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Valparaiso ... Vanderbilt University

Valparaiso: city and capital of Valparaiso provincia and region, central Chile. It lies on the south side of a broad, open bay of the Pacific Ocean, 84 miles (140 km) northwest ...
Valparaiso: region, central Chile, bordering the Pacific Ocean on the west, Argentina on the east, and Santiago metropolitan region on the southeast. It was created in 1974 and encompasses Valparaiso, San ...
Valparaiso University: private, coeducational institution of higher education in Valparaiso, Ind., U.S. It is affiliated with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. It grants associate, bachelor's, master's, and professional degrees. The college of arts ...
Valsad: city, southeastern Gujarat state, west-central India. It lies along the Gulf of Cambay, south of the city of Surat. Valsad is known for its handloomed cloth, dyes, bricks, and pottery, ...
Valtellina: upper valley of the Adda River from its sources in the Ortles mountains westward to its entry into Lake Como, largely in Sondrio provincia, Lombardia (Lombardy) regione, northern Italy. The ...
value-added tax: government levy on the amount that a business firm adds to the price of a commodity during production and distribution of a good. Three major types of value-added tax have ...
valve: in anatomy, any of various membranous structures, especially in the heart, veins, and lymph ducts, that function to close temporarily a passage or orifice, permitting movement of a fluid in ...
valve: in music, a device, first used in 1815 by musicians Heinrich Stolzel and Friedrich Bluhmel of Berlin, that alters the length of the vibrating air column in brass wind instruments ...
valve: in mechanical engineering, device for controlling the flow of fluids (liquids, gases, slurries) in a pipe or other enclosure. Control is by means of a movable element that opens, shuts, ...
Valverde: province, northwestern Dominican Republic. Created on territory removed in 1959 from Santiago province, the 220-sq-mi (570-sq-km) province lies mainly in the fertile and densely populated Valle del Cibao; it is ...
Vamana: fifth of the 10 incarnations (avataras) of the Hindu god Vishnu. He made his appearance when the demon king Bali ruled the entire universe and the gods had lost their ...
vampire: in popular legend, a bloodsucking creature, supposedly the restless soul of a heretic, criminal, or suicide, that leaves its burial place at night, often in the form of a bat, ...
vampire bat: any of three species of blood-eating bats, native to the New World tropics and subtropics. The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus), together with the white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus, or Desmodus, ...
Van: city, eastern Turkey. It lies on the eastern shore of Lake Van at an altitude of about 5,750 feet (1,750 m). The city lies in an oasis at the foot ...
Van Allen radiation belt: doughnut-shaped zones of highly energetic charged particles trapped at high altitudes in the magnetic field of the Earth. The zones were named for James A. Van Allen, the American physicist ...
Van Allen, James A.: American physicist, whose discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts, two zones of radiation encircling Earth, brought about new understanding of cosmic radiation and its effects on Earth.
Van Buren: city, seat (1839) of Crawford county, western Arkansas, U.S., on the Arkansas River opposite Fort Smith. The site, settled (1818) by Thomas Martin, was later called Phillips Landing (for Thomas ...
Van Buren, Hannah: the wife of Martin Van Buren, eighth president of the United States. She died 18 years before her husband was sworn in as president and so did not serve as ...
Van Buren, Martin: eighth president of the United States (1837-41) and one of the founders of the Democratic Party. He was known as the "Little Magician" to his friends (and the "Sly Fox" ...
Van Cortlandt, Stephanus: Dutch-American colonial merchant and public official who was the first native-born mayor of New York City and chief justice of the Supreme Court of New York.
Van de Graaff, Robert Jemison: American physicist and inventor of the Van de Graaff generator, a type of high-voltage electrostatic generator that serves as a type of particle accelerator. This device has found widespread use ...
Van Deman, Esther Boise: American archaeologist and the first woman to specialize in Roman field archaeology. She established lasting criteria for the dating of ancient constructions, which advanced the serious study of Roman architecture.
Van Deman, Ralph: American intelligence officer, called "the father of American military intelligence."
Van Depoele, Charles Joseph: Belgian-born American inventor who demonstrated the practicability of electrical traction (1874) and patented an electric railway (1883).
van der Waals forces: relatively weak electric forces that attract neutral molecules to one another in gases, in liquefied and solidified gases, and in almost all organic liquids and solids. The forces are named ...
