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Valdez ... Valparaiso

Valdez: city, southeastern Alaska, U.S. Situated on Prince William Sound, 305 miles (490 km) east of Anchorage, it is the northernmost all-year port in North America. Formerly known as Copper City, ...
Valdivia: capital of Valdivia provincia, Los Lagos region, southern Chile. It lies at the confluence of the Callecalle and Cruces rivers, which there form the Valdivia River, 11 miles (18 km) ...
Valdivia, Pedro de: conqueror and governor of Chile for Spain and founder of the cities of Santiago and Concepcion.
Valdosta: city, seat (1860) of Lowndes county, southern Georgia, U.S., about 60 miles (100 km) northeast of Tallahassee, Florida. Troupville, the original town and county seat (1828, as Franklinville), was moved ...
Vale of Glamorgan: county, southern Wales, extending along the Bristol Channel coast west of Cardiff and lying entirely within the historic county of Glamorgan (Morgannwg). It comprises an undulating coastal platform, with an ...
Vale of White Horse: district, administrative county of Oxfordshire, historic county of Berkshire, England, lying southwest of Oxford. It encompasses the northern part of the historic county of Berkshire. Its principal feature is a ...
Vale Royal: borough, administrative and historic county of Cheshire, England. It is named for a great Cistercian abbey built by Edward I near the present village of Whitegate. The borough is centred ...
valence: in chemistry, the property of an element that determines the number of other atoms with which an atom of the element can combine. Introduced in 1868, the term is used ...
Valence: town, capital of Drome departement, Rhone-Alpes region, southeastern France. Valence lies on the left bank of the Rhone River. Built on a succession of terraces bordering the Rhone, the town ...
valence electron: any of the fundamental negatively charged particles in the outermost region of atoms that enters into the formation of chemical bonds. Whatever the type of chemical bond (ionic, covalent, metallic) ...
Valencia: city, capital of Carabobo state, northwestern Venezuela, on the Rio Cabriales in the central highlands at 1,600 ft (490 m) above sea level, near the western shore of Lake Valencia. ...
Valencia: medieval kingdom of Spain, alternately Muslim and independent from 1010 to 1238 and thereafter held by the kings of Aragon. Though its territory varied, it generally comprised the modern provinces ...
Valencia: county, central New Mexico, U.S., in the Mexican Highland section of the Basin and Range Province. The Manzano Mountains lie at its eastern border, and mesas rise in the west. ...
Valencia: capital of Valencia province and the autonomous community (region) of Valencia, and of the former kingdom of Valencia, eastern Spain. Located on the Mediterranean coast at the mouth of the ...
Valencia: comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") of eastern Spain. It encompasses the Spanish levantine provinces of Castellon, Valencia, and Alicante and was established by the statute of autonomy of July 1, 1982.
Valencia: provincia, in the comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") of Valencia, eastern Spain. It is situated along the Mediterranean Sea and has an area of 4,156 square miles (10,763 square km). The ...
Valencia, Guillermo: Colombian poet and statesman, whose technical command of verse and skill at translation are notable.
Valencia, Lake: lake in Carabobo and Aragua states, central Venezuela. Lying in a basin in the Cordillera de la Costa (Maritime Andes) of the central highlands at an elevation of 1,362 ft ...
Valenciennes: town, Nord departement, Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, northern France, on the Escaut (Scheldt) River. The origin of the name is obscure. Some believe that it stems from one of the three Roman ...
Valenciennes lace: one of the most famous of bobbin laces, first made in the French city of Valenciennes, Nord departement, and later in Belgium (around Ypres and Ghent) and on the French-Belgian ...
Valens: Eastern Roman emperor from 364 to 378. He was the younger brother of Valentinian I, who assumed the throne upon the death of the emperor Jovian (Feb. 17, 364). On ...
Valens, Ritchie: American singer and songwriter and the first Latino rock and roller. His short career ended when he died at age 17 in the 1959 plane crash in which Buddy Holly ...
Valente, Jose Angel: Spanish lyric poet and essayist who published translations and criticism in addition to more than 20 books of his own verse. The themes of his often philosophical poems are exile, ...
Valentine: pope for about 40 days during August-September 827. He became archdeacon under Pope St. Paschal I. Beloved for his goodness and piety, he was elected pope in August but died ...
