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Reye's syndrome is a rare childhood disease of the liver and central nervous system.


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Reykjavik (pop. 99,623; met. area pop. 145,098) is the capital and largest city of Iceland.


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Reynolds, Albert (1932-...), an Irish Fianna Fail politician, was taoiseach (prime minister) of the Republic of Ireland from 1992 to 1994.


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Reynolds, Sir Joshua (1723-1792), was a great English portrait painter.


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Reza Shah Pahlavi (1878-1944) ruled Persia, which he renamed Iran, from 1925 to 1941.


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Rh factor is a substance in the red blood cells of most people.


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Rhea is a large South American bird that cannot fly.


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Rhea, in Greek mythology, was the wife and sister of Cronus, ruler of the race of gods and goddesses called Titans.


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Rhee, Syngman (1875-1965), a Korean statesman, became the first president of the Republic of Korea in 1948.


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Rhenium is a chemical element with the symbol Re.


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Rheostat is a device that increases or decreases the amount of resistance in an electric circuit.


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Rhesus monkey is a monkey noted for its usefulness in medical and behavioural research.


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Rheumatic fever, is a disease that occurs primarily in children from 5 to 15 years old.


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Rheumatism is a general term for disorders involving stiffness or pain in the muscles or joints.


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Rheumatology is the study of diseases affecting the body's joints and their associated tissues, including the bones, muscles, tendons, cartilage, and ligaments.


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Rhine River is the most important inland waterway in Europe.


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Rhineland is a historic area in what is now Germany.


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Rhinitis is an inflammation of the mucous membranes that line the nose.


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Rhinoceros is a huge animal that ranks as one of the largest land creatures.


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Rhizome is a horizontal stem that grows at or just below the soil surface.


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Rhode Island (pop. 1,005,984) is the smallest state in the United States.


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Rhodes is one of the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean Sea.


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Rhodes, Cecil John (1853-1902), was a British businessman and statesman.


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Rhodes, James Ford (1848-1927), an American historian, received a Pulitzer Prize in 1918 for A History of the Civil War, 1861-1865. He also wrote a nine-volume A History of the United States from the Compromise of 1850. Many critics felt it did not d


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Rhodes Scholarship is an award that enables students from many countries to study at Oxford University in England.


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Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Federation of, was a federated territory in central Africa from 1953 to 1963.


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Rhodesian ridgeback is a medium-sized hound that originated in southern Africa.


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Rhodium is a rare, silver-white, metallic element that serves mainly as a catalyst, a substance that increases the speed of a chemical reaction.


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Rhododendron is the name of a group of trees and shrubs, many of which are known for the beauty of their flowers and for their evergreen leaves.


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Rhomboid is a plane figure with two parallel sides of equal length, and the other two sides a different, but also equal, length.


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Rhombus is the name given to a plane figure with two pairs of straight, parallel sides, all of equal length.


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Rhondda (pop. 76,300) is a local government area and coal-mining centre in Mid Glamorgan, Wales.


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Rhone River is an important commercial waterway of France.


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Rhubarb is one of the few perennial vegetables.


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Rhuddlan (pop. 54,000) is a local government area in Clwyd, Wales.


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Rhyme means echoing or repeating sounds at the end of words.


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Rhyming slang is a form of code language.


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Rhymney Valley (pop. 101,400) is a local government area, in Mid Glamorgan, Wales.


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Rhys, Jean (1894-1979), a Dominican-born author, wrote novels, short stories, and poetry.


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Rhythm is the regular repetition of a beat, accent, or rise and fall in dance, music, and language.


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Rhythm band describes a group of performers playing percussion instruments (instruments that produce musical tones when struck).


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Rial is the basic monetary unit of Iran, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen.


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Rib is any one of the 24 bones that enclose the chest in the human body.


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Ribaut, Jean (1520?-1565), a French colonizer, led an expedition to America in 1562 to found a Huguenot colony.


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Ribbentrop, Joachim von (1893-1946), was Adolf Hitler's top diplomatic agent.


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Ribble Valley (pop. 51,000), a borough and local government district in Lancashire, England, occupies part of the course of the River Ribble.


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Ribbon worm is any of a group of worms with a long slender proboscis (snout).


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Ribera, Jusepe de (1588-1652), was a Spanish painter.


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Ricardo, David (1772-1823), was the leading British economist of the early 1800's.


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Rice is one of the world's most important food crops.


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Rice, Edmund Ignatius (1762-1844), an Irish philanthropist and religious leader, was a pioneer of primary school education in Ireland.


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Rice, Elmer (1892-1967), was an American dramatist who championed moral, social, and personal freedom.


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Rice, Tim (1944-...), a British writer and broadcaster, won fame for his collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber on the musicals Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (1968), Jesus Christ, Superstar (1970), and Evita! (1976).


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Richard was the name of three English kings who ruled between 1189 and 1485.


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Richards, Frank (1875-1961), was the pen name of Charles Hamilton, the English author of the "Billy Bunter" stories.


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Richards, Sir Gordon (1904-1986), was the first British jockey to be knighted.


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Richards, I. A. (1893-1979), a British critic, published The Meaning of Meaning (1923) with C. K. Ogden.


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Richards, Viv (1952-...), is one of the greatest, most exciting, and highest-scoring batsmen in the history of cricket.


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Richards Bay (pop. 23,328) is a town in Kwazulu-Natal on the northeastern coast of South Africa.


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Richardson, Sir Albert (1880-1964), became known as a traditional British architect and writer on architecture.


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Richardson, Henry Handel (1870-1946), was the pen name of Ethel Florence Richardson Robertson, one of the most outstanding Australian novelists.


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Richardson, Henry Hobson (1838-1886), was the first American architect to achieve international fame.


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Richardson, Mervyn Victor (1896-1972), a self-taught engineer, established the Australian company Victa Motor Mower Company (now Victa Limited) in 1953 at the age of 57.


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Richardson, Sir Owen W. (1879-1959), won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1928 for his studies of thermionic emission.


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Richardson, Sir Ralph (1902-1983), won international fame for his performances in a wide range of stage and film roles.


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Richardson, Samuel (1689-1761), an English writer, is considered one of the founding fathers of the novel.


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Richardson, Victor York (1894-1969), was one of Australia's most versatile sportsmen.


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Richelieu, Cardinal (1585-1642), was one of the ablest of French statesmen.


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Richelieu River is a Canadian stream that flows through some of Quebec's most beautiful valleys.


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Richler, Mordecai (1931-...), is a Canadian novelist.


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Richmond is an Australian town on the Coal River in southern Tasmania.


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Richmond, Virginia, U.S.A. (pop. 203,056; met. area pop. 865,640), is the state capital and a major commercial, cultural, educational, and historical centre.


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Richmond, James Crowe (1822-1898), was a New Zealand politician and painter.


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Richmond upon Thames (pop. 154,600) is a borough within the Greater London area, England.


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Richmondshire (pop. 43,800) is a local government district in North Yorkshire, England.


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Richter, Johann Paul Friedrich (1763-1825), was an outstanding humorous writer of the German Romantic movement.


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Richter magnitude is a number that indicates the strength of an earthquake.


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Richthofen, Baron (1833-1905), Ferdinand von Richthofen, a German geologist and geographer, was a pioneer in the study of geomorphology (land forms).


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Rickenbacker, Eddie (1890-1973), was the leading United States air ace in World War I (1914-1918).


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Rickets is a bone disease that occurs mostly in children.


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Rickettsia is any of a group of microorganisms that cause certain infectious diseases in human beings.


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Rickover, Hyman George (1900-1986), an American naval officer, pioneered in developing the Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine.


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Riddell, Elizabeth (1910-...), a New Zealand poet and journalist, worked in Australia, Britain, the United States, and Europe as a feature writer and war correspondent.


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Riddle is a question or statement that contains a deliberately hidden meaning.


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Rideal, Sir Eric Keightley (1890-1974), a British chemist, carried out research into surface chemistry, colloids, and the properties and effects of catalysts.


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Ridgeway is a prehistoric track that runs through five counties of southern England, including Wiltshire and Berkshire.


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Ridley, John (1806-1887), was the inventor of a reaping machine that reduced harvesting costs and revolutionized the Australian wheat industry.


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Ridley, Nicholas (1500?-1555), an English bishop, was a martyr of the Protestant Reformation.


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Riemenschneider, Tilman (1460?-1531), was one of the best-known sculptors of his day in Germany.


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Rienzi, Cola di (1313?-1354), was a famous Italian patriot.


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Rifkind, Malcolm (1946-...), a Conservative politician, became the United Kingdom's foreign secretary in 1995.


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Rifle is a gun that is held against the shoulder when firing.


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Rifleman is the name of a wren found throughout New Zealand.


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Riga (pop. 875,000) is the capital and largest city of Latvia.


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Rigel is a blue-white star in the southwest corner of the constellation Orion.


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Right of search.  Under international law, a nation at war has the right to visit and search merchant ships of neutral nations.


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Right of way is the term used in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom for a right of passage over private land or along a river.


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Right wing refers to a conservative, traditional group or political party.


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Rights of Man, Declaration of the, is a French document that sets forth the principles of human liberty and the rights of individuals.


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Riis, Jacob August (1849-1914), was an American journalist, photographer, and social reformer.


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Riley, James Whitcomb (1849-1916), an American, won fame as the Hoosier Poet.


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Rilke, Rainer Maria (1875-1926), was an important lyric poet in German literature and a major representative of the symbolism movement.


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Rimbaud, Arthur (1854-1891), was a French poet.


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Rimsky-Korsakov, Nikolai (1844-1908), was a celebrated Russian composer and teacher.


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Rimu is the name of several species of tall New Zealand trees.


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Rimutakas are a range of mountains in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Rinderpest, also called cattle plague, is a highly contagious, acute disease of cattle and other members of the ox family.


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Ring is a circular band made of metal or other material worn as jewellery.


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Ring, Christy (1921-1979), was one of Ireland's greatest hurlers.


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Ringette is a team sport for girls and young women that is similar to ice hockey.


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Ringling brothers were five brothers who founded the most famous circus in American entertainment history.


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Ringtail is a slender, quick-moving member of the raccoon family.


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Ringworm is a general name for several kinds of skin diseases that are caused by tiny plants, or fungi.


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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (pop. 5,093,232; met. area pop. 9,018,637), is the second largest city of South America.


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Rio de la Plata is an estuary, or funnel-shaped bay, formed by the Parana and the Uruguay rivers on the southeastern coast of South America.


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Rio Grande, one of the longest rivers in North America, flows for 3,034 kilometres through the Southwestern United States.


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Rio Tinto Zinc (RTZ Corporation plc) is one of the United Kingdom's largest companies.


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Riot is a noisy, violent outbreak of disorder by a group of people.


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Rip Van Winkle is one of the most popular characters in American literature.


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Riparian rights are the legal rights of a landowner whose property borders or forms the bed of a stream or river.


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Ripley, Robert LeRoy (1893-1949), was an American cartoonist who became internationally famous for his cartoon panel "Believe It or Not."  The panel describes oddities and strange facts and occurrences from around the world.


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Rippon, Geoffrey (1924-1997), a British Conservative politician, was chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster from 1970 to 1972.


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Risdon is a cove on the eastern shore of the Derwent River in Tasmania.


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Rite of passage is a ceremony held by nearly all societies to observe a person's entry into a new stage of life.


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Ritschl, Albrecht (1822-1889), was a German theologian who influenced many liberal European, British, and American preachers and teachers.


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Rittenhouse, David (1732-1796), of Philadelphia, in the United States, was a leading astronomer, mathematician, and clockmaker.


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Ritter, Joseph Cardinal (1892-1967), archbishop of St. Louis, U.S.A., became a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in January 1961.


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Ritty, James (1836-1918), an American restaurant owner, invented the cash register.


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River is a large body of water that flows over land in a long channel.


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River dolphin is a type of dolphin that lives in fresh or slightly salty water.


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Rivera, Diego (1886-1957), was a Mexican artist who was famous for the murals he painted that portrayed Mexican life and history.


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Riverina is one of the most fertile regions in New South Wales, Australia.


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Rivers, Larry (1923-...), is an American painter.


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Riveting is a method of joining two metal plates with threadless aluminium, iron, or steel bolts called rivets.


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Riviera is a narrow strip of land on the Mediterranean.


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Riyadh (pop. 1,380,000) is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia.


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Rizal, Jose (1861-1896), a Filipino doctor and novelist, became a national hero of the Philippines.


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Roach is a fish of the carp and minnow family that lives in fresh waters of Europe.


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Road is a strip of land that provides routes for travel by cars and other wheeled vehicles.


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Roadrunner is a swift, ground-dwelling bird found in the scrublands of the Southwestern United States and Mexico.


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Roaring Twenties was the colourful decade of the 1920's.


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Rob Roy (1671-1734) was a Scottish outlaw whose real name was Robert MacGregor.


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Robbe-Grillet, Alain (1922-...), French writer, literary critic, and film director, laid the groundwork for the New Novelists in French literature.


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Robben Island lies in Table Bay, off the coast of Western Cape, South Africa.


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Robbery means stealing money or goods from a person by force or threats of immediate force.


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Robbins, Frederick Chapman (1916-...), an American, shared the 1954 Nobel prize for physiology or medicine with John Enders and Thomas Weller.


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Robbins, Jerome (1918-...), is an American dancer and choreographer (dance composer).


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Robe (pop. 1,185), is a small holiday resort on Guichen Bay in South Australia, about 350 kilometres southeast of Adelaide.


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Robens, Lord (1910-...), Alfred Robens, a trade union leader, was chairman of the National Coal Board from 1961 until 1971.


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Roberts, Frederick Sleigh (1832-1914), Earl Roberts of Kandahar, Pretoria, and Waterford, was a famous British general.


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Roberts, Kenneth Lewis (1885-1957), was an American novelist and essayist, who was noted for his series of historical novels.


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Roberts, Oral (1918-...), is an American missionary and revivalist whose preaching made him known in many parts of the world.


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Roberts, Samuel (1800-1885), was a Welsh radical reformer.


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Roberts, Tom (1856-1931), an Australian landscape painter, founded Australian impressionism.


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Robertson, Sir Dennis (1890-1963), an English economist, played an important part in organizing the Bretton Woods Conference.


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Roberval, Sieur de (1500?-1560?), was one of the first French explorers and colonists in Canada.


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Robeson, Paul (1898-1976), was a black American singer, actor, and political activist.


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Robespierre (1758-1794) was the most famous and controversial leader of the French Revolution (1789-1799).


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Robey, Sir George (1869-1954), was one of the greatest English music hall stars.


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Robin is the name of a small, European, thrushlike bird with a red breast.


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Robin Hood was a legendary English outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor.


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Robinson, Boardman (1876-1952), was an American artist, mural painter, and illustrator.


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Robinson, Edwin Arlington (1869-1935), an American poet, became best known for short poems in which he presents character studies.


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Robinson, George Augustus (1788-1866), a Methodist lay preacher and former bricklayer, tried in vain to save the last of the tribal Tasmanian Aborigines.


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Robinson, Joan Violet (1903-1983), was an English economist whose theories have significantly influenced economic thought.


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Robinson, Lennox (1886-1958), was an Irish dramatist and author.


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Robinson, Mary (1944-...), became the first woman president of the Republic of Ireland in 1990.


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Robinson, Ray (1926-...), was prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago from 1986 until 1991.


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Robinson, Sir Robert (1886-1975), an English organic chemist, received the 1947 Nobel Prize for chemistry.


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Robinson, Sugar Ray (1921-1989), won fame as one of the greatest boxers in history.


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Robinson, William Heath (1872-1944), was an English artist, cartoonist, and illustrator.


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Robinson Crusoe is an imaginary story about a merchant-adventurer who is marooned on a desert island.


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Robot is a mechanical device that operates automatically.


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Robson, Dame Flora (1902-1984), was an English dramatic actress.


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Roc was a mythical bird of enormous size, known from the stories in the Arabian Nights.


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Rocha, Glauber (1938-1981), a Brazilian film director, was noted for inventive films about Brazilian culture and society.


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Rochambeau, Comte de (1725-1807), a French general, went to America in 1780 with French troops to serve under General George Washington in the American Revolution.


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Rochdale is a local government area in Greater Manchester, England, centred on the town of Rochdale.


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Roche, Stephen (1959-...), an Irish cyclist, won the Tour de France race in 1987.


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Rochester, Earl of (1647-1680), was a poet of the Restoration period in England noted for his love poems and biting satires.


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Rochester upon Medway is a historic cathedral city located on the River Medway in Kent, England.


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Rochford (pop. 74,000) is a local government area in the English county of Essex.


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Rock is the hard, solid part of the earth.


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Rock music is one of the world's most popular and adaptable musical forms.


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Rockall is a small island in the North Atlantic.


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Rockefeller is one of the most famous names in American business, finance, and philanthropy (charity).