Van Devanter, Willis: associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1910-37).
Van Diemen Gulf: inlet of the Timor Sea of the Indian Ocean, indenting Northern Territory, Australia. Measuring 90 mi (145 km) by 50 mi and partially enclosed by Melville Island (northwest) and the ...
Van Diemen's Land: (1642-1855), the southeastern Australian island colony that became the commonwealth state of Tasmania. Named for Anthony van Diemen, governor general of the Dutch East Indies, the island was discovered and ...
Van Dine, S.S.: American critic, editor, and author of a series of best-selling detective novels featuring the brilliant but arrogant sleuth Philo Vance.
Van Doren, Carl: U.S. author and teacher whose writings range through surveys of literature to novels, biography, and criticism.
Van Doren, Mark: American poet, writer, and eminent teacher. He upheld the writing of verse in traditional forms throughout a lengthy period of experiment in poetry. As a teacher at Columbia University for ...
Van Duyn, Mona: American Pulitzer Prize-winning poet noted for her examination of the daily lives of ordinary people and for mixing the prosaic with the unusual, the simple with the sophisticated. She is ...
Van Dyck, Sir Anthony: after Rubens, the most prominent Flemish painter of the 17th century. A prolific painter of portraits of European aristocracy, he also executed many works on religious and mythological subjects and ...
Van Dyke, Henry: U.S. short-story writer, poet, and essayist popular in the early decades of the 20th century.
Van Fleet, James Alward: U.S. military officer who was a division and corps commander during crucial World War II battles, notably the Normandy Invasion and the Battle of the Bulge, and was commander of ...
van Gennip, Yvonne: Dutch athlete who was considered the greatest speed skater from The Netherlands since Ard Schenk. She won three Olympic gold medals in 1988.
Van Halen: American heavy metal band, widely popular in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, distinguished by the innovative electric-guitar playing of Eddie Van Halen. The original members were Eddie Van ...
Van Heusen, Jimmy: U.S. songwriter who composed for films, stage musicals, and recordings that most often featured singers Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.
Van Hise, Charles Richard: U.S. geologist who conducted basic geological studies of the Precambrian (570,000,000 to 4,600,000,000 years ago) formations of the Lake Superior region, particularly the iron ores in these formations. These studies ...
Van Horne, Sir William Cornelius: U.S.-born Canadian railway official who directed the construction of Canada's first transcontinental railroad.
Van Kleeck, Mary Abby: American social researcher and reformer, a dynamic and influential figure in the investigation and improvement of labour conditions in the first half of the 20th century.
Van Lerberghe, Charles: Belgian poet, short-story writer, and playwright whose reputation rests largely on two collections of poems-Entrevisions (1898; "Glimpses") and La Chanson d'Eve (1904; "The Song of Eve")-that exemplify his lyrical talent ...
Van Lew, Elizabeth L.: American Civil War agent who, through clever planning and by feigning mental affliction, managed to gather important intelligence for the Union.
Van Loo, Charles-Andre: Rococo painter especially known for his elegant portraits of European royalty and fashionable society in the mid-18th century.
Van Nu en Straks circle: group of writers associated with an influential Flemish review, Van Nu en Straks ("Today and Tomorrow"; 1893-94 and 1896-1901). Though holding a variety of opinions, they strove for an art ...
Van Peebles, Melvin: American filmmaker who wrote, directed, and starred in Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song (1971), a groundbreaking film that spearheaded the rush of African American action films known as ...
van Praagh, Dame Peggy: British-born ballet dancer and director, and founder and tireless artistic director (1963-74) of the Australian Ballet.
Van Rensselaer, Mariana Alley Griswold: American writer and critic who is perhaps best remembered for her insightful works on architecture and landscaping.
Van Vechten, Carl: U.S. novelist and music and drama critic, an influential figure in New York literary circles in the 1920s; he was an early enthusiast for the culture of U.S. blacks.
Van Vleck, John H.: American physicist and mathematician who shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977 with Philip W. Anderson and Sir Nevill F. Mott. The prize honoured Van Vleck's contributions to the ...