Valentine's Day: day (February 14) when lovers express their affection with greetings and gifts. Although there were several Christian martyrs named Valentine, the day probably took its name from a priest who ...
Valentine, Saint: name of two legendary martyrs whose lives seem to be historically based. One was a Roman priest and physician who suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Christians by the emperor ...
Valentinian I: Roman emperor from 364 to 375 who skillfully and successfully defended the frontiers of the Western Empire against Germanic invasions.
Valentinian II: Roman emperor from 375 to 392.
Valentinian III: Roman emperor from 425 to 455. At no time in his long reign were the affairs of state personally managed by Valentinian. He was the son of the patrician Flavius ...
Valentino, Rudolph: Italian-born American motion-picture actor, who was idolized as the "Great Lover" of the 1920s.
Valentinus: Egyptian religious philosopher, founder of Roman and Alexandrian schools of Gnosticism, a system of religious dualism (belief in rival deities of good and evil) with a doctrine of salvation by ...
Valenzuela, Fernando: Mexican professional baseball player whose career spanned 17 seasons in the major leagues of the United States.
Valenzuela, Fernando de, Marques De Villa Sierra: Spanish royal favourite and minister during the regency of Charles II.
Valera: city, central Trujillo state, northwestern Venezuela, on the Rio Motatan, on a northern spur of the Cordillera de Merida. The state's largest city, Valera overshadows the state capital, Trujillo, 12 ...
Valera y Alcala Galiano, Juan: important Spanish 19th-century novelist and stylist, also a diplomat and politician. Valera travelled to Europe and America in the diplomatic corps and served as deputy, senator and under-secretary of state ...
Valerian: Roman emperor from 253 to 260.
Valerianaceae: the valerian family of the teasel order (Dipsacales), containing about 10 genera and more than 400 species of annual and perennial herbs, a few outstanding as ornamentals, salad or pot ...
Valerius Flaccus, Gaius: epic poet, author of an Argonautica, an epic which, though indebted to other sources, is written with vivid characterizations and descriptions and style unmarred by the excesses of other Latin ...
Valerius Maximus: Roman historian and moralist who wrote an important book of historical anecdotes for the use of rhetoricians.
Valero, Roberto: Cuban poet noted for his poetry on tyranny in Fidel Castro's Cuba and on the human predicament in general.
Valery, Paul: French poet, essayist, and critic. His greatest poem is considered La Jeune Parque (1917; "The Young Fate"), which was followed by Album de vers anciens 1890-1900 (1920) and Charmes ou ...
Valhalla: in Norse mythology, the hall of slain warriors, who live there blissfully under the leadership of the god Odin. Valhalla is depicted as a splendid palace, roofed with shields, where ...
Valignano, Alessandro: Italian Jesuit missionary who helped introduce Christianity to the Far East, especially to Japan.
Valindaba: site of a uranium enrichment pilot plant in Gauteng province, South Africa, on the western outskirts of Pretoria. Built by the Uranium Enrichment Corporation of South Africa (Ucor), it became ...
valine: an amino acid obtained by hydrolysis of proteins and first isolated by the German chemist Emil Fischer (1901) from casein. It is one of several so-called essential amino acids for ...
Valium: trade name of a tranquilizer drug introduced by the pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche in 1963. Safer and more effective than earlier sedative-hypnotic drugs, Valium quickly became a standard drug for ...
Valkyrie: in Norse mythology, any of a group of maidens who served the god Odin and were sent by him to the battlefields to choose the slain who were worthy of ...
Valla, Lorenzo: Italian humanist, philosopher, and literary critic who attacked medieval traditions and anticipated views of the Protestant reformers.
Vallabha: also called Vallabhacarya Hindu philosopher and founder of the important devotional sect the Vallabhacaryas, also known as the pustimarga ("the way of prosperity, or well-being").
Vallabhacarya: school of Hinduism prominent among the merchant class of North and West India; its members are worshipers of Lord Krishna (Krsna) and followers of the pustimarga ("way of prosperity, or ...
Valladolid: city, capital of Valladolid province, in the comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") of Castile-Leon, northwestern Spain. The city lies along the Pisuerga River at its confluence with the Esgueva, southwest of ...