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Rocket is a type of engine that can produce more power for its size than any other kind of engine.


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Rocket was the first steam locomotive built along the lines of modern engines.


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Rocket, Model, is a miniature rocket patterned after military or space rockets.


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Rockhampton (pop. 59,418), situated on the Tropic of Capricorn in Australia, is the chief commercial and government centre of central Queensland.


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Rockingham, Marquess of (1730-1782), a Whig nobleman, was twice prime minister of Britain.


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Rocks is a historic area of Sydney, Australia, that has become an important tourist attraction.


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Rockwell, Norman (1894-1978), was an American illustrator.


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Rocky Mountain goat of North America looks like a goat, but it is not a true goat.


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Rocky Mountains are the largest mountain system in North America.


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Rococo is a style of art that flourished in western Europe from about 1700 to 1780.


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Rod is a unit of measure in the English system.


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Rodent is an animal with front teeth especially suited to gnawing hard objects.


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Rodeo is a sport that combines the skills of cowboys and cowgirls with the colour and spirit of the American Old West.


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Rodgers, Richard (1902-1979), was a composer for the American musical theatre.


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Rodgers, William (1928-...), a United Kingdom politician, became one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party in 1981.


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Rodin, Auguste (1840-1917), is ranked by many as the greatest sculptor of the 1800's.


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Rodney, Baron (1719-1792), George Brydges Rodney, won fame for his naval battles.


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Rodo, Jose Enrique (1872?-1917), was a Uruguayan thinker and essayist.


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Rodzinski, Artur (1894-1958), was an American orchestra conductor.


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Roe, Sir Alliott Verdon- (1877-1958), was the first Englishman to design, build, and fly an aeroplane.


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Roe, J. S. (1797-1878), an explorer and surveyor, was surveyor general of Western Australia from 1828 to 1871.


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Roebling, John Augustus (1806-1869), was an American civil engineer who was a pioneer in designing suspension bridges.


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Roebling, Washington Augustus (1837-1926), became chief engineer on the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City, in 1869, succeeding his father, John A. Roebling.


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Roebuck was a ship of about 305 metric tons in which the British explorer William Dampier explored the western coast of Australia in 1699.


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Roentgen, Wilhelm Conrad (1845-1923), a German physicist, won the first Nobel Prize for physics in 1901 for his discovery of X rays.


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Rogers, Will (1879-1935), was an American humorist and social critic.


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Rogers' Rangers scouted for the British Army during the Seven Years' War (1756-1763).


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Roget, Peter Mark (1779-1869), was a British doctor and scholar.


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Rogun Dam, in Tajikistan, is the highest dam in the world.


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Rojankovsky, Feodor (1891-1970), was a Russian-American artist and illustrator of children's books.


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Roland was the greatest of the legendary knights who served the medieval king Charlemagne.


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Roland de la Platiere, Marie Jeanne (1754-1793), known as Madame Roland, was a political adviser and hostess to the Girondist group during the French Revolution.


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Rolfe, John (1585-1622), was an early English settler in Jamestown, Virginia.


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Rolland, Romain (1866-1944), a French author, won the 1915 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Roller is the name of 12 species of brightly coloured birds that live in Africa, Europe, and Asia.


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Roller skating is a form of recreation and a sport in which people glide on wheeled boots called roller skates.


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Rolling Stones are a popular English rock band.


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Rollright Stones are about 60 stone pillars forming a circle about 30 metres in diameter.


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Rolls, Charles Stewart (1877-1910), was a cofounder of the engineering firm of Rolls-Royce.


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Rolvaag, Ole Edvart (1876-1931), was a Norwegian-American novelist.


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Roma (pop. 6,220), a town in southern Queensland, Australia, is noted for its reserves of natural gas.


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Romains, Jules (1885-1972), was the pen name of Louis Farigoule, a French novelist, philosopher, and dramatist.


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Roman Catholic Church is the largest body of Christians in the world.


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Roman numerals are symbols that stand for numbers.


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Roman Roads.  The Romans were the greatest road-builders in ancient times.


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Roman walls were barriers that the Romans built where no natural territorial boundaries existed.


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Romance is a long work of fiction that is less realistic than a novel.


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Romance languages are a group of languages that developed from Latin and are spoken in places that were once part of the Roman Empire.


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Romanesque architecture was the prevailing architectural movement in western Europe from about A.D. 800 to the 1100's.


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Romania, also spelled Rumania, is a country in eastern Europe.


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Romanov was the name of the family that ruled Russia from 1613 to 1917.


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Romanov, Grigoriy Vasilyevich (1923-...), was a leading official of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.


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Romans, Epistle to the, the sixth book of the New Testament of the Bible is a letter from the apostle Paul to the Christians in Rome.


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Romanticism is a style in the fine arts and literature.


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Romberg, Sigmund (1887-1951), was a famous composer of operettas.


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Rome is the capital of Italy and one of the world's great historic cities.


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Rome, Ancient.  The story of ancient Rome is a tale of how a small community of shepherds in central Italy grew to become one of the greatest empires in history--and then collapsed.


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Rome, University of, is the largest university in Italy.


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Romero, Oscar Arnulfo (1917-1980), served as archbishop of El Salvador from 1977 until his death.


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Rommel, Erwin (1891-1944), a German field marshal, became one of the most brilliant generals of World War II (1939-1945).


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Romney, George Wilcken (1907-1995), an American politician and businessman, was secretary of housing and urban development under U.S. President Richard M. Nixon from 1969 to 1973.


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Romulo, Carlos Pena (1899-1985), a Filipino diplomat and author, served as Philippine secretary (later minister) of foreign affairs from 1965 to 1984.


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Romulus and Remus, in Roman mythology, were twin brothers who founded the city of Rome.


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Rondo is a form of musical composition in which the principal section or theme is repeated at least three times in the same key.


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Ronsard, Pierre de (1524-1585), often called the Prince of Poets, led an influential group of French poets called the Pleiade.


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Rook is the most common European member of the crow family.


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Rooke, Sir George (1650-1709), a British admiral, was commander in chief of the fleet that captured Gibraltar in 1704.


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Roosa, Stuart Allen (1933-1994), was an American astronaut.


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Roosevelt, Eleanor (1884-1962), the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, became a distinguished public figure in her own right.


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Roosevelt, Franklin Delano (1882-1945), was the only president of the United States who was elected four times.


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Roosevelt, Nicholas J. (1767-1854), was an American inventor and engineer.


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Roosevelt, Theodore (1858-1919), was president of the United States from 1901 to 1909.


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Root is one of the three main organs of a plant.


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Root, in mathematics, is a quantity that yields a given quantity when it is taken as a factor a specified number of times (see FACTOR).


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Root, Elihu (1845-1937), an American statesman, is best remembered for his efforts to assure international peace.


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Root, John Wellborn (1850-1891), was one of the most important American architects of the Chicago School.


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Rope consists of strands of yarn or wire that have been twisted together.


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Rosamund (1140?-1176?) was the mistress of Henry II of England.


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Rosario (pop. 1,079,359) is the third largest city in Argentina.


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Rosary is a string of beads used as an aid to memory and concentration while praying.


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Roscius, Quintus (126?  B.C.-62?  B.C.), a Roman actor, was so famous in his day that his name came to stand for "great actor."  He excelled in both tragic and comic parts.


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Roscommon is a county in the province of Connacht in the western part of the Republic of Ireland.


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Rose is one of the most beautiful of all flowers.


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Rose, Ernestine Potowski (1810-1892), was a leading reformer in the United States during the mid-1800's.


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Rose, Lionel (1948-...), an Australian Aboriginal boxer, became world bantamweight champion in 1968.


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Rose, Mauri (1906-1981), an automobile racing driver, won the Memorial Day Indianapolis Speedway 500-mile race in 1947 and 1948.


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Rose, Murray (1939-...), an Australian free-style swimmer, won the 400-metre and 1,500-metre events at the 1956 Olympic Games at Melbourne, when he was 16 years old.


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Rose chafer is a beetle about 8 millimetres long.


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Rose Hill was a farming settlement established near Sydney, Australia, in 1790.


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Rose of Lima, Saint (1586-1617), was the first person born in the Western Hemisphere to be canonized (declared a saint) by the Roman Catholic Church.


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Rose water is a clear, colourless solution made from fresh rose flowers and used in making perfumes and certain medicines.


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Roseau (pop. 11,000) is the capital and largest city of Dominica, an island country in the Caribbean Sea.


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Rosebery, Earl of (1847-1929), was Prime Minister of Britain in 1894 and 1895.


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Rosefish is an important food fish found from Iceland to the United States and off the northern shores of Europe, ranging as far north as the Arctic Sea.


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Rosella is the name given to several types of Australian parrots.


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Rosemary is an evergreen shrub of the mint family noted for the fragrance of its leaves.


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Rosenberg, Alfred (1893-1946), was the philosopher of the German Nazi movement.


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Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel, were American citizens, husband and wife, who were executed for spying for the Soviet Union during World War II (1939-1945).


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Rosenthal, Moriz (1862-1946), a Polish pianist, became noted for the great technical skill, full tone, and brilliance of his playing.


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Rosenwald, Julius (1862-1932), was an American businessman and philanthropist.


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Rosetta stone gave the world the key to the long-forgotten language of ancient Egypt.


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Rosewall, Ken (1934-...), first played Davis Cup tennis for Australia at the age of 19.


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Rosewood is the name of several kinds of wood of the botanical genus Dalbergia.


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Rosh Ha-Shanah is the Jewish New Year celebration.


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Rosicrucian Order is an international nonsectarian fraternity that studies the higher principles of life, and claims to possess wisdom handed down from ancient times.


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Rosin is resin derived from several varieties of North American and European pine trees.


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Ross, Betsy (1752-1836), was an American seamstress who made flags in Philadelphia at the time of the American Revolution.


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Ross, Sir James Clark (1800-1862), was a British polar explorer.


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Ross, Sir John (1777-1856), led a British expedition in 1818 to seek a northwest passage to Asia.


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Ross, Sir Ronald (1857-1932), a British doctor, won the 1902 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for work that led to the discovery of how to combat malaria.


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Ross and Cromarty was a local government area in Highland Region, Scotland.


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Ross Dependency is a wedge-shaped section of Antarctica that includes Ross Sea, Ross Ice Shelf, and McMurdo Sound.


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Rosse, Earl of (1800-1867), was an Irish astronomer who built a reflecting telescope, at that time the largest and most powerful in the world.


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Rossendale (pop. 64,000) is an English local government district in southeast Lancashire, on the western edge of the Pennine Hills.


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Rossetti, Christina Georgina (1830-1894), was an English poet.


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Rossetti, Dante Gabriel (1828-1882), was a central figure in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, an art movement he helped found in 1848 (see PRE-RAPHAELITE BROTHERHOOD).


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Rossini, Gioacchino Antonio (1792-1868), was an Italian opera composer.


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Rosson, Isabella, was a convict who is recorded as being the first schoolteacher in Australia.


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Rostand, Edmond (1868-1918), was a French playwright best known for his fourth play, Cyrano de Bergerac (1897).


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Rostock (pop. 242,729) is a German seaport and industrial centre on the Baltic Sea.


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Rostov-on-Don, also called Rostov (pop. 983,000), is one of Russia's most important cities.


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Rostropovich, Mstislav Leopoldovich (1927-...), is one of the world's great cello players.


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Rostrum is an Australian organization that encourages the art of public speaking.


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Roszak, Theodore (1907-1981), was an American sculptor.


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Rot is a symptom of many plant diseases in which the plant decays.


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Rotary engine is a type of internal-combustion engine that uses a rotor (rotating part) instead of a piston.


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Rotary International is the worldwide association of all Rotary clubs.


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Rotenone is a poisonous substance taken from the root of the derris and cube plants.


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Roth, Mark (1951-...), an American, became the all-time leading money winner in professional bowling in 1987.


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Roth, Philip (1933-...), is an American novelist and short-story writer.


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Rothamsted is an agricultural research station on Rothamsted estate, near Harpenden, in Hertfordshire, England.


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Rothenstein is the name of a family of English painters and art historians.


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Rother (pop. 80,200) is a local government district in East Sussex.


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Rotherham (pop. 252,000) is a metropolitan area in South Yorkshire, England.


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Rothko, Mark (1903-1970), an American painter, was a leader of the abstract expressionist movement.


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Rothschild is the name of a German family that founded a famous banking firm in the late 1700's.


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Rotifer is a tiny multicellular animal that lives in water.


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Rotorua (pop. 53,702) is a district situated on the volcanic plateau of the North Island of New Zealand.


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Rotterdam (pop. 558,832; met. area pop. 1,025,580) is the second largest city in the Netherlands.


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Rottnest Island lies off the mouth of the Swan River, about 30 kilometres west of Perth in Australia.


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Rottnest pine, sometimes called Swan River pine, is among the few native Australian pines.


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Rottweiler is a muscular dog with short, coarse black hair.


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Rouault, Georges (1871-1958), was a French artist.


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Rouble, also spelled ruble, is the monetary unit of Russia and other former Soviet republics.


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Rouen (pop. 105,470; met. area pop. 380,161) is a city in France that is both a major industrial centre and a treasure house of artistic masterpieces.


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Rough Riders is the nickname for a famous American regiment that fought under Theodore Roosevelt's leadership in the Spanish-American War of 1898.


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Roulette is a popular game in gambling casinos.


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Round, Dorothy Edith (1909-1982), was one of Britain's finest tennis players and was famous for her attacking style.


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Round Table was the table at which King Arthur, the legendary British ruler, sat with his knights.


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Round towers are a picturesque feature of the landscape in many parts of Ireland.


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Roundworm, also called nematode, is any of more than 10,000 species of worms.


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Rous, Francis Peyton (1879-1970), an American medical researcher, proved that viruses cause some types of cancer.


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Rousseau, Henri (1844-1910), was a French artist who painted some of the most unusual pictures in early modern art.


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Rousseau, Jean-Jacques (1712-1778), was a French philosopher.


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Rowing is the act of propelling a boat with oars.


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Rowland, Daniel (1713-1790), a founder of Welsh Methodism, was ordained as a minister in 1733.


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Rowland, Sir James (1922-...), was appointed governor of New South Wales, Australia, in 1981 and retired in 1989.


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Rowlandson, Thomas (1756-1827), was an artist and caricaturist.


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Rowling, Sir Wallace Edward (1927-...), usually known as Bill Rowling, was prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party from 1974 to 1975, following the death of his predecessor Norman Kirk.


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Rowntree is the name of a Quaker family of industrialists and social reformers in the United Kingdom.


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Rowse, A. L. (1903-1997), an English historian, essayist, and poet, specialized in the Elizabethan period.


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Roxas y Acuna, Manuel (1892-1948), served as the first president of the Philippine Republic, after it received its independence from the United States on July 4, 1946.


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Roxburgh was a local government area in Scotland.


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Roxby Downs, 260 kilometres north of Port Augusta, South Australia, is the residential town that serves Olympic Dam, the site of large mineral deposits.


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Roy, Raja Ram Mohan (1772-1833), an Indian social and religious reformer, founded the Brahmo Samaj (Society of Brahma, or God) in 1828.


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Royal Academy of Arts is an institution in London designed to improve the standards of painting, sculpture, and architecture.


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Royal Australian Mint, in Canberra, Australia, makes the coins used in Australia.


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Royal Automobile Club (RAC) is one of the two main clubs for motorists in Britain.


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Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) is the national law enforcement department of Canada.


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Royal Commission is a body appointed by the British Crown to carry out an inquiry.


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Royal Dutch/Shell Group is one of the world's major industrial enterprises.


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Royal Easter Show, organized by the Royal Agricultural Society of New South Wales, Australia, is an exhibition of agricultural, pastoral, dairying, industrial, and commercial production.


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Royal Exchange is a building in the City of London.


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Royal families are the families of reigning monarchs--kings, queens, emperors, empresses, sultans, emirs, or other sovereigns.


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Royal Family of the United Kingdom is the family of the reigning monarch of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.


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Royal Geographical Society is a British organization composed of people interested in geographical education and discoveries.


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Royal Household of the United Kingdom includes officials who conduct the private business of the monarch and supervise all branches of court life.


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Royal Institution is a scientific society, founded in England in 1799.


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Royal Irish Academy is the main learned society of Ireland.


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Royal Life Saving Society is a worldwide organization that works to educate the public in water safety and other lifesaving matters.


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Royal Melbourne Show in Australia, is held in September each year by the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria at the royal showgrounds at Ascot Vale.


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Royal Mint is the British government department responsible for the design and preparation of official coins, seals, medals, and decorations.


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Royal Society is one of the oldest scientific organizations in the world.


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Royal tennis, also called real tennis, is an ancient, complicated form of tennis, first played by French kings about 600 years ago.


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Royce, Sir Henry (1863-1933), was a co-founder of Rolls-Royce, manufacturers of motorcars and aircraft engines.


