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spring, in mechanics

(Encyclopedia)spring, in mechanics, any of several elastic devices used variously to store and to furnish energy, to absorb shock, to sustain the pressure between contacting surfaces, and to resist tensional or com...

Colorado Plateau

(Encyclopedia)Colorado Plateau, physiographic region of SW North America, c.150,000 sq mi (388,500 sq km), in Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico, including the “Four Corners” area. It is characterized by b...

Palm Springs

(Encyclopedia)Palm Springs, city (1990 pop. 40,181), Riverside co., S Calif.; founded 1876, inc. 1938. It is a verdant desert oasis and a resort with classic mid-20th cent. architecture (known as Mid-Century Modern...

Vail

(Encyclopedia)Vail vāl [key], town (1990 pop. 3,569), Eagle co., W central Colo., on Gore Creek, in the Gore Range of the Rocky Mts.; founded as a ski resort 1962, inc. as a town 1966. Surrounded by the White Rive...

Ozark National Scenic Riverways

(Encyclopedia)Ozark National Scenic Riverways, 80,786 acres (32,707 hectares), along the Current and Jacks Fork rivers, SE Mo.; authorized 1964 as the first national scenic river; est. 1972. Many springs flow into ...

Sanguinetti, Julio María

(Encyclopedia)Sanguinetti, Julio María ho͞oˈlēō märēˈä sängēnĕˈtē [key], 1936–, Uruguayan political leader, president of Uruguay (1985–90, 1995–2000). A lawyer and journalist, and a member of th...

Yuma, indigenous people of North America

(Encyclopedia)Yuma yo͞oˈ mə [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Yuman branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). Also known as the Quechan, they formerly...

Powell, John Wesley

(Encyclopedia)Powell, John Wesley, 1834–1902, American geologist and ethnologist, b. Mt. Morris (now part of New York City). The family moved to Illinois, where Powell joined the Natural History Society, making c...

Gilpin, William

(Encyclopedia)Gilpin, William, 1813–94, U.S. army officer, politician, and businessman, b. Philadelphia, grad. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1833. He dropped out of West Point, but joined the army (1836) and fought in t...
 

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