Valladolid: province, in the comunidad autonoma ("autonomous community") of Castile-Leon, northwestern Spain. It is bordered by the provinces of Leon and Palencia (north), by Burgos and Segovia (east), by Segovia, Avila, ...
Valladolid, University of: coeducational state institution of higher learning at Valladolid, in northwestern Spain. Established in the 13th century as an outgrowth of an old episcopal school of Valladolid, the university was recognized ...
Vallandigham, Clement L: politician during the American Civil War (1861-65) whose Southern sympathies and determined vendetta against the Federal government and its war policy resulted in his court-martial and exile to the Confederacy.
Valle Central: highland valley in central Costa Rica, containing most of the country's large cities and about 60 percent of the total population. The area of 3,500 square miles (9,000 square km) ...
Valle d'Aosta: region, northwestern Italy, containing the upper basin of the Dora Baltea River, from its source near Mount Blanc to just above Ivrea. The region is enclosed on the north, west, ...
Valle de la Pascua: city, northeastern Guarico state, central Venezuela. Lying in the Llanos (plains), it is an important regional centre for a large cattle-raising area. Its main commodities are livestock products; the dairy ...
Valle del Cauca: department, western Colombia, rising from the Pacific lowlands across the Andean Cordillera Occidental to encompass the valley of the upper Cauca River. It covers an area of 8,548 square miles ...
Valle, Pietro della: Italian traveler to Persia and India whose letters detailing his wanderings are valuable for their full descriptions.
Valle-Inclan, Ramon Maria del: Spanish novelist, dramatist, and poet who combined a sensuous use of language with bitter social satire.
Valledupar: capital of Cesar department, northern Colombia. It is situated on a plain between two mountain ranges, the Sierra de Perija and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. Founded in 1550, ...
Vallee, Rudy: one of the most popular American singers of the 1920s and '30s. His collegiate style as a singing bandleader made him a national figure.
Vallejo: city, Solano county, western California, U.S. It lies along San Pablo Bay at the mouth of the Napa River, just north of Berkeley and Oakland. In 1850 military officer Mariano ...
Vallejo, Cesar: Peruvian poet who in exile became a major voice of social change in Spanish American literature.
Valles: city, eastern San Luis Potosi state, northeastern Mexico. It lies along the Tampaon (or Valles) River, west-southwest of Tampico. Sugarcane, citrus fruits, avocados, coffee, tobacco, and cattle are processed there, ...
Valles Marineris: vast system of interconnected canyons on the planet Mars. The system was discovered during, and named for, the Mariner 9 mission in 1971. The canyons extend in an east-west direction ...
Valles, Jules: French Socialist journalist and novelist, founder of Le Cri du Peuple (1871), which became one of France's leading Socialist newspapers.
Valletta: seaport and capital of Malta, on the northeast coast of the island. The nucleus of the city is built on the promontory of Mount Sceberras that runs like a tongue ...
valley: elongate depression of the Earth's surface. Valleys are most commonly drained by rivers and may occur in a relatively flat plain or between ranges of hills or mountains. Those valleys ...
Valley City: city, seat (1879) of Barnes county, southeastern North Dakota, U.S. It lies in the Sheyenne River valley, about 60 miles (100 km) west of Fargo. Before settlement, Cheyenne, Sioux, Cree, ...
Valley Forge: in the American Revolution, Pennsylvania encampment grounds of the Continental Army under General George Washington from December 19, 1777, to June 19, 1778, a period that marked the triumph of ...
Valli, Romolo: Italian actor who appeared in leading stage roles and won many awards for his work in motion pictures. He was also well known as a theatre manager and founded the ...
Vallombrosa: village, Firenze province, Toscana (Tuscany) region, north central Italy, in a valley on the northern slope of the Monti (mountains) Pratomagno, 21 mi (33 km) southeast of Florence (Firenze). Surrounded ...
Valois: historic region of France that gave its name to the second line of the Capetian dynasty; it corresponds to the southeastern quarter of the modern departement of Oise, with an ...
Valois Dynasty: the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589, ruling the nation from the end of the feudal period into the early modern age. The Valois kings continued the work ...
Valparaiso: city, seat of Porter county, northwestern Indiana, U.S. It lies just east-southeast of Gary. Laid out in 1836 as the county seat, it was first called Portersville but was renamed ...