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Rozelle, Pete (1927-1996), became commissioner of the American National Football League (NFL) in 1960, and played a leading part in expanding professional American football.


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RSPCA is the oldest animal protection society in the world.


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Ruahines are a range of mountains in the southeastern part of the North Island of New Zealand.


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Ruanda-Urundi was a United Nations trust territory in east-central Africa administered by Belgium.


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Rubaiyat is a poem attributed to Omar Khayyam, a Persian poet, astronomer, and mathematician.


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Rubber is one of our most interesting and most important raw materials.


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Rubber plant is the common name for a house plant that is really a kind of fig.


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Rubbra, Edmund (1901-1986) was an English composer, pianist, and teacher.


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Rubella is a common contagious disease that most frequently affects children.


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Rubens, Peter Paul (1577-1640), was the greatest Flemish painter of the 1600's.


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Rubicon is a stream near Rimini, Italy, that Julius Caesar made famous when he was governor of Gaul.


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Rubidium is a chemical element with symbol Rb.


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Rubinstein, Anton Gregor (1829-1894), was a Russian pianist and composer.


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Rubinstein, Arthur (1887-1982), was a Polish-born concert pianist.


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Ruby is the red gem variety of the mineral corundum.


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Rudbeckia, also known as coneflower, is the name of about 25 species of medium to tall (30 centimetres to 2 metres) yellow-flowered plants of North America.


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Rudd, Steele (1868-1935), was the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis, an Australian author.


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Rudolph, Paul (1918-...), is an American architect.


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Rue is a type of herb, which grows as a low shrub.


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Ruff is a sandpiper native to the Eastern Hemisphere.


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Ruffed grouse is a thickly feathered grouse of North America.


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Rugby (pop. 83,400) is an important railway junction and local government district in Warwickshire, England.


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Rugby football is a fast contact sport played by two teams.


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Rugby School is a famous English independent school founded in 1567 at Rugby, England.


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Rugs and carpets are fabrics used as floor coverings.


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Ruhr is a coal-mining and industrial region in Germany.


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Ruhr River rises in Westphalia, Germany, and flows 232 kilometres through the famous Ruhr Valley.


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Ruisdael, Jacob van (1628?-1682), was the greatest Dutch landscape painter of his time.


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Ruiz, Juan (1283?-1350?), ranks among Spain's important poets on the strength of a single known work.


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Ruiz, Saint Lorenzo (1600?-1637?), was the first Filipino to be declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.


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Ruiz Cortines, Adolfo (1891-1973), served as president of Mexico from 1952 to 1958.


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Rum Hospital is the popular name in Australia for the extensive group of buildings on the eastern side of Macquarie Street, Sydney, which replaced the original colonial hospital near Sydney Cove.


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Rum Jungle is a uranium-mining centre in the Northern Territory, Australia, about 97 kilometres south of Darwin.


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Rum Rebellion is the name usually given to events that took place in Sydney on Jan. 26, 1808, when the New South Wales Corps illegally arrested and deposed Governor William Bligh.


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Rumba, also spelled rhumba, is a Latin ballroom dance that originated in Africa and achieved its modern form in Cuba.


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Ruminant is the name given to a grazing animal that chews its cud and has split hoofs.


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Ruml, Beardsley (1894-1960), was an American financial expert and merchant who proposed the withholding tax, a system of income tax payments.


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Rump Parliament was a name given to the English Parliament during the civil war that took place in the middle 1600's.


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Rumsfeld, Donald Henry (1932-...), an American politician and businessman, served as secretary of defence from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald R. Ford.


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Runcie, Robert (1921-...), was archbishop of Canterbury, in England, from January 1980 to 1991.


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Rundle Oil Shale Project is a plan to mine a deposit of oil shale located on the east coast of Queensland, Australia, about 30 kilometres northwest of Gladstone.


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Rundstedt, Karl Rudolf Gerd von (1875-1953), was a German field marshal during World War II (1939-1945).


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Rune is any one of the characters of the earliest written alphabet used by the Germanic peoples of Europe.


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Running is a vigorous form of exercise and a popular sport.


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Runnymede (pop. 71,500) is a local government district in northwestern Surrey, England, lying alongside the River Thames.


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Runyon, Damon (1884-1946), was an American writer.


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Rupee is the chief monetary unit of India and the basic unit in India's decimal currency system.


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Rupert, Prince (1619-1682), a German nephew of Charles I, became commander in chief of the Royalist forces in the English Civil War.


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Rupert, Anton (1916-...), a South African businessman and conservationist, built the multinational Rembrandt Group.


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Ruse, James (1760-1837), was given the first grant of land in New South Wales, Australia.


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Rush is the common name for a group of grasslike plants that generally grow in marshes and meadows, and sometimes in standing water.


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Rush, Benjamin (1745-1813), was an American doctor and a prominent figure in the public life of his time.


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Rushcliffe (pop. 94,900) is a local government district in Nottinghamshire, England.


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Rushdie, Salman (1947-...) is a leading contemporary British writer.


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Rushmoor (pop. 80,400) is a local government district in Hampshire, England, that includes several military establishments.


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Ruskin, John (1819-1900), was probably the most influential English critic of the 1800's.


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Russell is the name of one of England's most famous families.


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Russell (pop. 1,500), in the Bay of Islands in the North Island of New Zealand, is the oldest European settlement in New Zealand.


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Russell, Bertrand (1872-1970), was a British philosopher and mathematician.


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Russell, Charles Marion (1864-1926), was an American painter and sculptor famous for his scenes of cowboys and life in the West.


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Russell, Sir Edward John (1872-1965), a chemist, became one of the foremost agriculturalists in the world.


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Russell, George William (1867-1935), was an Irish poet, painter, and journalist.


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Russell, Lord John (1792-1878), first Earl Russell, a Whig statesman, was one of the champions of the Reform Act of 1832.


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Russell, John (1858-1930), was an Australian impressionist painter.


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Russia is the world's largest country in area.


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Russian language is one of the world's most important languages.


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Russian literature includes some of the greatest masterpieces ever written.


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Russo-Finnish wars.  During World War II (1939-1945), the Soviet Union and Finland fought each other in two wars.


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Russo-Japanese War brought recognition to Japan as a major power of the world.


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Russo-Turkish wars.  The Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) engaged in almost constant disagreement for about 300 years after the 1600's.


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Rust is a brownish-red substance that forms on the surface of iron or steel when it is exposed to damp air.


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Rust is the name of a group of fungi that are parasites on plants.


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Ruth, Babe (1895-1948), was the first great home run hitter in American baseball history.


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Ruth, Book of, is a book of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament.


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Ruthenia is a historic region in Ukraine.


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Ruthenium is a rare, silver-white metallic element.


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Rutherford, Ernest (1871-1937), a British physicist, established the nuclear model of the atom in 1911.


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Rutile is a titanium-oxide mineral found in the United States, Australia, Brazil, and India.


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Rutland (pop. 32,400), once England's smallest county, became a unitary authority, with all the local government powers within its boundaries, in 1997.


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Rutskoi, Alexander Vladimirovich (1947-...), served as vice president of Russia from 1991 to 1993.


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Ruwenzori Range is a group of mountains that lies just north of the equator in east-central Africa.


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Ruyter, Michel Adriaanszoon de (1607-1676), also spelled Ruiter, was one of the greatest fighting seamen of the Netherlands.


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Ruzicka, Leopold (1887-1976), a Swiss chemist, shared the 1939 Nobel chemistry prize for his work on the structure of important vegetable products known as higher terpenes.


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Rwanda is a small country in east-central Africa, just south of the equator.


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Ryder, Albert Pinkham (1847-1917), is considered one of the most original of American painters.


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Rye is a cereal grain similar to wheat and barley.


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Rye House Plot was a scheme concocted by radical members of the English Whig Party in 1682 and 1683.


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Ryedale (pop. 90,000), a local government district in North Yorkshire, contains the towns of Malton and Norton, Helmsley, Kirkbymoorside, and Pickering.


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Ryle, Gilbert (1900-1976), a British philosopher, achieved distinction with his book The Concept of Mind (1949).


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Ryle, Sir Martin (1918-...), was the British Astronomer Royal from 1972 to 1982.


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Ryukyu Islands are a group of more than 100 islands in the North Pacific Ocean that belong to Japan.


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Ryun, Jim (1947-...), an American athlete, became the world's fastest middle-distance runner.


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Ryzhkov, Nikolai Ivanovich (1929-...), was premier of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1990.


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S is the 19th letter in the English alphabet.


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Saadi (1213?-1292) was a famous Persian author who wrote works in both prose and poetry.


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Saar is a state in Germany on the Franco-German border.


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Saarinen, Eero (1910-1961), was an American architect noted for his daring use of sculptural form.


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Saarinen, Eliel (1873-1950), was a Finnish-born architect.


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Saavedra Lamas, Carlos (1878-1959), was an Argentinian diplomat who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1936.


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Saba (pop. 1,116) is one of the islands in the northern group of the Netherlands Antilles.


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Sabah is the second largest state in Malaysia.


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Sabah, Shaykh Jabir al-Ahmad al- (1926-...), became amir (commander) of Kuwait in 1977.


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Sabin, Albert Bruce (1906-1993), an American medical researcher, developed the oral polio vaccine.


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Sabines were members of an ancient Italian tribe.


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Sable is a small animal in the weasel family.


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Sabotage is any means of deliberately wasting or damaging the tools, machinery, or production of an employer or government.


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Sabre-toothed tiger was a catlike prehistoric animal.


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Sacagawea (1787?-1812) was a Shoshone Indian woman who accompanied the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805 and 1806.


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Saccharides are carbohydrates--one of the three main classes of food.


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Sachs, Julius von (1832-1897), a German botanist, was the founder of the science of plant physiology.


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Sachs, Nelly (1891-1970), was a German-born Jewish poet and dramatist.


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Sacks, Jonathan (1948-...), a British rabbi (Jewish minister), became chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth in 1991.


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Sackville-West, Victoria Mary (1892-1962), was an English writer whose books reflect her aristocratic, country family background.


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Sacrament, in Christianity, is a solemn observance.


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Sacramento (pop. 369,365; met. area pop. 1,481,102) is the capital of the state of California in the United States and the commercial centre of a rich farming region.


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Sacred Heart of Jesus, Society of the, is a Roman Catholic society of women, established for the education of youth and to provide centres for retreats.


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Sacrifice is a religious ceremony in which something is given to a god or the gods, thus becoming "holy."  The word comes from two Latin terms meaning to make holy.


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Sacroiliac joint connects the backbone with the pelvis.


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Sadat, Anwar el- (1918-1981), was president of Egypt from 1970 until his death in 1981.


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Saddle is a seat used by a rider on a horse.


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Sadducees were members of a religious group of Jews that was active in Judea, in Palestine, until A.D. 70.


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Sade, Marquis de (1740-1814), was a controversial French novelist and essayist.


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Sadler, Sir Michael (1861-1943), was a leading educationist who did much to reform the educational systems of England and India.


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Sadler's Wells is the name of a theatre in London.


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Safety is freedom from harm or the danger of harm.


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Safety lamp is a lamp designed to warn coal miners of the presence of firedamp, a gas that can cause destructive mine explosions.


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Safety valve is attached to a steam boiler to release some of the steam if the pressure becomes higher than the boiler can safely stand.


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Safflower is a plant grown chiefly for the oil obtained from its seeds.


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Saffron is a brilliant yellow dye and a food flavouring.


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Saga is the name given to a large body of literature written in Iceland between the 1100's and the 1300's.


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Sagan, Carl Edward (1934-1996), was an American astronomer, author, and educator.


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Sage is the name of more than 750 species of herbs and shrubs.


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Sage, Russell (1816-1906), was an American banker and philanthropist.


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Sagebrush is a shrub known for its sweet smell and bitter taste.


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Sagittarius, the Archer, is a group of stars that lies in the Southern Hemisphere of the sky.


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Sago is a starch found in the spongy centre, or pith, of various tropical palm trees.


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Saguaro is the largest cactus of North America.


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Sahel is a dry grassland area in Africa.


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Said, Amina el- (1910-1995), was an Egyptian feminist and journalist.


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Said, Nuri as- (1888-1958), an Iraqi army officer and politician, served as prime minister of Iraq on fourteen different occasions.


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Sailfish is a large fish known for its big back fin, which it spreads out like a sail.


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Saint is a holy person who becomes a religious hero by exemplifying a virtue or virtues of a religion.


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Saint Albans (pop. 122,400) is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England, which takes its name from the city in its centre.


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Saint Andrews (pop. 66,010) is a farming town on the Fife Region coast of Scotland between Edinburgh and Dundee.


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Saint Andrew's Cathedral, the Anglican cathedral of Sydney, is a sandstone church designed by the architect Edmund Blacket in neo-Gothic style.


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Saint Andrew's Day commemorates the martyrdom of Saint Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland, in about A.D. 70.


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Saint Augustine, Florida (pop. 11,985), is the oldest permanent settlement established in the United States by Europeans.


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Saint Bartholomew's Church, in the cemetery of East Perth, Western Australia, was originally built as a mortuary chapel, a place for prayers before burial.


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Saint Bartholomew's Day, Massacre of, was a slaughter of French Huguenots (Protestants).


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Saint Bernard is a large, intelligent dog that became famous for rescuing lost travellers.


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Saint Bernard Passes are two high passes across the Alps.


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Saint David's Day is celebrated on March 1 in honour of the patron saint of Wales.


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Saint Denis, Ruth (1879-1968), was an American dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer (creator of dance).


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Saint Edmundsbury (pop. 89,100) is a local government area in western Suffolk, England.


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Saint Elias Mountains are a rugged series of the world's highest coastal mountains.


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Saint Elmo's fire is the glow that accompanies a steady discharge of electricity from certain objects.


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Saint Eustatius (pop. 1,781), also called Statia or, in Dutch, Sint Eustatius, is an island in the Caribbean Sea.


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Saint-Exupery, Antoine de (1900-1944), a French aviator, created the literature of aviation in France.


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Saint-Gaudens, Augustus (1848-1907), was an American sculptor.


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Saint George's (pop. 7,500) is the capital and chief port of Grenada, an island nation in the West Indies.


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Saint George's Cathedral is the third Anglican church to be built in the centre of Perth, Western Australia.


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Saint George's Channel is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Wales from southern Ireland.


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Saint George's Day is observed in England on April 23 in memory of the country's patron saint (see GEORGE, SAINT).


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Saint-Germain, Treaty of.  The Allied powers of World War I (1914-1918) and the republic of Austria signed the Treaty of St.-Germain on Sept. 10, 1919.


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Saint Gotthard Pass is a famous mountain pass in the Lepontine Alps of southern Switzerland.


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Saint Gotthard tunnels are two tunnels--one a road tunnel and the other a railway tunnel--that run through the Alps in southern Switzerland.


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Saint Helena is an island in the Atlantic Ocean.


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Saint Helens (pop. 175,300) is a metropolitan district and manufacturing centre on Merseyside, England.


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Saint James's Palace is a royal mansion in London.


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Saint John, Order of, is a nondenominational Christian order devoted to the relief of human suffering.


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Saint John Ambulance is an organization that works to maintain the health of the community.


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Saint John's is the capital of the island country of Antigua and Barbuda.


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Saint-John's-wort, also called hypericum and Rose of Sharon, is a shrub with large yellow flowers.


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Saint Kilda is an uninhabited group of islands in the North Atlantic.


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Saint Kitts and Nevis is an independent island nation in the Caribbean Sea.


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Saint Laurent, Yves (1936-...), became perhaps the most influential fashion designer of the late 1900's.


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Saint Lawrence River is one of the most important rivers of North America and the second longest river in Canada.


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Saint Lawrence Seaway is a major commercial waterway that links the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes in North America.


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Saint Lazarus, Order of, is a Christian religious organization of knights and nurses founded in Jerusalem about 1120.


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Saint Leger, Barry (1737-1789), a British soldier, fought against the Americans in the American Revolution.


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Saint Louis (pop. 396,685) is the second largest city in the state of Missouri, U.S.A., and a leading industrial and transportation centre of the United States.


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Saint Lucia is an independent island country in the eastern Caribbean Sea.


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Saint Mark, Basilica of, is the Roman Catholic cathedral of Venice, Italy.


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Saint Martin, also called Sint Maarten in Dutch, is an island in the Caribbean Sea at the northern end of the Windward Islands (see WINDWARD ISLANDS).


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Saint Mary's Cathedral, the principal Roman Catholic church of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is a sandstone building in a decorated Gothic style.


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Saint Michael's Mount is a picturesque rocky islet in Mount's Bay, off Cornwall, England.


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Saint Moritz (pop. 5,263) is a famous resort town in the Alps of eastern Switzerland.


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Saint Nicholas, Feast of, is a children's festival celebrated on December 6, the feast day of Saint Nicholas.


