, or years, and arranging such divisions in a definite order. A calendar is convenient for regulating civil life and religious observances and for historical and scientific purposes. The ...
calendering
process of smoothing and compressing a material (notably paper) during production by passing a single continuous sheet through a number of pairs of heated rolls. The rolls in combination are called calenders. Calender rolls are constructed of steel with a ...
Calepino, Ambrogio
one of the earliest Italian lexicographers, from whose name came the once-common Italian word calepino and English word calepin, for "dictionary." He became an Augustinian monk and compiled a dictionary of Latin and several other languages, published at Reggio nell'Emilia ...
Calexico
city and port of entry, Imperial county, southern California, U.S. It is located at the southern end of the Imperial Valley and is separated from the city of Mexicali, Mexico, by a reinforced steel fence. Founded in 1900, Calexico was ...
calf roping
rodeo event in which a mounted cowboy chases a calf, lassoes it, dismounts, throws the calf to the ground by hand, and ties up three of its feet with a short rope. He signals completion by raising both hands. The ...
Calgary
city, southern Alberta, Canada. It lies on the western edge of the Great Plains, at the confluence of the Bow and Elbow rivers, 185 miles (298 km) south of Edmonton. It was founded in 1875 as the North West Mounted ...
Calhoun
city, seat of Gordon county, northwestern Georgia, U.S. It lies near the Oostanaula River, 21 miles (34 km) northeast of Rome. Known formerly as Oothcaloga ("Place of the Beaver Dams") and, later, as Dawsonville, the town was renamed in 1850 ...
Calhoun
county, central South Carolina, U.S. It consists of a low-lying Coastal Plain region south of Columbia. At the southeastern extremity is Lake Marion, and the Congaree River forms the northeastern border. More than half the county is wooded, with pine ...
Calhoun, John C
American political leader who was a congressman, secretary of war, seventh vice president (1825-32), senator, and secretary of state. He championed states' rights and slavery and was a symbol of the Old South.
Calhoun, Lee
American athlete, the first to win successive gold medals in the Olympics for the 110-metre hurdles.
Cali
city, capital of Valle del Cauca departamento, western Colombia, on both sides of the Cali River at an elevation of 3,327 feet (1,014 m). The city, set in the intermontane subtropical Cauca Valley of southwestern Colombia, was founded on July ...
calibre
in firearms, unit of measure indicating the interior, or bore, diameter of a gun barrel and the diameter of the gun's ammunition; or the length of a gun expressed in relation to its interior diameter (now used only of naval ...
calico
all-cotton fabric woven in plain, or tabby, weave and printed with simple designs in one or more colours. Calico originated in Calicut, India, by the 11th century, if not earlier, and in the 17th and 18th centuries calicoes were an ...
calico bass
popular North American game and food fish. See crappie.
Calidris
bird genus in the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes), which includes the shorebirds known as dunlin, knot, and sanderling (qq.v.). Some sandpipers are also classified as Calidris (see sandpiper).
California
constituent state of the United States of America. It has an area of 158,706 square miles (411,049 square kilometres), exceeded only by Alaska and Texas. The state is bounded on the north by Oregon, on the east by Nevada and ...
California Academy of Sciences
in San Francisco, oldest scientific institution in the western United States (incorporated 1853). The academy's complex of buildings is situated in Golden Gate Park. It includes a natural-history museum, the Steinhart Aquarium with more than 10,000 specimens, a planetarium, a ...
California Aqueduct
principal water-conveyance structure of the California State Water Project, U.S. From the Sacramento River delta east of San Francisco, it runs south through the San Joaquin Valley and over the summit of the Tehachapi Mountains, a distance of 273 miles ...
California Current
surface oceanic current, southward-flowing continuation of the Aleutian Current along the west coast of North America between latitudes 48° N and 23° N. The California Current's surface velocity is commonly less than 10 in. (25 cm) per second, transporting about ...
California Institute of Technology
private coeducational university and research institute in Pasadena, California, U.S., emphasizing graduate and undergraduate instruction and research in pure and applied science and engineering. The institute comprises six divisions: biology; chemistry and chemical engineering; engineering and applied science; geologic and ...