Van Vogt, A.E.: Canadian author of science fiction who emerged as one of the leading writers of the genre in the mid-20th century. His stories are characterized as fast-paced adventures with complex, sometimes ...
Van Zandt, Marie: American opera singer who achieved major European success in a career marked by dramatic heights and depths.
Van, Lake: lake, largest body of water in Turkey and the second largest in the Middle East. The lake is located in the region of eastern Anatolia near the border of Iran. ...
vanadate mineral: any of the many naturally occurring compounds of vanadium (V), oxygen (O), and various metals; most of these minerals are rare, having crystallized under ...
vanadic anhydride: vanadium pentoxide, a compound of vanadium and oxygen widely used as an oxidation catalyst, as in the oxidation of unburned hydrocarbons in automobile exhaust (see vanadium).
vanadinite: vanadium mineral in the pyromorphite series of the apatite group of phosphates, lead chloride vanadate, Pb₅(VO₄)₃Cl. It is a source of vanadium and a minor source of lead. The mineral's ...
vanadium: (V), chemical element, silvery-white soft metal of Group Vb of the periodic table. It is alloyed with steel and iron for high-speed tool steel, high-strength low-alloy steel, and wear-resistant cast ...
vanadium processing: preparation of the metal for use in various products.
Vanadzor: city, northern Armenia. It lies at the confluence of the Pambak, Tandzut, and Vanadzoriget rivers. In 1826 the villages of Bolshoy and Maly Karaklis were merged into the town of ...
Vanbrugh, Sir John: British architect who brought the English Baroque style to its culmination in Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire. He was also one of the dramatists of the Restoration comedy of manners.
Vance, Cyrus: American lawyer and public official who was secretary of state from 1977 to 1980 during the administration of President Jimmy Carter.
Vance, Zebulon B.: North Carolina representative, governor, and senator during the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras.
Vancouver: city, southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is the major urban centre of western Canada and the focus of one of the country's most populous metropolitan regions.
Vancouver: city, seat (1854) of Clark county, southwestern Washington, U.S. It lies at the head of deepwater navigation on the Columbia River, there bridged to Portland, Oregon. The oldest continuously inhabited ...
Vancouver Aquarium: aquarium located in Stanley Park, Vancouver, B.C., Can., that has the largest collection of fishes and marine invertebrates in Canada. The collection includes nearly 3,000 specimens of about 300 fish ...
Vancouver Island: island lying off of southwestern British Columbia, Canada, that is the largest island (area 12,079 square miles [31,285 square km]) on the Pacific coast of North America. It is separated ...
Vancouver, George: English navigator who, with great precision, completed one of the most difficult surveys ever undertaken, that of the Pacific coast of North America, from the vicinity of San Francisco northward ...
Vanda: genus of colourful orchids, family Orchidaceae, with about 70 species distributed from East Asia to Australia. Most species have long, sturdy stems that bear closely spaced, strap-shaped leaves. Many hybrids ...
Vandal: member of a Germanic people who maintained a kingdom in North Africa from AD 429 to 534 and who sacked Rome in 455. Their name has remained a synonym for ...
Vandalia: city, seat (1821) of Fayette county, south-central Illinois, U.S. Vandalia lies on the Kaskaskia River, about 70 miles (115 km) southeast of Springfield. Its name is of unknown origin but ...
Vandamme, Dominique-Rene, Count d'Unebourg: French general in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.
Vandegrift, Alexander A.: U.S. Marine Corps officer who led the first large-scale U.S. offensive against the Japanese, on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, during World War II.
Vandenberg, Arthur H.: U.S. Republican senator who was largely responsible for bipartisan congressional support of international cooperation and of President Harry S. Truman's anticommunist foreign policy after World War II.
Vanderbijlpark: town, Gauteng province, South Africa, on the Vaal River, southwest of Johannesburg. It was founded in 1942 after it was determined that the South African Iron and Steel Industrial Corporation ...
Vanderbilt Family: one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in the United States. The third generation of Vanderbilts-following Cornelius and William Henry Vanderbilt (qq.v.)-was led by three of William Henry's four ...
Vanderbilt University: private, coeducational institution of higher education in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. Baccalaureate degrees are awarded through the College of Arts and Science, School of Engineering, Peabody College (education and human development), ...