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Saint Patrick's Cathedral, is the main Roman Catholic church in Melbourne.


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Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, the feast day of Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland.


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Saint Peter's Church, also called St. Peter's Basilica, in Vatican City, is Europe's largest Christian church.


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Saint Petersburg (pop. 4,468,000; met. area pop. 5,020,000), formerly Leningrad, is the second largest city in Russia.


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Saint-Pierre and Miquelon are two French islands about 16 kilometres south of Newfoundland.


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Saint-Saens, Camille (1835-1921), was a French composer.


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Saint-Simon, Comte de (1760-1825), was a founder of French socialism.


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Saint Swithin's Day, the feast day of St. Swithin, is held in England on July 15.


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Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an independent country in the West Indies.


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Sainte-Beuve, Charles Augustin (1804-1869), a French critic, was the greatest exponent of the biographical method of literary criticism.


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Saintsbury, George (1845-1933), was an English scholar, literary critic, and connoisseur of wines.


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Sakhalin is a long island off the eastern coast of Siberia.


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Sakharov, Andrei Dmitriyevich (1921-1989), was a Soviet physicist who gained prominence for his research on controlled thermonuclear reactions.


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Saladin (1138-1193) was the greatest Muslim warrior of the 1100's.


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Salam, Abdus (1926-...), a Pakistani physicist, won the 1979 Nobel Prize for physics for developing a principle that unifies the weak nuclear force and the force of electromagnetism.


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Salamander is a timid, harmless animal that looks like a lizard but is related to frogs and toads.


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Salamis is a horseshoe-shaped Greek island in the Saronic Gulf, about 16 kilometres west of Athens.


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Salazar, Antonio de Oliveira (1889-1970), served as dictator of Portugal from 1933 to 1968.


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Saldanha is a town on the western coast of South Africa.


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Sale (pop. 13,853) is a city in the Gippsland district of Victoria, Australia.


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Salem (pop. 38,264) is a city in Massachusetts, U.S.A. It is one of New England's most historic cities.


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Salem witchcraft trials were trials that resulted from the largest witch hunt in American history.


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Sales tax is levied on the sale of goods and services.


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Salesmanship is the ability to sell goods and services.


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Salford (pop. 217,900) is a local government area and manufacturing city that is part of Greater Manchester, England.


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Salic law was a set of laws written in Latin and founded on Germanic customs and procedure.


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Salicylic acid belongs to a group of chemical compounds that are used as drugs for reducing fever and pain.


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Salinas de Gortari, Carlos (1948-...), was president of Mexico from 1988 to 1994.


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Salinger, J. D. (1919-...), an American author, became famous for his novel The Catcher in the Rye (1951).


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Salisbury (pop. 103,200) is a local government district in Wiltshire, England.


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Salisbury, Marquess of (1830-1903), was a British statesman who was prime minister three times.


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Saliva, a sticky fluid produced in the mouth, is important to the digestion of food.


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Salk, Jonas Edward (1914-1995), an American research scientist, worked in the field of preventive medicine.


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Salmon is one of the most important food and game fishes.


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Salmon ponds were established in 1864 at Plenty, near New Norfolk, Tasmania, Australia.


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Salmonellosis is a common type of food poisoning.


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Salome was the daughter of Herodias and the stepdaughter of Herod Antipas, governor of Galilee and Peraea.


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Salon refers to a type of room and to certain activities that take place in the room.


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Salonga, Jovito Reyes (1920-...), a lawyer and politician, was president of the Philippine Senate from 1987 until 1992.


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Salonika, or, in Greek, Thessaloniki (pop. 406,403; met. area pop. 706,180), is a port on the Gulf of Salonika in Greece.


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Salpiglossis is a plant in the potato family.


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Salt is a clear, brittle mineral that has been used to flavour and preserve food since ancient times.


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Salt, Chemical, is a compound that results when a base neutralizes an acid.


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Salt lakes are common in areas of low rainfall in Australia, especially in the southeastern part of Western Australia and in South Australia.


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Salt Lake City (pop. 159,936; met. area 1,072,227) is the capital and largest city of Utah, U.S.A. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly called the Mormon Church, has its headquarters there.


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Saltbush is the popular name for more than 1,400 species (kinds) of Australian plants.


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Saltee Islands are two islands off the coast of Wexford, in the southeastern corner of the Republic of Ireland.


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Salten, Felix (1869-1945), was an Austrian author best known for his children's novel Bambi (1923).


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Salto (pop. 80,787) is the second largest city in Uruguay.


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Saltonstall, Leverett (1892-1979), was an American politician who served as senator for Massachusetts from 1945 to 1967.


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Saltpetre, also called nitre, is a mineral known to chemists as potassium nitrate.


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Saluki, also called gazelle hound, is believed to be the oldest purebred dog in the world.


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Salute is a gesture of greeting that generally expresses respect or courtesy.


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Salvado, Dom Rosendo (1814-1900), a pioneer Roman Catholic priest, was one of the founding fathers of the monastery in New Norcia, Western Australia.


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Salvador (pop. 1,496,276; met. area pop. 1,772,018) also called Bahia, is the third largest city in Brazil.


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Salvage is money or goods paid to those who save ships or cargo abandoned at sea.


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Salvation Army is an international Christian religious and charitable organization.


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Salvation Jane, also known as Paterson's curse, is a weed found in all parts of Australia except Western Australia.


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Salvia is a group of plants that grow in the temperate and warm regions of the world.


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Salween River, also called Salwin, is an important river of Burma.


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Salzburg (pop. 138,213) is a city located in the mountains of northwestern Austria.


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Samara (pop. 1,250,000) is a major Russian manufacturing centre and Volga River port.


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Samaria was the name of a city and its surrounding region in ancient Palestine.


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Samaritans were citizens of ancient Samaria.


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Samaritans is an organization that helps people who are suicidal or despairing.


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Samarium is a chemical element with symbol Sm.


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Samarqand (pop. 515,000) is the second largest city and former capital of Uzbekistan.


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Sambanthan, Tun Veerasamy Thirugnan (1919-1979), was a leading member of the Indian community in Malaysia.


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Samnites were members of an ancient tribe in what is now southern Italy.


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Samoa is a group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean.


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Samos is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea.


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Samoset (1590?-1655) was one of the early American Indian friends of the Pilgrim settlers of the Plymouth Colony in the United States.


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Samothrace, also called Samothraki, is a Greek island that is often mentioned in Greek mythology.


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Samoyed is a dog bred by the Samoyed peoples of northern Siberia.


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Sampan is a small boat used chiefly in rivers and harbours in China, Japan, and nearby islands.


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Sampler is a small square or strip of cloth covered with sample patterns of needlework.


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Samson was a folk hero of ancient Israel, famed for his great strength.


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Samuel, Books of, are two books of the Bible, called I Samuel and II Samuel.


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Samuel, Viscount (1870-1963), was a British Liberal statesman.


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Samurai was the hereditary warrior class in feudal Japan.


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San are a people of Africa, most of whom live in the Kalahari Desert region of Botswana and Namibia.


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San Andreas Fault is a long fracture in the earth's crust marked by a zone of disrupted land in California.


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San Antonio, Texas (pop. 935,933), is one of the most historic cities of the United States.


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San Diego, California (pop. city, 1,110,549; metropolitan area, 2,498,016), is one of the chief naval centres of the United States.


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San Francisco, California, is one of the world's most interesting cities and a leading centre of culture, finance, and industry in the United States.


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San Francisco Conference.  Delegates from the United Nations met in San Francisco on April 25, 1945, to form a world organization strong enough to prevent another global war.


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San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is one of the longest bridges in the world over navigable water.


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San Jose, California (pop. 782,248; met. area pop. 1,497,577), is a major industrial city in the United States and one of the nation's chief centres of aerospace manufacturing.


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San Jose (pop. 318,765) is the capital, largest city, and commercial centre of Costa Rica.


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San Juan (pop. 434,849; met. area pop. 1,086,376) is the capital and largest city of Puerto Rico.


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San Luis Potosi (pop. 489,238) is a farming and mining centre in central Mexico.


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San Marcos, University of, in Lima, Peru, is the oldest university in South America.


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San Marino is a small European country that is surrounded by Italy.


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San Marino (pop. 4,179) is the capital and largest community of the country of San Marino.


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San Martin, Jose de (1778-1850) was an Argentine general who helped lead the struggle for independence in South America against Spain.


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San Pedro Sula (pop. 372,800) is the second largest city of Honduras.


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San Salvador (pop. 452,614) is the capital and largest city of El Salvador.


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Sana (pop. 427,185) is the capital and largest city of of Yemen.


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Sand is a loose accumulation of tiny pieces of rocks or minerals that are larger than silt or clay but smaller than pebbles.


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Sand, George (1804-1876), was the pen name of Amantine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, a French novelist of the 1800's.


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Sand dollar belongs to a group of marine animals called echinoderms.


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Sand dunes consist of masses of sand picked up, moved, and dropped by winds to form hills or ridges.


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Sand fly is a hairy, dark-brown insect that measures about 3 millimetres long.


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Sand painting is the name for making pictures in sand.


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Sand verbena is a low summer annual with fragrant pink, white, or yellow flowers.


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Sandakan (pop. 70,420) is the largest city in Sabah, a state of Malaysia.


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Sandalwood is a scarce, valuable wood obtained from several related kinds of trees.


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Sandblasting is a method for engraving such materials as glass and granite or for cleaning metal and some buildings.


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Sandbur, also called bur grass, is a troublesome prickly weed that originally grew on the plains of the Western United States.


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Sandburg, Carl (1878-1967), was an American poet, biographer, and historian.


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Sanderling is a bird that belongs to the same family as the snipes and sandpipers.


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Sandoz, Mari Susette (1901-1966), was an American biographer and novelist.


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Sandow, Eugene (1867-1925), a German strongman, performed great feats of strength in Europe and the United States.


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Sandpiper is a name given to a large number of birds.


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Sandplains is a narrow stretch of country north of Perth, in Western Australia.


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Sandringham is a country estate used by the British Royal Family.


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Sands, Dave (1926-1952), a part-Aborigine, was the best known of six brothers who won professional boxing fame in Australia and New Zealand.


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Sandstone is a type of rock composed chiefly of sand that has been "cemented" together by pressure or by minerals.


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Sandstorm is a storm in which the wind carries sand through the air.


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Sandwell (pop. 282,000) is an industrial area in West Midlands, England.


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Sang Nila Utama (?-1347?), a Malay prince, was the founder and first ruler of Singapore.


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Sanger, Frederick (1918-...), a British biochemist, won the 1958 and 1980 Nobel Prizes in chemistry.


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Sanger, Margaret (1883-1966), was the leader of the birth control movement in the United States during the early 1900's.


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Sanhedrin was the highest national governing council of the Jews in Roman times.


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Sanitarium is a place where people go to improve their health.


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Sansevieria is the name of 50 species of fleshy-leaved plants related to agaves.


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Sanskrit language is the oldest literary language of India and the basis of many modern Indian languages, including Hindi and Urdu.


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Sanskrit literature is the literature of India written in the ancient language called Sanskrit.


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Santa Ana (pop. 135,186) is the second largest city in El Salvador.


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Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez de (1794-1876), was a Mexican soldier and politician.


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Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, is a legendary old man who brings gifts to children at Christmas.


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Santa Fe (pop. 441,982) is a commercial and shipping centre in east-central Argentina.


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Santa Fe, New Mexico (pop. 55,859), is the capital of the state and a major tourist centre of the Southwest United States.


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Santa Fe Trail was one of the longest commercial routes in the United States in the prerailway era.


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Santa Marta (pop. 218,205) is a seaport near the northern tip of Colombia.


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Santamaria, B.A. (1915-...), a Melbourne barrister, became a prominent lay member of the Roman Catholic Church in Victoria, Australia.


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Santayana, George (1863-1952), was a philosopher and author.


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Santer, Jacques (1937-...), began a four-year term as president of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union, in January 1995.


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Santiago (pop. 4,385,481) is the capital and largest city of Chile.


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Santiago (pop. 278,638) is the second largest city of the Dominican Republic.


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Santiago de Cuba (pop. 345,772) lies at the foot of the Sierra Maestra range on the southeast coast of Cuba.


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Santo Domingo (pop. 1,313,172) is the capital and largest city of the Dominican Republic.


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Santo Domingo, University of, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is the oldest university in the Western Hemisphere.


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Santos (pop. 411,023) is the major port city of Brazil.


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Santos-Dumont, Alberto (1873-1932), was an aviation pioneer in both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air machines.


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Sao Francisco, River, is in eastern Brazil.


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Sao Miguel Island is the largest island of the Azores.


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Sao Paulo (pop. 11,128,848; met. area pop. 17,112,712) is Brazil's largest city and leading commercial and industrial centre.


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Sao Tome (pop. 34,997) is the capital and largest city of Sao Tome and Principe, an island country west of the African mainland.


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Sao Tome and Principe is an African country that consists of two main islands and several tiny islands.


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Saone River is a waterway in eastern France.


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Sap, in botany, means the liquid in the stems and roots of plants.


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Sapir, Edward (1884-1939), was an American anthropologist and linguist who explored the relationships between language, culture, and personality.


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Sapodilla is a tropical fruit native to Mexico and Central America.


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Sapphire, a hard and clear gem, is a variety of the mineral corundum.


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Sappho, a Greek woman poet, lived about 600 B.C. Plato called her the Tenth Muse, and she is supposed to be the greatest woman poet the world has known.


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Sapporo (pop. 1,542,979) is the capital of Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island.


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Saprophyte is a living thing that gets its food from the remains of dead organisms.


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Sapsucker is one of a group of birds of the woodpecker family.


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Saracens were Muslims who invaded and occupied parts of the Christian world in Asia, Africa, and Europe from the 600's to the 1000's.


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Saragat, Giuseppe (1898-1988), served as president of Italy from 1964 to 1971.


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Saragossa, also spelled Zaragoza (pop. 596,080), is an industrial and trading centre in northeastern Spain.


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Sarajevo (pop. 447,687) is the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina.


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Saratov (pop. 909,000) is one of the chief ports on the Volga River.


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Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia.


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Sarazen, Gene (1902-...), an American golfer, became one of the world's leading players.


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Sarcoidosis is a disease in which small nodules (fleshy lumps) form in many parts of the body.


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Sardine is a member of the herring family and an important food fish.


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Sardinia is an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea west of the mainland of Italy and over 160 kilometres from it.


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Sardinia, Kingdom of, became the nucleus of united Italy.


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Sardis, an ancient city near present-day Izmir, Turkey, was capital of the kingdom of Lydia.


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Sardonyx is a variety of chalcedony, a fine-grained form of the mineral quartz.


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Sardou, Victorien (1831-1908), was one of the most successful French playwrights of his time.


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Sargasso Sea is an irregular oval-shaped area of the North Atlantic Ocean.


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Sargent, John Singer (1856-1925), was an American painter who did his major work in Europe.


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Sargent, Sir Malcolm (1895-1967), was a leading British conductor.


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Sargeson, Frank (1903-1982), became one of the most influential short-story writers in New Zealand during the 1930's.


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Sargon of Akkad was a king who founded the first great empire in history.


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Sarich, Ralph (1938-...), an Australian inventor, completed the first prototype of his revolutionary orbital engine in 1971.


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Sark (pop. 604) is one of the Channel Islands, about 110 kilometres south of England and 35 kilometres off the French coast.


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Sarnoff, David (1891-1971), an American businessman, was one of the first people to see the full possibilities of using radio and television to entertain the public.


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Saro-Wiwa, Ken (1941-1995), was a Nigerian writer and environmental activist.


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Saroyan, William (1908-1981), was an American writer.


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Sarsfield, Patrick (1645?-1693), Earl of Lucan, was an Irish leader and soldier.


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Sartre, Jean-Paul (1905-1980), was a French existentialist philosopher who expressed his ideas in many novels, plays, and short stories, as well as in theoretical works.


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Saskatchewan (pop. 990,237) is one of the Prairie Provinces of Canada.


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Sassafras is a medium-sized tree of the laurel family.


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Sassoon, Siegfried (1886-1967), a British novelist and poet, used experiences in World War I in Memoirs of George Sherston (1937).


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Satellite is a natural object that orbits a planet or asteroid.


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Satellite, Artificial, is a manufactured object that continuously orbits the earth or some other body in space.


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Satie, Erik (1866-1925), a French composer, spent his entire career challenging established conventions in music.


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Satin is a weave in which the weft (crosswise yarns) do not cross the warp (lengthwise yarns) as often as in a plain weave.


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Satire is the use of irony or sarcasm to attack some form of human behaviour.


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Sato, Eisaku (1901-1975), served as premier of Japan from 1964 to 1972.


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Satrap was the governor of a satrapy (province) in the ancient Persian Empire.


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Saturation is a term used in chemistry and physics.