California Institute of the Arts
private coeducational institution of higher learning in Valencia, California, U.S., dedicated to the visual and performing arts. It consists of six schools: art, critical studies, dance, film/video, music, and theatre. An integrated media program provides graduate study in digital media. ...
California laurel
aromatic evergreen tree of the laurel family (Lauraceae). It occurs on the Pacific coast of North America from Oregon to California and grows about 15 to 25 metres (50 to 80 feet) tall. A handsome tree, it is often grown ...
California nutmeg
(Torreya californica), an ornamental evergreen tree of the yew family (Taxaceae), found naturally only in California. Growing to a height of 24 m (about 79 feet) or more, the tree bears spreading, slightly drooping branches. Although pyramidal in shape when ...
California poppy
(Eschscholzia californica), annual garden plant of the poppy family (Papaveraceae) native to the western coast of North America. It has become naturalized in parts of southern Europe, Asia, and Australia. The flowers, borne on stems 20 to 30 centimetres (8 ...
California State University
extensive system of public institutions of higher education in California, U.S., one of the largest such systems in the country. It has campuses at Bakersfield, Channel Islands (at Camarillo), Chico, Dominguez Hills (at Carson), East Bay, Fresno, Fullerton, Long Beach, ...
California University of Pennsylvania
public, coeducational institution of higher learning in California, Pennsylvania, U.S. It is one of 14 universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The university is composed of colleges of liberal arts, science and technology, and education and human ...
California, Gulf of
large inlet of the eastern Pacific Ocean along the northwestern coast of Mexico. It is enclosed on the west by the mountainous peninsula of Baja California and on the east by the Mexican mainland. There are two schools of thought ...
California, University of
system of public universities in California, U.S., with campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Santa Cruz. The university traces its origins to the private College of California, founded in 1855 ...
Californian Indian
member of any of the aboriginal North American peoples in the area roughly corresponding to California and the northern Baja California peninsula.
californite
jadelike variety of the mineral vesuvianite (q.v.).
californium
synthetic chemical element of the actinide series in Group IIIb of the periodic table, atomic number 98. Not occurring in nature, californium (as the isotope californium-245) was discovered (1950) by Stanley G. Thompson, Kenneth Street, Jr., Albert Ghiorso, and Glenn ...
Caligula
Roman emperor from 37 to 41, in succession to Tiberius, who effected the transfer of the last legion that had been under a senatorial proconsul (in Africa) to an imperial legate, thus completing the emperor's monopoly of army command. Accounts ...
Calinescu, Armand
statesman who, as prime minister of Romania (March-September 1939), provided the major administrative inspiration and support for King Carol II's royal dictatorship.
caliper
measuring instrument that consists of two adjustable legs or jaws for measuring the dimensions of material parts. The calipers on the right side of the have an adjusting screw and nut and are known as spring calipers; those on ...
caliph
("successor"), ruler of the Muslim community. When Muhammad died (June 8, 632), Abu Bakr succeeded to his political and administrative functions as khalifah rasul Allah, or "successor of the Messenger of God," but it was probably under 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, ...
Caliphate
the political-religious state comprising the Muslim community and the lands and peoples under its dominion in the centuries following the death (AD 632) of the Prophet Muhammad. Ruled by a caliph (Arabic khalifah, "successor"), who held temporal and sometimes a ...
Calisher, Hortense
American writer of novels, novellas, and short stories, known for the elegant style and insightful rendering of characters in her often semiautobiographical short fiction, much of which was published originally in The New Yorker.
calisthenics
free body exercises performed with varying degrees of intensity and rhythm, which may or may not be done with light handheld apparatuses such as rings and wands. The exercises employ such motions as bending, stretching, twisting, swinging, kicking, and jumping, ...
Calistoga
city, Napa county, western California, U.S. Located just northeast of Santa Rosa, Calistoga lies near the head of Napa Valley, 80 miles (130 km) north of San Francisco. Located in an area of natural hot-water geysers and mineral and mud ...
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