Archive for the “Pedia” category
Michael Kirk Douglas
by zhou on April 5, 2010
Cover of Spartacus Michael Kirk Douglas, born in 1944, American film actor and producer, who won a best actor Academy Award for his portrayal of a ruthless entrepreneur in Wall Street (1987). The son of actor Kirk Douglas, he made (…)
Hudson River
by zhou on February 3, 2010
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 (…)
Kamikaze
by zhou on February 2, 2010
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 (…)
Rajiv Gandhi
by zhou on February 1, 2010
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 (…)
Peter Jennings
by zhou on January 31, 2010
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 (…)
Oprah Winfrey
by zhou on January 30, 2010
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 (…)
Robert Frost
by zhou on January 29, 2010
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 (…)
cell phone
by zhou on January 21, 2010
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 (…)
Nanotechnology
by zhou on January 19, 2010
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 (…)
Microprocessor
by zhou on January 19, 2010
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 (…)