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Saturday, called Saeter-daeg by the Anglo-Saxons, is the seventh day of the week.


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Saturn was an early god in Roman mythology.


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Saturnalia was an ancient Roman festival that honoured Saturn, the god of agriculture.


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Satyr was a minor god of the countryside and woods in Greek mythology.


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Saudi Arabia is a large Middle Eastern nation that ranks as one of the world's leading producers of petroleum.


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Saul was the first king of Israel and one of the most tragic figures in history.


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Sauna is a special kind of bath for cleansing and relaxation.


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Saunders, Reginald Walter (1920-...), became the first Aboriginal officer in the Australian Army when he was commissioned in 1944.


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Sausage is a food made of chopped and seasoned meat.


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Sauve, Jeanne Mathilde (1922-1993), was governor general of Canada from 1984 to1990.


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Savage is a river in mountainous northwestern Tasmania, Australia.


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Savanna, also spelled savannah, is a grassland with widely scattered trees and shrubs.


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Savannah was the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.


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Savannah, Georgia (pop. 137,560; met. area pop. 242,622), is one of the chief United States Southern ports.


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Save the Children is an independent, nonprofit organization that works to help needy children by improving the communities where they live.


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Savernake Forest is a large woodland tract in the eastern part of Wiltshire, England.


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Savings bank is a common type of savings institution.


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Savonarola, Girolamo (1452-1498), was an Italian friar, a fiery religious reformer, and a preacher.


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Savoy was, until 1946, the oldest reigning family in Europe.


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Saw is a cutting tool that has a metal blade with sharply pointed teeth along one edge.


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Sawfish is the name of a family of fish with long snouts that look like saws.


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Sawfly is an insect related to ants, bees, and wasps.


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Sawrey, Hugh (1923-...), an Australian artist, became known for the love and knowledge of the Australian outback portrayed in his work.


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Saxbe, William Bart (1916-...), is an American politician who served as attorney general of the United States in 1974 and early 1975.


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Saxe, Comte de (1696-1750), Maurice de Saxe, a German soldier of fortune, led French armies to victory in the War of the Austrian Succession.


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Saxifrage is any one of a group of small, hardy plants that grow in cold and temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere.


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Saxons were members of a Germanic people that invaded the island of Britain about 1,500 years ago.


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Saxony, a state in east-central Germany, covers an area of 18,300 square kilometres.


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Saxophone is a woodwind musical instrument made of brass.


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Say, Jean Baptiste (1767-1832), a French economist, did much to spread the doctrines of Adam Smith.


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Sayers, Dorothy (1893-1957), an English author, was one of the most famous writers of detective stories of the 1900's.


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Scabies is a contagious skin disease that causes intense itching.


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Scafell Pike is the highest mountain in England.


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Scalawags were whites from the American South who worked with blacks and northern Republicans to control politics in the South after the American Civil War.


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Scale.  Scales are flat plates that form the outer covering of most fish and of many snakes and lizards.


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Scale, Weighing, is a device used to measure weight or mass.


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Scale insect is one of many kinds of sucking insects that feed on plants.


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Scallop is a shellfish that is used for food.


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Scandinavia is the name often given to the peninsula of Norway and Sweden.


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Scandinavian literature consists of the literature of the Scandinavian countries--Denmark, Norway, and Sweden--and of Finland and Iceland.


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Scandium is a soft, silvery-white metal.


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Scanner is a machine that translates printed pages, photographs, and other materials into digital code for use by computers.


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Scanning probe microscope is any of a type of microscopes that scan the surface of materials with a sharp point and display the results on a televisionlike screen.


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Scapa Flow is a sea basin surrounded by the Orkney Islands off northern Scotland.


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Scapegoat originally meant one of the two goats received by the Jewish high priest in ancient Jerusalem on the Day of Atonement.


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Scar is a permanent mark left after an injury on the skin or other part of the body heals.


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Scarab is the name of a large group of beetles.


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Scarborough (pop. 107,800), a local government district in North Yorkshire, England, includes the harbour and resort towns of Scarborough and Whitby.


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Scarlatti, Alessandro (1660-1725), was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas.


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Scarlatti, Domenico (1685-1757), was an Italian composer.


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Scarlet fever is an infectious disease that chiefly affects children.


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Scepticism was a philosophical movement in ancient Greece.


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Schacht, Hjalmar (1877-1970), was a German financial statesman.


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Scheele, Carl Wilhelm (1742-1786), was the Swedish pharmacist-chemist who discovered chlorine.


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Schelde River is one of the most important commercial waterways of Europe, especially in Belgium.


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Schelling, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von (1775-1854), was a German philosopher.


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Scherzo is a short, lively musical composition.


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Schick, Bela (1877-1967), was a Hungarian authority on the diseases of childhood.


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Schiele, Egon (1890-1918), was an Austrian artist.


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Schiller, Johann Christoph Friedrich von, (1759-1805), ranks second only to Goethe among the leading figures of German literature, and no German compares to him as a playwright.


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Schistosomiasis is the name for a sometimes fatal disease caused by three species of parasitic worms called schistosomes.


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Schizophrenia is a severe mental disease characterized by unpredictable disturbances in thinking.


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Schlesinger, James Rodney (1929-...), a United States politician, held two Cabinet offices.


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Schley, Winfield Scott (1839-1911), was an American naval officer who commanded the expedition that rescued the Arctic explorer Adolphus W. Greely in 1884.


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Schliemann, Heinrich (1822-1890), was a German archaeologist who founded the study of ancient Greece and neighbouring cultures on the Aegean Sea.


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Schmalkaldic League was an alliance formed by the early German Protestants to defend themselves against Emperor Charles V and the Roman Catholic states.


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Schmidt, Helmut (1918-...), served as chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982.


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Schneider Trophy was raced for by pilots during the early days of aeroplane development.


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Schnitzler, Arthur (1862-1931), was an Austrian writer whose works reflect the influence of Sigmund Freud's ideas on psychoanalysis.


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Schoenberg, Arnold (1874-1951), was perhaps the most influential composer of the 1900's.


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Schofield, John McAllister (1831-1906), commanded the Union forces that captured Wilmington, North Carolina, during the  American Civil War (1861- 1865).


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Scholarship is a grant of money or free tuition awarded to a student on the basis of achievement, ability, or financial need.


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Scholasticism was a philosophical system that emphasized the use of reason in exploring questions of philosophy and theology.


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Scholes, Percy (1877-1958), an Englishman, wrote many valuable books on music.


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Schonell, Sir Fred (1900-1969), a leading Australian educational psychologist, made an important contribution to the study of teaching children with learning disabilities.


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Schongauer, Martin (1450?-1491), was one of the first German painters to work extensively as an engraver.


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School is an institution that provides education.


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Schopenhauer, Arthur (1788-1860), was a German philosopher who became widely known for his pessimistic views and his fine prose style.


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Schreiner, Olive (1855-1920), was one of the most distinguished South African writers.


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Schrodinger, Erwin (1887-1961), an Austrian theoretical physicist, became known for his mathematical equation describing the wavelike behaviour of electrons.


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Schubert, Franz Peter (1797-1828), an Austrian composer, wrote an astonishing variety of music in many forms.


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Schulz, Charles Monroe (1922-...), an American cartoonist, created the "Peanuts" comic strip.


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Schumacher, Michael (1969-...), a German racing car driver, won the World Driver's Championships in 1994 and 1995.


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Schumann, Clara (1819-1896), was one of the finest pianists of her time and the wife of the German composer Robert Schumann.


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Schumann, Robert (1810-1856), was a German composer and writer on music.


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Schumann-Heink, Ernestine (1861-1936), was a greatly admired Austrian contralto, famous for her interpretations of Wagner and Strauss.


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Schuschnigg, Kurt von (1897-1977), was chancellor of Austria until Adolf Hitler forced Austria to unite with Germany in 1938.


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Schuster, Sir Arthur (1851-1934), was a physicist who contributed to the discovery of the electron.


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Schwab, Charles Michael (1862-1939), an American industrialist, was a founder and president of both the United States Steel Corporation and the Bethlehem Steel Corporation.


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Schwarzkopf, Elisabeth (1915-...), a Polish lyric soprano, won great success in the  1940's and 1950's as a concert and opera singer.


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Schweitzer, Albert (1875-1965), was a brilliant philosopher, physician, musician, clergyman, missionary, and writer on theology.


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Schwinger, Julian Seymour (1918-1994), the United States shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in physics with Richard P. Feynman and Sin-itiro Tomonaga.


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Sciatica refers to pain along the sciatic nerve.


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Science covers the broad field of knowledge that deals with observed facts and the relationships among those facts.


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Science fiction is a popular kind of imaginative literature.


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Scientific creationism is the belief that most evidence indicates the world began through an act of creation.


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Scientology is a religious movement founded by L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986), an American writer and thinker.


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Scilly, Isles of (pop. 2,900), lie in the Atlantic Ocean off the English coast, about 40 kilometres west of Land's End, Cornwall.


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Sciortino, Antonio (1879-1947), a Maltese sculptor, conceived the idea of building a monument to the unknown soldier shortly after World War I ended in 1918.


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Scipio Africanus, Publius Cornelius (236?-183?  B.C.), was a Roman general who defeated the great Carthaginian general Hannibal in the Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.).


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Scissors.  A pair of scissors is really two knife blades joined together to form a double lever.


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Scofield, Paul (1922-...), is a British actor who has achieved success, mainly in the classics, in London and New York City.


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Scoliosis is a side-to-side curve of the spine.


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Scone, Stone of, or the Stone of Destiny, is a stone on which the kings and queens of the United Kingdom have been crowned.


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Scopes trial was one of the most famous and controversial legal cases in United States history.


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Scorpio, the Scorpion, is a constellation (group of stars) that can be seen in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres.


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Scorpion is a small animal with a potentially dangerous poisonous sting in its tail.


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Scorpion fly is an unusual insect that often has a long, pointed face.


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Scotland is one of the four major political divisions that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.


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Scotland, History of.  The first settlers in what is now Scotland may have arrived soon after the end of the last Ice Age.


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Scotland Yard is the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police.


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Scott was the family name of two British architects, grandfather and grandson.


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Scott, David Randolph (1932-...), a United States astronaut, commanded the American Apollo 15 mission that made the fourth manned landing on the moon.


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Scott, Charles Prestwich (1846-1932), was a distinguished British editor and journalist.


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Scott, Hugh Doggett, Jr. (1900-1994), a Pennsylvania Republican, was minority leader of the U.S. Senate from 1969 to 1977.


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Scott, James (1810-1884), a surveyor, explored much of northern Tasmania, Australia.


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Scott, Sir Peter (1909-1989), a British artist and ornithologist, became well known for his paintings of birds and for his broadcasts on conservation and wildlife.


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Scott, Robert Falcon (1868-1912), a British explorer and naval officer, became the first person to reach the South Polar plateau.


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Scott, Thomas Alison (1777?-1881), grew the first sugar cane in Australia at Port Macquarie in 1824.


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Scott, Thomas Hobbes (1783?-1860), the first archdeacon of New South Wales, Australia, did much to promote and extend education.


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Scott, Sir Walter (1771-1832), was a Scottish romantic writer.


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Scottish deerhound was for hundreds of years a dog of the nobility.


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Scottish law is the law used in Scotland.


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Scottish literature differs from that of most other countries in that it has been produced in three languages: Gaelic, Scots, and English.


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Scottish terrier is a breed of dog first reared in the Scottish highlands in the 1800's.


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Scout.  The first explorers of the American frontier were usually fur traders.


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Scouting is the world's largest voluntary youth movement.


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Screw is an inclined plane wrapped in a spiral around a shaft.


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Scriabin, Alexander (1872-1915), was a Russian composer and pianist.


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Scribe is a person who writes letters, documents, or books by hand.


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Scribe, Augustin Eugene (1791-1861), was a French playwright.


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Scribner was the family name of two American book publishers, father and son.


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Scrofula is a type of tuberculosis that attacks the lymph nodes of the neck.


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Scroll is a roll of paper, parchment, or other material, especially with writing on it.


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Scruple is a unit of apothecaries' weight, a system of weights once widely used in drug measurement.


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Scullard, Howard Hayes (1903-1983), was an English expert on the history of ancient Rome.


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Scullin, James (1876-1953), a leader of the Labor Party in Australia, was prime minister of Australia from 1929 to 1931.


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Sculpin is a family of fishes that have large mouths, large, flattened heads, and bodies that taper sharply to the tail fin.


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Sculpture is one of the most complex of the arts.


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Sculthorpe, Peter (1929-...), an Australian composer, gained international attention for his Sun Music, performed in London in 1965.


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Scunthorpe (pop. 60,500) is a modern town and local government district in Humberside, England.


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Scurvy is a disease caused by lack of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in the diet.


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Scylla, in Greek mythology, was at first a beautiful nymph.


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Scythe, an implement with a curved cutting blade, was once widely used to harvest grain.


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Sea anemone is a sea animal that looks like a flower called the anemone.


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Sea cow is a term sometimes applied to the dugong and manatee, which belong to an order (group) of sea mammals called Sirenia.


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Sea cucumber is a type of sea animal with a long fleshy body that may look like a cucumber.


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Sea fan is a colourful coral with a flat, fanlike shape.


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Sea level is the level of the ocean's surface.


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Sea lily is a sea animal that looks like a flower.


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Sea otter is a furry animal that lives in the North Pacific Ocean.


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Sea serpent is a large, probably imaginary marine creature.


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Sea squirt is a name for a group of sea animals which are also called ascidians.


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Sea urchin is a sea animal related to the starfish and the sand dollar.


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Sea wasp is a dangerous stinging jellyfish with a strong, box-shaped body 5 to 15 centimetres in diameter.


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Seaborg, Glenn Theodore (1912-...), an American chemist, became known for contributing to the discovery of several elements heavier than uranium.


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Seah Eu Chin (1805-1883), a Chinese businessman, became a wealthy plantation owner in Singapore.


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Seahorse is a small fish that is so named because its head resembles that of a tiny horse.


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Seal is a sea mammal that has a sleek, torpedo-shaped body and flippers in place of legs.


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Seal is a device with a design or lettering for impressing (stamping) on paper, wax, or metal.


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Sealing wax is used for sealing letters and documents and for taking the impression of seals (see SEAL).


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Sealyham terrier is a strong, white, short-legged dog with a long head, powerful jaws, and big teeth.


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Search engine is a type of program used to find information that is stored on computers.


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Search warrant is a document issued by a court, which permits a police officer to search a house or other building.


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Searle, Ronald (1920-...), an English artist, cartoonist, and designer, became popular as the creator of the weird young ladies of the fictional school of St. Trinian's.


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Sears, Paul Bigelow (1891-1990), was an American botanist.


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Sears, Roebuck and Company is the world's largest retail business firm.


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Seashore is the place where the land and the sea meet.


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Season is one of the four periods of the year.


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Seattle (pop. city--516,259, metropolitan area--1,972,961) is the largest city in Washington, United States.


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Seaweed is a name applied to almost any plantlike marine organism that is large enough to be seen with the unaided eye.


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Sebastian, Saint (died A.D. 288), was an early Christian martyr.


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Secheron House is one of the finest examples of Georgian architecture at Battery Point in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.


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Second, a unit in the metric system, is used to measure time and angles.


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Secret police are used by certain governments and dictators to control, terrorize, and spy on people.


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Secretarial work includes a variety of activities that help keep an office running smoothly and efficiently.


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Secretary bird is a tall African bird that has long feathers rising from the back of its head.


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Secretion is a useful substance that is produced by and then discharged from a cell.


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Security Service, generally known as MI5, is the government service responsible for protecting Britain from espionage, sabotage, or any other activity dangerous to the state.


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Sedative is a drug that decreases the activity of the central nervous system.


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Seddon, Richard John (1845-1906), was prime minister of New Zealand from 1893 to 1906.


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Sedge is one of a large family of grasslike plants that grow in wet places throughout the world.


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Sedgefield (pop. 89,200) is a local government district in Durham, England.


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Sedgemoor (pop. 97,000) is a local government district in northern Somerset, England, which attracts many tourists.


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Sedgman, Frank (1927-...), was one of Australia's finest tennis players.


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Sedimentary rock is rock formed when mineral matter or remains of plants and animals settle out of water or, less commonly, out of air or ice.


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Sedition is an act which stirs up discontent against established government authority.


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Sedum is a genus (group) of about 600 species plants that are decorative and hardy.


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Seed is the specialized part of a plant that produces a new plant.


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Seeger, Alan (1888-1916), an American poet, wrote one of the most memorable poems of World War I (1914-1918), "I Have a Rendezvous with Death."  Seeger joined the French Foreign Legion at the beginning of the war.


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Seeger, Pete (1919-...), is an American folk singer, musician, and composer.


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Seferis, George (1900-1971), was a Greek poet and diplomat.


