Hudson (river), river, eastern New York, rising in the Adirondack Mountains and flowing south for 492 km (306 mi) to Upper New York Bay (an arm of the Atlantic Ocean) at New York City.
The Hudson has a winding upper course and flows almost directly south below Hudson Falls. The headwaters of the river are the [...]
Kamikaze (Japanese, “divine wind”), suicide squadrons organized by the Japanese air force in the last months of World War II. The term was originally applied by grateful Japanese to a typhoon that destroyed a Mongol invasion fleet in 1281. It was revived in 1945 and applied to pilots who flew their aircraft, loaded with explosives, [...]
Rajiv Gandhi (1944-1991), sixth prime minister (1984-1989) of India, the third member of his family to attain that post.
Rajiv Gandhi was born in Bombay (now Mumbai). His grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was India’s prime minister from 1947 to 1964; his mother, Indira Gandhi, held the same post from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984. [...]
Peter Jennings (1938-2005), Canadian-born television journalist, longtime anchor of the ABC network’s World News Tonight.
Peter Charles Jennings was born in Toronto, Ontario. His father was a leading journalist with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), and at the age of nine the young Jennings hosted a weekly children’s radio show for the network. He became an [...]
Oprah Winfrey, born in 1954, American talk-show host and actor, whose nationally syndicated program became one of the most popular on television and won numerous Emmy Awards. A major factor in the show’s success is Winfrey’s ability to connect emotionally with her guests.
Born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to unmarried parents who separated after her birth, [...]
Robert Frost (1874-1963), American poet, who drew his images from the New England countryside and his language from New England speech. Although Frost’s images and voice often seem familiar and old, his observations have an edge of skepticism and irony that make his work, upon rereading, never as old-fashioned, easy, or carefree as it first [...]
Cellular Radio Telephone, also called cellular telephone or cell phone, low-powered, lightweight radio transceiver (combination transmitter-receiver) that provides voice telephone and other services to mobile users. Cellular telephones primarily operate like portable or cordless telephones. However, unlike conventional wire-based cordless phones, cellular telephones are completely portable and do not require proximity to a jack to [...]
Nanotechnology, the creation and use of materials or devices at extremely small scales. These materials or devices fall in the range of 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). One nm is equal to one-billionth of a meter (.000000001 m), which is about 50,000 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. Scientists refer to the [...]
Microprocessor, electronic circuit that functions as the central processing unit (CPU) of a computer, providing computational control. Microprocessors are also used in other advanced electronic systems, such as computer printers, automobiles, and jet airliners.
The microprocessor is one type of ultra-large-scale integrated circuit. Integrated circuits, also known as microchips or chips, are complex electronic circuits [...]
Robocop, motion picture about a police officer in near-future Detroit, Michigan, who is murdered and then rebuilt as a powerful cyborg. Released in 1987, this box-office hit film was directed by Paul Verhoeven. The OCP Corporation presents a solution to the problem of crime in the city, where violence and particularly cop-killing reigns. They have [...]
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