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Sefton (pop. 282,000), a local government district in Merseyside, England, includes the towns of Bootle, Crosby, and Southport.


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Segal, George (1924-...), is an American sculptor who creates life-sized plaster figures in poses taken from everyday experiences.


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Segovia, Andres (1893-1987), was the most influential classical guitarist of the 1900's.


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Segrave, Sir Henry (1896-1930), was a British hero of the early days of motor racing.


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Segregation is the separation of groups of people by custom or by law.


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Seiche is a long wave in a lake, a bay, or some similar basin.


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Seidl, Anton (1850-1898), a Hungarian-born orchestra conductor, greatly influenced musical life in the United States of America (U.S.A.) with his interpretations of Richard Wagner's operas.


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Seidler, Harry (1923-...), an Australian architect, designed some of Sydney's best-known tall buildings.


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Seigneurial system, also spelled seigniorial, was the traditional method of landholding in France.


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Seine River and its branches form the chief commercial waterway of France.


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Seismograph is an instrument that amplifies and records small movements of the ground.


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Seismology is the study of seismic waves (shock waves) produced by earthquakes or explosions.


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Sekoto, Gerard (1913-1993), a South African artist, first achieved recognition in the 1940's for his vivid, colourful paintings of township life.


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Selangor is a state on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.


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Selby (pop. 88,300) is a local government district centred on the town of Selby in North Yorkshire, England.


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Selection acts were a series of acts in Australia which sought to lessen the monopoly of the squatters, who held large areas of land.


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Selene was the principal goddess of the moon in Greek mythology.


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Selenium is a semimetallic chemical element.


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Seles, Monica (1973-...), became the number-one ranked woman tennis player in the world in 1991 at the age of 17.


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Seleucid dynasty refers to a series of kings who ruled in southwest Asia from 312 to 64 B.C. Seleucus I, a Macedonian general, had served under the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great.


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Seligman, Edwin Robert Anderson (1861-1939), was an American economist and a pioneer in public finance.


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Seljuks were members of a ruling family of Turkic-speaking peoples who controlled much of southwestern Asia from the mid-1000's to the mid-1200's.


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Selkirk, Alexander (1676-1721), was a Scotsman whose experiences as a castaway on a lonely island inspired the story of Robinson Crusoe (see ROBINSON CRUSOE).


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Selkirk, Earl of (1771-1820), a Scottish colonizer, opened the Canadian West for settlement during the early 1800's.


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Sellers, Peter (1925-1980), was a versatile British actor.


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Selvon, Samuel (1923-...), a Caribbean writer, became known for his tragicomic depiction of the poor and outcast in Trinidad and the United Kingdom.


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Selwyn, George Augustus (1809-1878), was the first Anglican bishop of New Zealand.


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Selwyn Range is a series of low mountains in Queensland, Australia.


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Selye, Hans (1907-1982), was a Canadian scientist who became known for his concept of strains on the body known as stress.


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Semantics, in logic, is the study of the conditions under which signs and symbols, including words, may be said to be meaningful.


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Semaphore is a method of signalling with targets or flags.


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Semarang (pop. 1,026,671) is the capital and largest city of the province of Central Java.


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Semenov, Nikolai N. (1896-1986), was a Soviet scientist who shared the 1956 Nobel Prize for chemistry with Sir Cyril Hinshelwood.


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Semiconductor is a material that conducts electricity better than insulators like glass, but not as well as conductors like copper.


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Seminary is a college for training future clergy and lay leaders for churches or other religious organizations.


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Semiramis was a mythical queen of Assyria.


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Semites are peoples who speak a Semitic language, such as Arabic or Hebrew.


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Semitic languages are among the world's oldest languages.


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Semmelweis, Ignaz Philipp (1818-1865), was a Hungarian doctor who first used antiseptic methods extensively in childbirth.


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Senate is one of the two lawmaking bodies of many legislatures.


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Sendak, Maurice (1928-...), is an American illustrator and writer of children's books.


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Seneca, Lucius Annaeus (4 B.C.?-65 A.D.), was a Roman statesman, author, and Stoic philosopher.


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Senefelder, Alois (1771-1834), invented the process of lithography (see LITHOGRAPHY).


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Senegal is a country on the northwest coast of Africa.


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Senghor, Leopold Sedar (1906-...), was president of Senegal from 1960 to 1981.


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Senility is a general term used to describe certain mental problems that affect some elderly people.


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Senna da Silva, Ayrton (1960-1994), was one of the world's most successful Formula One car racing drivers.


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Sennacherib (reigned 704-681 B.C.) was king of Assyria, in what is now northern Iraq.


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Sennett, Mack (1884-1960), was a pioneer film director and producer who became famous for his slapstick silent comedies.


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Senses are the means by which many-celled animals tell what is happening in their environment.


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Sensitive plant is a small, spreading shrub that grows in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere.


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Sensitivity training is a learning process designed to develop an individual's self-awareness and sensitivity to other people and the environment.


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Sentence is a series of words arranged into a meaningful unit.


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Sentence is a penalty a person must pay if convicted in court of committing a crime.


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Seoul (pop. 9,645,932), is the capital and largest city of South Korea.


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Seow Yit Kin (1955-...), a Singapore musician, became the youngest competitor to win the British Broadcasting Corporation piano competition at the age of 19.


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Sepik is a river in New Guinea that rises in the Victor Emanuel Range near the West Irian border.


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September is the ninth month of the year, according to the Gregorian calendar, which is used in almost all the world today.


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Septuagint is the name of the oldest known written translation of the Hebrew Bible, called the Old Testament in Christianity.


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Sequoia is a tree that ranks among the largest and oldest living things on earth.


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Sequoyah (1760?-1843), a Cherokee Indian, invented a system of writing for the Cherokee language.


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Serapis was a god who suddenly became popular in Egypt in the 300's B.C. The Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, beginning with Ptolemy I in 323 B.C., built an elaborate temple for Serapis and actively promoted his cult throughout the Mediterranean world.


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Serbia is one of the two republics of Yugoslavia.


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Serenade is a musical composition that has both instrumental and vocal forms.


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Serf was a member of a large class of peasants that developed in the early Middle Ages mainly in Europe.


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Serge is a fabric usually made from wool, rayon, cotton, or silk.


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Sergeant at arms is an officer who keeps order during the meetings of clubs and deliberative bodies.


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Series, in mathematics, is the sum of the terms of a sequence.


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Serkin, Rudolf (1903-1991), was a popular concert pianist.


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Serote, Mongane Wally (1944-...), is considered the most significant black South African poet to have emerged during the 1970's.


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Serpentine is a mineral that contains magnesium and silicon.


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Serra, Junipero (1713-1784), was a Franciscan missionary who in 1769 founded the first mission in present-day California, U.S.A. This mission, San Diego de Alcala, was built near what is now San Diego.


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Serum is the clear, fluid part of the blood that is left after a clot forms.


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Serval is a large wildcat that lives in Africa, from the Cape of Good Hope north to Senegal and the Sudan.


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Server is a central computer that provides processing services or data to an interconnected group of computers.


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Servetus, Michael (1511-1553), was a Spanish doctor and theologian.


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Service, James (1823-1899), an Australian political leader, became a leader of the federation movement which led to the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901.


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Service, Robert William (1874-1958), was a Canadian poet who wrote lively ballads about frontier life in the Yukon Territory, for which he became known as "the Canadian Kipling".


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Service industries are the business firms and government and nonprofit organizations that produce services rather than manufactured goods or agricultural products.


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Servius Tullius, the sixth of the seven legendary kings of Rome, reigned from 578 to 534 B.C. See MYTHOLOGY.


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Servomechanism is a type of control system that detects and corrects errors.


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Sesame is a herb grown in tropical countries.


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Sesshu (1419-1506), a Buddhist monk, was the greatest Japanese landscape painter in the tradition of Chinese ink drawing.


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Sessions, Roger (1896-1985), was an American composer and teacher.


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Set theory is a way of solving problems in mathematics and in logic (reasoning).


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Seth, also called Set, was an ancient Egyptian god of storms, violence, darkness, and desert land.


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Seti I (reigned about 1303-1290 B.C.) was a king of ancient Egypt.


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Settlement, Act of, passed in England in 1701, vested the succession to the English crown in Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and her Protestant heirs.


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Seurat, Georges (1859-1891), was a French artist who developed a system of painting called pointillism.


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Seuss, Dr. (1904-1991), was the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel, an American writer and illustrator.


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Sevastopol (pop. 335,000) lies on the Black Sea, in the southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula in Ukraine.


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Sevcik, Otakar, (1852-1934), was a Czech violinist and an eminent teacher.


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Seven seas is an ancient term describing all the seas and oceans of the world.


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Seven Sleepers of Ephesus were seven Christian youths in an old legend who were said to have fled to the mountains near Ephesus in Asia Minor to escape the persecution of the Emperor Decius in about A.D. 251.


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Seven Weeks' War, also called the Austro-Prussian War, took place between June and August of 1866.


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Seven Wise Men of Greece is the name scholars give to various sages who lived in Greece and Asia Minor (now Turkey) in about 600 B.C. Plato and other Greek philosophers listed the names of the wise men, but not all accounts agree.


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Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is a listing of notable objects built between about 3000 B.C. and A.D. 476.


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Seven Years' War (1756-1763) involved nearly every nation in Europe, and extended to America and India.


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Sevenoaks (pop. 106,100) is a local government district in western Kent, England.


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Seventh-day Adventists are a Christian religious denomination.


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Severn, River, the longest river in the United Kingdom, rises in the upland area of Pumlumon (Plynlymon), in central Wales, and flows about 350 kilometres to the Bristol Channel.


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Seville (pop. 668,356) is one of the leading centres of Spanish art, literature, and education.


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Sevres, Treaty of.  At the close of World War I (1914-1918), the Turkish Ottoman Empire and the Allies signed the Treaty of Sevres at Sevres, France.


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Sewage is water that contains waste matter produced by human beings.


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Seward, William Henry (1801-1872), served as United States secretary of state during the American Civil War (1861-1865).


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Sewell, Anna (1820-1878), a British author, wrote Black Beauty (1877), a novel about a horse that becomes injured and suffers abuse from a series of owners.


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Sewing is the process of attaching pieces of fabric together with a needle and thread.


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Sewing machine is a machine that uses a needle to bind materials together with thread.


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Sex is what makes males and females different from each other.


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Sex education is the study of the characteristics of being a male or a female.


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Sex ratio is the proportion of males to females in a population.


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Sextant is an optical instrument that measures the angular distance between any two points, such as the sun and the horizon.


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Sexually transmitted disease, also called STD, is any disease spread primarily through intimate sexual activity.


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Seychelles is an African country that consists of about 90 islands in the Indian Ocean.


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Seymour, Alan (1927-...), an Australian playwright, became known for his controversial play, The One Day of the Year, which challenges Australian beliefs about the observance of Anzac Day.


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Seyss-Inquart, Arthur von (1892-1946), was the leading Austrian Nazi.


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Shackleton, Sir Ernest Henry (1874-1922), an Irish explorer, led a British expedition from the Ross Sea that came within 180 kilometres of the south geographic pole in 1908 (see ANTARCTICA [Early exploration]).


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Shad is the name of several species of herring-like fish.


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Shadow is the darkness that an object causes when it prevents light from shining on a surface.


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Shadow play is a kind of drama in which the figures of puppets or living actors are thrown in silhouette on a screen.


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Shaffer, Peter Levin (1926-...), a British playwright and critic, won fame with his play Five Finger Exercise (1958), in which he explored the hostilities between the various generations of a middle-class family.


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Shaftesbury was the title of two statesmen who belonged to one of Britain's most famous families.


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Shah Jahan (1592-1666) was the fifth ruler of the Mughal Empire in India.


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Shahn, Ben (1898-1969), an American painter, tried through his art to communicate with people and influence their thinking and emotions.


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Shaka (1787?-1828) was a Zulu warrior who became king of the Zulu in southern Africa.


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Shakers are members of a religious sect in the United States called the United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing.


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Shakespeare, William (1564-1616), was an English playwright and poet.


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Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock formed by the compression of muds.


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Shallot is a vegetable that looks and tastes like an onion, but has a more delicate flavour.


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Shaman is a person considered to have certain powers that come from direct contact with the supernatural, often in dreams or trances.


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Shamir, Yitzhak (1915-...), served as prime minister of Israel from October 1983 to September 1984 and from October 1986 to July 1992.


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Shamrock is a type of small herb with leaves made up of three leaflets.


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Shang dynasty was the earliest known Chinese dynasty (family of rulers).


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Shanghai (pop. 8,205,598) is the largest city in China.


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Shankar, Ravi (1920-...), an Indian musician, became well known throughout the world for his inspired playing of the sitar (see SITAR).


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Shankaracharya (A.D. 700?-750?), also known as Shankara, was a Hindu philosopher.


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Shannon, Monica (^^? ^^-1965), an American author, received the Newbery medal in 1935 for Dobry, the story of a Bulgarian boy who longed to be an artist.


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Shannon, River, is the chief waterway of the Republic of Ireland and the longest river in the British Isles.


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Shapley, Harlow (1885-1972), was an American astronomer.


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Shar-pei is a breed of dog that originated in China about 200 B.C. It is also known as the Chinese shar-pei.


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Sharaku was a great Japanese artist of the late 1700's.


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Sharif, Omar (1932-...), is the stage name of an Egyptian-born actor.


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Shark is a meat-eating fish and one of the most feared sea animals.


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Shark Bay is an inlet on the western coast of Western Australia, about 676 kilometres north of Perth.


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Sharland, William Thomas (1801-1877), a surveyor, planned many towns in Tasmania, Australia.


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Sharma, Shankar Dayal (1918-...), a Congress Party politician and lawyer, became president of India on July 26, 1992.


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Sharp, Cecil (1859-1924), was one of the most important collectors of English folk music.


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Sharp, Granville (1735-1813), was a leader of the movement for the abolition of slavery in Britain.


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Shastri, Lal Bahadur (1904-1966), was India's second prime minister, serving from 1964 until his death.


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Shavuot is a Jewish festival that celebrates the day the Ten Commandments--the foundation of Jewish written and oral law--were revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai.


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Shaw, George Bernard (1856-1950), an Irish-born dramatist, critic, and essayist, ranks as one of the most important literary figures of the 1900's.


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Shaw, Irwin (1913-1984), was an American novelist, short-story writer, and dramatist.


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Shaw, Robert (1916-...), an American conductor, is one of the outstanding choral conductors of his time.


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Shaw, Runme (1901-1985), a Chinese film producer, headed the Shaw Brothers Organization.


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Shaw, Wilbur (1902-1954), was an American racing car driver.


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Shawnee Prophet (1775?-1837?) was a Shawnee Indian religious leader.


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Shay Gap is situated 200 kilometres east of Port Hedland in the Pilbara district in the northwest of Western Australia.


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Shazar, Schneor Zalman (1889-1974), served as president of Israel from 1963 to 1973.


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Shearer, Alan (1970-...), an English football player, became one of the most prolific goalscorers in the world.


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Sheares, Benjamin Henry (1907-1981), a distinguished doctor, served as second president of Singapore from 1971 to 1978.


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Shearing is the removal of the fleece from a sheep or similar wool-bearing animal (see WOOL).


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Shearwater is the name of a group of sea birds that live in the oceans.


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Sheeler, Charles (1883-1965), was an American painter and photographer.


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Sheen, Fulton John (1895-1979), became one of the best-known spokesmen for the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church in the world.


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Sheep are among the most important animals that people have tamed because they provide both food and clothing.


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Sheepdog is any of a number of breeds of dogs that people use to herd other animals.


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Sheffield (pop. 500,500; met. area pop. 1,303,200) is an industrial city in north-central England.


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Sheik is an Arabic title referring either to an old and respected man or to the chief of a tribe or village.


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Shekhar, Chandra (1927-...), an Indian radical politician, served as prime minister of India from 1990 to 1991.


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Shelburne, Earl of (1737-1805), an Anglo-Irish nobleman, was prime minister of Britain in 1782 and 1783.


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Shelepin, Alexander Nikolaevich (1918-1994), was an important Communist Party official of the Soviet Union from the 1950's to the mid-1970's.


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Shelest, Peter Yefimovich (1908-1996), was an important Communist Party official of the Soviet Union from the 1960's to the mid-1970's.


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Shell.  Many kinds of animals and plants have shells.


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Shellac is the liquid formed of resin flakes which have been dissolved in alcohol.


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Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft (1797-1851), was an English author.


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Shelley, Percy Bysshe (1792-1822) was one of the great English lyric poets.


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Shellharbour (pop. 46,297), is a developing urban area in New South Wales, Australia, about 105 kilometres south of Sydney, on the coast between Port Kembla and Kiama.


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Shelter is a structure or a natural feature that provides protection against bad weather, danger, or insect pests.


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Shenyang (pop. 4,655,280), also called Mukden, is the capital of Liaoning Province in China.


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She-oaks include 70 species of shrubs and trees of the Western Pacific region, especially Australia.


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Shepard, Alan Bartlett, Jr. (1923-...), became the first American in space.


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Shepard, Ernest (1879-1976), was a British painter and illustrator.


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Shepard, Sam (1943-...), is an American playwright and film actor.


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Shepparton (pop. 31,171) is a city in Victoria, Australia.


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Shepway (pop. 89,200) is a local government area in England that includes a popular tourist area on the Kent coast.


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Sher Shah Suri (1486?-1545) was an Afghan adventurer who ruled northern India in the early 1500's as one of the Suri dynasty.


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Sheraton, Thomas (1751-1806), was an English furniture designer.


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Sheridan, Philip Henry (1831-1888), was a leading Union general in the American Civil War (1861-1865).


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Sheridan, Richard Brinsley (1751-1816), was an Irish dramatist and politician.


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Sheriff and bailiff.  In England and Wales, the high sheriff is the chief officer of the Crown in each county.


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Sherman, Forrest Percival (1896-1951), an American navy officer, became the U.S. Navy's youngest chief of naval operations in 1949 at the age of 54.


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Sherman, John (1823-1900), was an American statesman.


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Sherman, Roger (1721-1793), was the only person who signed all four of the great documents of the American Revolution: the Articles of Association (1774), the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Articles of Confederation (1777), and the Constitut


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Sherman, William Tecumseh (1820-1891), was a leading Union general in the American Civil War (1861-1865).


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Sherpas are a people who live mainly in the mountains of the Himalayan range in northeast Nepal.


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Sherrington, Sir Charles Scott (1861-1952), a British scientist, shared the 1932 Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine with Edgar D. Adrian.


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Sherritt, Aaron (1857?-1880), an Australian, was described as "friend and bush telegraph of the Kelly gang."  He was killed by Joe Byrne, one of the gang.


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Sherwood, Robert Emmet (1896-1955), was an American playwright, journalist, and biographer who stressed the evils of war in his writings.


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Sherwood Forest, in eastern England, is associated with the legendary hero Robin Hood.


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Shetland is a group of more than 100 islands that lie about 160 kilometres northeast of the Scottish mainland.


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Shetland pony is one of the smallest breeds of horses.


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Shetland sheepdog is considered one of the most beautiful of all herding dogs.


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Shevardnadze, Eduard Amvrosiyevich (1928-...), was elected president of the country of Georgia in 1995 From 1992 to 1995 he served as chairman of Georgia's parliament.


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Shevchenko, Taras, (1814-1861), was a Ukrainian patriot who became Ukraine's most famous poet.


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Shi Huangdi, (259?-210 B.C.), also spelled Shih Huang-ti, was an emperor of China.


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Shiba inu is a small dog that originated thousands of years ago as a hunting dog in Japan.


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Shield was the chief means of personal protection in war from earliest times until the invention of firearms during the 1300's.


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Shih Tzu is a breed of toy dog related to the Pekingese and Lhasa apso.


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Shiites are the followers of the Shiah division of Islam.


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Shillam, Leonard (1915-...), an Australian sculptor, is best known for his work Proclamation Figure, which commemorates Queensland's centenary.


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Shilling was a coin in the British money system.


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Shingle-backed lizard derives its name from the large pine-cone-shaped scales on the upper surfaces of its body.


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Shingles is a painful disease in which a rash with small clusters of blisters forms on the skin.


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Shinto is the oldest surviving religion of Japan.


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Shinwell, Emanuel (1884-1986), was a distinguished British Labour Party politician and statesman.


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Ship is one of the oldest and most important means of transportation.


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Ship, Model, is a small copy of a full-sized ship or boat.


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Ship money was a form of tax levied in England to provide ships for the Royal Navy.


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Shipton, Eric Earle (1907-1977), a Sri Lankan-born mountaineer, took part in several expeditions to Mount Everest.


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Shipworm is a kind of marine mollusc that bores in wood.


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Shipwreck is the acciental destruction or loss of a ship.


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Shire was an administrative division of the Anglo-Saxon states of early England.


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Shiva is one of the two leading gods of Hinduism.


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Shivaji (1630-1680), a Hindu prince, founded the Maratha kingdom, in western India.


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Shoalhaven is a city on the Shoalhaven River on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia.


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Shock is a dangerous condition that can occur if the blood fails to circulate properly in the body.


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Shock absorber is a device that reduces shock or concussion.


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Shock treatment is a type of therapy for patients with serious mental illnesses.


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Shoebill is a large bird that many scientists believe is related to the stork.


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Shoemaker, Bill (1931-...), an American jockey, ranks among the greatest jockeys in the United States.


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Shogun was the title of the greatest of the Japanese feudal lords.


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Sholes, Christopher Latham (1819-1890), an American inventor and journalist, helped develop the first practical typewriter.


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Sholokhov, Mikhail (1905-1984), was a Soviet writer.


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Sholom Aleichem (1859-1916) was the pen name of Solomon Rabinowitz, the most widely read of all Yiddish writers.


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Shooting is a popular sport in many countries.


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Shopping centre is a group of retail outlets and business and professional offices built and managed as a unit.


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Shoran, an abbreviation for short range navigation, is an electronic system used for short-range aerial navigation.


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Shore, Peter David (1924-...), a British Labour politician, was secretary of state for the environment from 1976 to 1979.


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Short story is a work of fiction that is shorter than a novel or novelette.


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Short waves are radio waves that have wavelengths shorter than those of waves used in medium wave broadcast transmissions.


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Shorthand is a method of writing rapidly, using symbols or letters to represent the sounds of words.


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Shorthand machine is used to record speech rapidly and accurately.


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Shostakovich, Dimitri (1906-1975), was the most important Russian composer whose musical education and career took place entirely in the Soviet Union (see UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS).


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Shot-put is a test of strength in athletics.


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Shot tower is a structure used to make small shot for firearms.


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Shotgun is a shoulder gun that fires a cartridge that contains a powder charge and a load of metal pellets, called shot.


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Shotoku, Prince (573-621), was a Japanese statesman and religious scholar.


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Shoulder is the part of a person's body between the neck and the arm.


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Shoup, George Laird (1836-1904), was the first governor of the state of Idaho in the United States.


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Shove-halfpenny is an indoor game for two players or two teams.


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Shoveler, also called spoonbill, is a small duck of the Northern Hemisphere with a long spoon-shaped bill.


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Showjumping is a competitive horseriding sport.


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Shrapnel was a type of artillery shell invented by Lieutenant (later, Lieutenant General) Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842).


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Shrew is a small animal that looks like a sharp-nosed mouse.


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Shrewsbury, Battle of (1403), ended the revolt that Sir Henry Percy led to dethrone Henry IV of England.


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Shrewsbury and Atcham (pop. 90,900) is a local government district in Shropshire, England.


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Shrewsbury School, founded by King Edward VI in 1552, ranks as one of England's famous public schools.


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Shrike is a bird that can be recognized by its strong, slightly hooked beak, and by its habit of thrusting grasshoppers, mice, and smaller birds onto thorns, barbs, or twigs, much as a butcher hangs meat.


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Shrimp are delicate shellfish related to crabs and lobsters.


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Shrine is an object or place sacred to a religion.


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Shropshire (pop. 401,600) is an English county in the western Midlands, on the border with Wales.


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Shroud of Turin is a linen cloth that many people believe was the burial cloth of Jesus Christ.


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Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.


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Shrub is one of the four main groups of plants in terms of size and form.


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Shuard, Amy (1924-1975), was one of the finest English dramatic sopranos.


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Shuffleboard is a game played on a flat, smooth, surface.


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Shulevitz, Uri (1935-...), a book illustrator, won the 1969 Caldecott Medal for his illustrations for The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship.


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Shultz, George Pratt (1920-...), served as secretary of state in the administration of President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989.


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Shute, Nevil (1899-1960), was a British writer of best-selling novels of tension and adventure.


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Siamese twins, also called conjoined twins, are twins joined at some point of their bodies.


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Siazon, Domingo (1939-...), is minister of foreign affairs of the Philippines, a post he has held since 1995.


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Sibelius, Jean (1865-1957), was a Finnish composer.


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Siberia is a vast, thinly populated region in northern Asia.


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Sibley, Antoinette (1939-...), is a British ballet dancer.


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Sibyl was the name ancient Romans gave to any aged woman who could supposedly foretell the future.


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Sicilies, Kingdom of the Two, was the name of an early kingdom of Italy.


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Sicily (pop. 4,863,587) is an Italian island in the central Mediterranean Sea.


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Sickert, Walter Richard (1860-1942), was a German-born artist whose technical brilliance and bold style had a great influence on painting in the United Kingdom.


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Sickle cell disease, also known as sickle cell anaemia, is a hereditary blood disease that occurs chiefly among black people.


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Siddons, Sarah Kemble (1755-1831), was one of England's greatest tragic actresses.


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Sidereal time measures the rotation of the earth in relation to the stars.


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Sidgwick, Henry (1838-1900), was a British philosopher and teacher.


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Sidney, Sir Philip (1554-1586), was an author, courtier, and soldier during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England.


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Sidon was an important manufacturing and port city in ancient Phoenicia.


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Sieben, Jon (1966-...), an Australian swimmer, won a gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly event at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. in 1984.


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Siegbahn, Karl Manne Georg (1886-1978), a Swedish physicist, received the 1924 Nobel Prize for physics for his work with X rays and a method of analysis called X-ray spectroscopy.


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Siegfried was a legendary hero in medieval German literature.


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Siegfried Line was the name of two fortified lines of defence established by Germany in the 1900's.


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Siemens is the family name of two brothers from Germany who were inventors and industrialists.


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Siena (pop. 61,888) lies in the hills of Tuscany near Florence, Italy.


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Sienkiewicz, Henryk (1846-1916), was a popular Polish novelist.


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Sierra Leone is a small country on Africa's western "bulge," north of the equator.


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Sierra Madre, is the name of three mountain ranges in Mexico.


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Sieve of Eratosthenes is a method developed by the Greek mathematician Eratosthenes for identifying prime numbers.


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Sieyes, Emmanuel Joseph (1748-1836), popularly known as Abbe Sieyes, helped start the French Revolution with his booklet, What Is the Third Estate?  In this booklet, published in 1789, Sieyes insisted that the people should have a voice in government


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Sigismund (1368-1437) was Holy Roman emperor from 1410 until his death.


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Sign language is a language of gestures and hand symbols.


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Signalling is one way of passing information from one person or place to another.


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Signorelli, Luca di Egidio di Ventura de (1450?-1523), was one of the great Italian painters during the Renaissance.


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Sigsbee, Charles Dwight (1845-1923), was an American naval officer.


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Sigurd is the Scandinavian name for the legendary German hero Siegfried.


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Sikhism is one of the religions of India.


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Sikorsky, Igor Ivanovich (1889-1972), an aircraft designer and manufacturer, was a pioneer in the development of multiengine aeroplanes, helicopters, and transoceanic flying boats.


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Silang, Diego (1730?-1763), a Filipino patriot, became the hero of the people of Ilocos province on the northern Philippine island of Luzon, when he led a revolt against Spanish rule in 1762.


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Silbury Hill, in Wiltshire, England, is the largest mound made by ancient people in Europe.


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Silchester is a village in northern Hampshire, England.


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Silencer is a device that greatly reduces the exhaust noise of an engine.


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Silesia is a region in southwestern Poland, eastern Germany, and the northern part of the Czech Republic.


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Silica is silicon dioxide, a chemical compound consisting of silicon and oxygen.


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Silica gel is a sandlike substance widely used as a demoisturizer.


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Silicate is any of a group of minerals that contain silicon, oxygen, and one or more metallic elements.


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Silicon is a chemical element with the symbol Si.


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Silicone is any of a group of synthetic materials.


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Silicosis is a lung disease caused by inhaling crystalline silica dust.


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Silk is a strong, shiny fibre (threadlike substance) that is used to make cloth.


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Silk-screen printing is a printmaking technique in which ink or paint is forced through a piece of silk onto paper or other material.


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Silky oak is a fast-growing, handsome, Australian tree that grows in dry subtropical forests of New South Wales and Queensland.


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Silky terrier is a toy dog developed about 1900 in Sydney, Australia.


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Silliman, Benjamin (1779-1864), a leading American educator and scientist, founded the American Journal of Science in 1818.


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Sillimanite is an uncommon substance that belongs to the large class of minerals known as silicates (see SILICA).


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Sillitoe, Alan (1928-...), a British author and playwright, became famous with his first novel, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1958), about working-class life.


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Sills, Beverly (1929-...), an American singer, became one of the great operatic sopranos of the mid-1900's.


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Silo is a storage bin for chopped green plants used as livestock feed.


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Silt is a fine-grained or muddy material made up of tiny particles of rock that settle at the bottom of rivers and other bodies of water.


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Silver nitrate is a chemical used in medicine and industry.


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Silvereye, or white-eye is a small, greenish bird with white rings around its eyes.


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Silverfish is a small, wingless insect found in cool, damp places.


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Simcoe, John Graves (1752-1806), was a British soldier and the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada.


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Simenon, Georges (1903-1989), a Belgian-born author, created the fictional detective Jules Maigret, an inspector with the Paris police force.


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Simhat Torah is a Jewish festival of rejoicing in the Torah, or Law.


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Simile is a figure of speech used in describing or explaining something.


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Simon, Viscount (1873-1954), John Allsebrook, was a noted lawyer and politician.


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Simon, Sir Francis Eugene (1893-1956), a German-born physicist, specialized in low-temperature research.


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Simon, Neil (1927-...), is an American playwright.


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Simon, Paul (1942-...), an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and his childhood friend Art Garfunkel, formed one of the most popular folk-rock groups of the 1960's.


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Simon, Saint, was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.


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Simonds, Viscount (1881-1971), Gavin Turnbull Simonds, was an English judge and privy councillor.


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Simone Martini (1285?-1344), an Italian painter, was born in Siena, a leading art centre of the 1300's.


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Simonides of Ceos, (556?-469?  B.C.), was a Greek lyric poet.


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Simonstown (pop. 5,130) is a town and naval base situated on Simon's Bay, which is part of False Bay near Cape Town in South Africa.


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Simont, Marc (1915-...), is an American artist.


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Simplon Pass and Tunnel are important gateways through the Swiss Alps.


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Simpson, Bobby (1936-...), an Australian cricketer, was captain of Australia in 39 tests.


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Simpson, O. J. (1947-...), ranks as one of the greatest running backs in the history of American football.


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Simpson, Sir George (1878-1965), a British meteorologist, was noted for his research into electricity in the earth's atmosphere.


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Simpson, Sir James Young (1811-1870), a Scottish doctor, specialized in obstetrics, the medical treatment of childbirth.


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Simpson and his donkey became famous for helping wounded Allied soldiers during the Anzac landing at Gallipoli during World War I (1914-1918).


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Simpson Desert lies on the border of Queensland, South Australia, and the Northern Territory.


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Sin, Jaime Cardinal (1928-...), Roman Catholic archbishop of Manila, made a lasting contribution to the history of the Philippines.


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Sinai is the mountain on which Moses received the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) and learned much of the Hebraic law.


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Sinai Peninsula is the part of Egypt that lies east of the Suez Canal and the Gulf of Suez, and borders western Israel.


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Sinatra, Frank (1915-...), ranks among the most famous singers in the history of popular music.


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Sinclair, Sir Clive Marles (1940-...), a British company director, was a pioneer in the development and manufacture of microelectronic equipment.


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Sinclair, Harry Ford (1876-1956) was an American oil producer and refiner.


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Sinclair, Upton (1878-1968), was an American writer and reformer.


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Sing Sing is the name of a state prison in Ossining, New York, U.S.A. From 1970 to 1983, it was called Ossining Correctional Facility.


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Singapore is a small island country in Southeast Asia.


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Singer, Isaac Bashevis (1904-1991), a Polish-born author, won the 1978 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Singer, Isaac Merrit (1811-1875), an American inventor and manufacturer, did more than anyone else to make the sewing machine a universal household appliance.


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Singh, Vishwanath Pratap (1931-...), was prime minister of India from 1989 to 1990.


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Singing is the production of musical tones by the human voice with or without words.


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Singsing is a Pidgin word used loosely to describe a dance, usually accompanied by group singing, in Papua New Guinea (see PIDGIN).


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Sinn Fein is an Irish nationalist political party that played an important part in achieving an independent Irish republic.


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Sintering is the process of making metal parts from powdered metals.


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Sinus is a cavity in the bodies of animals, including human beings.


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Siphon is a simple device for carrying a liquid from one level to a lower level.


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Siple, Paul Allman (1908-1968), was an American Antarctic explorer and geographer.


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Siren is a device used to sound warning signals.


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Sirenia is the name of an order (group) of water mammals related to elephants and hyraxes.


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Sirens were sea nymphs in Greek mythology who lived on an island.


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Sirex wasp is a large, metallic-blue wasp that attacks radiata pines and other cone-bearing trees in Tasmania and southeastern Australia.


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Sirius, also called the Dog Star, is the brightest star that can be seen from the earth at night.


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Sirius was the escorting vessel of the First Fleet, which took Governor Arthur Phillip with a company of marines and about 700 convicts from England to Australia to found the penal colony of New South Wales.


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Sirocco is the Italian name for a warm wind that blows northward from the hot, dry Sahara or Arabian Desert.


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Sisal is the name for two tropical plants with swordlike leaves that yield a valuable fibre.


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Siskin is a small bird about 11 centimetres long.


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Sisley, Alfred (1839-1899), was an impressionist artist best known for his landscape paintings.


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Sisters of Charity are members of several Roman Catholic religious communities of women.


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Sisters of Mercy are members of a Roman Catholic order of nuns.


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Sistine Chapel is a famous chapel in the palace of the Vatican in Rome.


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Sisulu is the family name of two prominent black political leaders of South Africa.


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Sisyphus was the founder of the city of Corinth in Greek mythology.


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Sitar is a stringed instrument that originated in India or Persia.


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Sitting Bull (1834?-1890) was a famous medicine man and leader of the American Hunkpapa Sioux Indians.


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Sitwell, Dame Edith (1887-1964), was an English poet, critic, and biographer.


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Sixtus IV (1414-1484) was among the most notorious of the Renaissance popes.


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Sixtus V (1520-1590) was elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 1585.


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Skald, the Icelandic word for poet, refers to the Scandinavian poets of the Middle Ages.


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Skate is the name of a group of fish that have flattened bodies, very large pectoral (side) fins, and thin, whip-like tails.


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Skateboard is a small board mounted on four wheels and ridden in the sport of skateboarding.


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Skeat, Walter William (1835-1912), an English scholar, edited many works in Anglo-Saxon and Middle English literature.


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Skeet is an American form of clay target shooting.


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Skeleton is the flexible, bony framework of any vertebrate animal.


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Skelton, John (1460?-1529), was a great satirist during the early part of the reign of the House of Tudor in England.


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Skew line, in advanced geometry, is a line in space that neither runs parallel to another line nor intersects another line.


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Skiing is the act of gliding over snow on long, narrow runners called skis.


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Skimmer, also called scissorbill, is a bird related to the gulls and terns.


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Skin is the organ that covers the bodies of human beings and many other animals.


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Skin diving is the act of going underwater while holding the breath or while breathing from tanks of compressed air.


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Skin grafting is a surgical method of replacing skin to cover wounds on the body's surface.


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Skink is any of a large group of small lizards that live in mild and tropical regions.


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Skinner, B. F. (1904-1990), was an American psychologist.


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Skopje (pop. 503,449) is the capital of Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe.


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Skua, also known as great skua, is a bird of prey that lives for much of the year over the ocean.


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Skull is the bony frame of the head of human beings and other animals with backbones.


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Skunk is a small furry animal with distinctive black and white markings.


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Skunk cabbage is a soft-stemmed plant found in low swamps in eastern and central North America.


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Sky is the region of space visible from the earth.


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Skydiving is a sport in which one or more people jump from an aeroplane and fall freely before opening a parachute.


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Skye, Isle of, is a scenic island off the western coast of Scotland.


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Skye and Lochalsh (pop. 12,541) is a local government district in the western part of Highland Region, Scotland.


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Skye terrier is one of the oldest terrier breeds.


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Skyscraper is the name given to the world's tallest buildings.


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Slag is the nonmetallic material removed in the process of making pig iron, and in smelting copper, lead, and other metals.


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Slander is a spoken untruth that injures a person's reputation.


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Slaney is a river in the Republic of Ireland.


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Slang is an informal kind of language in which words and phrases are used in new or unusual ways.


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Slate is a fine-grained rock that can easily be split into thin, durable sheets.


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Slater, Samuel (1768-1835), a British textile worker, founded the textile industry in the United States.


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Slavery is a practice in which people own other people.


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Slavic countries are nations where most of the people are Slavs (see SLAVS).


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Slavs are any of several groups of peoples, most of whom live in eastern Europe.


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Sled dog is a dog used to pull sleds across snow and ice in northern regions.


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Sledge, or sled, is a vehicle that has parallel runners instead of wheels, so that it can move easily over ice or snow.


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Sleep is a period of rest during which the sleeper loses awareness of his or her surroundings.


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Sleeping sickness is a disease that attacks the nervous system and often results in a prolonged sleep.


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Sleepwalking, also called somnambulism, is a condition during which a partly awakened sleeper performs various physical activities.


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Sleet consists of transparent, solid grains of ice that are smaller than 5 millimetres in diameter.


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Slessor, Kenneth (1901-1971), one of Australia's most important modern poets, was foremost in bringing modernity into Australian poetry after a strongly nationalistic period.


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Slessor, Mary (1848-1915), a Scottish missionary, spent most of her life working on the Calabar coast of Nigeria, in Africa.


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Slieve Bloom is a range of mountains in Ireland.


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Slieve Donard is the highest peak in the Mourne Mountains in Down, in Northern Ireland.


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Sligo is a county in the province of Connacht in the northwest of the Republic of Ireland.


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Sligo (pop. 17,285) is the county town of the county of Sligo in western Ireland.


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Slim, William (1891-1970), was a British army commander in World War II (1939-1945).


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Slime mould is a tiny, simple fungus that usually grows on decaying wood and moist soil.


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Sling is one of the most ancient of weapons.


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Slipperwort is the name of several evergreen plants whose blossoms are shaped somewhat like slippers.


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Sloan, Alfred Pritchard, Jr. (1875-1966), an American industrialist, pioneered the development of roller bearings for automobiles.


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Sloane, Sir Hans (1660-1753), was an Irish-born doctor and botanist.


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Slobodkin, Louis (1903-1975), was an American sculptor and author-illustrator of children's books.


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Sloe, also called blackthorn, is a spiny, branching shrub related to the plum.


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Slot machine is a device that works when a coin is dropped into a special slot.


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Sloth is the common name of a family of South American animals which have a slow and peculiar way of moving about.


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Sloth bear is a big, shaggy animal with a mane of fur around its neck and shoulders.


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Slouch hats were universally adopted for the Australian Commonwealth forces in 1903.


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Slough is an industrial town in Berkshire, England.


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Slovakia is a country in central Europe that became independent on Jan. 1, 1993.


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Slovaks are a Slavic people who make up most of the population of Slovakia.


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Slovenia is a small, mountainous country in central Europe that declared its independence in 1991.


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Slovo, Joe (1926-1995), was a South African politician.


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Smallpox was the first disease conquered by human beings.


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Smart, Jeffrey (1921-...), an Australian artist, became known for his smoothly painted canvases with figures that leave a haunting impression of silent anguish.


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Smeaton, John (1724-1792), a British engineer, designed the third Eddystone lighthouse off the English coast.


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Smell is one of the most important and basic senses in animals and human beings.


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Smelling salts are used to relieve faintness and headaches.


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Smelt is a family of silvery fishes found in cool waters of the Northern Hemisphere.


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Smelting is a method by which metals are taken from their original ore.


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Smetana, Bedrich (1824-1884), was a Czech composer.


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Smilax is a group of woody or herbaceous vines with hardy, tuberous roots and veined evergreen leaves.


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Smiles, Samuel (1812-1904), was a British reformer and an advocate of self-education and self-reliance.


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Smith was the family name of two Australian brothers who made the first flight between the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia.


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Smith, Adam (1723-1790), is generally regarded as the founder of modern economics.


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Smith, Bessie (1894-1937), became one of the finest blues singers in the history of jazz.


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Smith, Fanny Cochrane (1834-1905), was probably the last of the tribal Aborigines of Tasmania, Australia.


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Smith, Francis Graham (1923-...), became the United Kingdom's Astronomer Royal in 1982.


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Smith, Ian Douglas (1919-...), served as prime minister of Rhodesia--which is now called Zimbabwe--from 1964 to 1978.


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Smith, James (1827-1897), known as Philosopher Smith, discovered the rich tin mine at Mt. Bischoff in the Australian island state of Tasmania in 1871.


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Smith, James (1897-1968), a South African expert on fish, was the first person to identify the coelacanth as a living species.


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Smith, John (1580?-1631), was an English soldier and adventurer.


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Smith, John (1938-1994), a British politician, was leader of the Labour Party from 1992 until his death in 1994.


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Smith, Joseph (1805-1844), was the founder and first president of the Mormon Church, officially called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


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Smith, Sir Matthew (1879-1959), was a British artist who became noted for his use of vivid colours applied liberally.


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Smith, Sydney (1771-1845), a British clergyman and writer, was a well-known wit.


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Smith, Sir William (1813-1893), was a British editor and scholar famed for his dictionaries.


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Smith, Theobald (1859-1934), was an American investigator of diseases in both human beings and domestic animals.


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Smith, William (1769-1839), a British geologist and engineer, discovered how to recognize rock formations by their fossils.


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Smith Act, or Alien Registration Act of 1940, makes it a crime to advocate the violent overthrow of the United States government or to belong knowingly to a group advocating it.


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Smithfield Market is the distributing centre for London's meat.


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Smithson, James (1765-1829), a British scientist, founded the Smithsonian Institution in the United States.


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Smithsonian Institution is an American, federally chartered nonprofit corporation of scientific, educational, and cultural interests.


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Smoke consists of finely divided solid and liquid particles that are suspended (held) in a gas.


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Smoke detector, also called smoke alarm, is a device used in homes and other buildings to warn people of smoke or a fire.


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Smoking is drawing tobacco smoke from a cigarette, cigar, or pipe into the mouth--and often into the lungs--and puffing it out.


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Smollett, Tobias George (1721-1771), was one of the great early English novelists.


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Smoot, Reed (1862-1941), was an American political and religious leader.


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Smooth fox terrier is a small, alert dog originally bred for use in fox hunts.


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Smuggling is the illegal transportation of people or goods into or out of a country or area.


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Smut is the name of a group of related fungi that live as parasites in certain plants and cause diseases in them.


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Smuts, Jan Christiaan (1870-1950), was a South African soldier, scholar, and statesman.


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Smyth, Dame Ethel (1858-1944), was one of the first women to distinguish herself as a composer.


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Smythe, Francis Sydney (1900-1949), was a noted British mountaineer, author, and photographer.


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Smythe, Pat (1928-1996), established herself as one of the best horsewomen and showjumping riders in the United Kingdom (UK).


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Snail is an animal whose soft body is usually covered with a coiled shell.


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Snake is an animal with a long, legless body covered by dry scales.


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Snake charming is an ancient form of entertainment in northern Africa, and in India, Pakistan, and other parts of southern Asia.


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Snake River is the chief branch of the Columbia River, in the U.S.A. It rises in Wyoming near the Continental Divide in Yellowstone National Park.


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Snakebite.  Snakes are naturally shy animals and only bite people if disturbed or trodden on by mistake.


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Snakeroot is the name of several very different flowering plants that grow in prairies and woodlands of North America.


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Snapdragon is a group of hardy plants with colourful flowers.


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Snapper is any of about 185 species of food fishes that live in tropical parts of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.


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Snead, Sam (1912-...), an American golfer, claimed a total of 165 tournament victories.


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Sneezewort is a hardy perennial plant that grows in damp fields and along roadsides in Europe, Asia, and North America.


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Sneezing is a sudden and violent rush of air out through the nose and mouth.


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Snell, Peter (1938-...), was one of the world's greatest middle-distance runners.


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Snipe is the name of a group of shore birds related to sandpipers, curlews, and plovers.


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Sniperscope is an electronic device with which a rifle can be aimed accurately in the dark.


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Snoring is a rough, broken sound made during sleep.


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Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) was a great medieval Icelandic poet and historian.


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Snouck Hurgronje, Christiaan (1857-1936), was the greatest Dutch scholar on Islam.


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Snow is a form of precipitation that consists of masses of tiny ice crystals.


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Snow, C. P. (1905-1980), was an Englishman of many talents who was most famous as a novelist.


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Snow blindness is a temporary decrease in vision caused by bright sunlight reflected from snow.


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Snow bunting is a sparrowlike bird of northern North America.


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Snow leopard, also called ounce, is a beautiful member of the cat family.


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Snow line is the lower edge of the permanent snow fields found on upper mountain slopes.


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Snowdon is a mountain in Gwynedd, Wales.


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Snowdrop is the name of a plant in the amaryllis family.


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Snowmobile is a motorized sledge that carries one or two people over ice and snow.


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Snowshoe is a device that enables a person to walk over deep snow without sinking into it.


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Snowshoe hare is a medium-sized hare that lives in North America.


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Snowy is a river in southeastern New South Wales and eastern Victoria, Australia.


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Snowy Mountains are the highest part of the Australian Alps, in southeastern New South Wales and northeastern Victoria.


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Snowy Mountains Scheme is an immense hydroelectric and irrigation project in southeast Australia.


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Snuff is a moist or dry powder made from the leaves of the tobacco plant.


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Soames, Lord (1920-1987), a British Conservative politician, was lord president of the council from 1979 to 1981.


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Soane, Sir John (1753-1837), a British architect, was appointed architect to the Bank of England in 1788.


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Soap plant is a tall herb found in the Southwestern United States.


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Soap sculpture is the art of cutting away portions of a bar of soap to create a raised design or a sculptured figure.


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Soapberry is the name of 13 species of trees or shrubs found in tropical and subtropical areas of Asia and North and South America, and on islands in the Pacific Ocean.


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Soapstone, also known as steatite, is a soft rock composed mostly of the mineral talc.


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Sobers, Sir Garfield (1936-...), a West Indian cricketer, became one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of the game.


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Social change refers to any significant change in the structure of society.


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Social class is a group of people in a society that have about the same social standing.


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Social Darwinism is the belief that people in society compete for survival and that superior individuals, social groups, and races become powerful and wealthy.


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Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) is a political party formed in Northern Ireland in August 1970.


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Social Democratic Party (SDP) was a British political party that existed between 1981 and 1990.


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Social psychology is the study of the psychological basis of people's relationships with one another.


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Social role is a set of relationships between a person and members of his or her circle.


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Social science.  Scholars generally identify three categories of knowledge: (1) the natural sciences and mathematics, (2) the humanities, and (3) the social sciences.


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Social studies is a programme of study in schools.


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Social welfare concerns public programmes that help people achieve a degree of economic security.


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Social work is a profession that includes a wide range of social services and programmes.


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Socialism is an economic system, a political movement, and a social theory.


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Socialization, in the behavioural sciences, refers to the complex process by which individuals come to learn and perform behaviour expected of them by society.


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Society Islands is a group of islands in the Pacific Ocean.


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Sociobiology is the study of the biological basis for the social behaviour of human beings and other animals.


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Sociology is the study of the individuals, groups, and institutions that make up human society.


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Socrates (469?-399 B.C.) was a Greek philosopher and teacher.


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Soda is the common name for a group of compounds that contain sodium.


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Soddy, Frederick (1877-1956), was a British chemist who worked on atomic structure.


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Soderblom, Nathan (1866-1931), a Swedish archbishop and professor, was a leader of the ecumenical movement among the churches of the world.


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Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na.


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Sodium hydroxide, also called caustic soda, is an important industrial chemical.


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Sodom and Gomorrah were two Biblical cities located near the River Jordan.


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Sofia (pop. 1,056,945; met. area pop. 1,142,582) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria, and the country's chief economic and cultural centre.


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Soft-coated wheaten terrier is a breed of dog that originated in County Kerry, in the Republic of Ireland.


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Soft drink is a flavoured, nonalcoholic beverage prepared with carbonated water.


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Softball is a popular game played by more than 30 million people worldwide.


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Soil is an important natural resource that covers much of the earth's land surface.


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Soke was an organization of land-owning peasants that had its origins in the Danish conquests of central England in the A.D. 800's.


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Sokolova, Lydia (1896-1974), was the first British ballerina to perform with Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company in Russia (see DIAGHILEV, SERGEI PAVLOVICH).


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Solander, Daniel Charles (1736-1782), was a Swedish naturalist.


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Solanum is an important group of plants that belong to the nightshade family.


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Solar energy is energy given off by the sun.


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Solar plexus is a common name for the coeliac plexus, a network of nerves in the back of the stomach.


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Solar system consists of a star called the sun and all the objects that travel around it.


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Solar wind is a continuous flow of gases from the sun.


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Solder is a metal alloy used to join metal surfaces together (see ALLOY).


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Sole is the name of a family of flatfishes which have twisted skulls so that both eyes are on the same side of the body.


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Solenodon is a rare animal that looks like a long-nosed rat.


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Solent is the channel off the south coast of England that separates the northwestern side of the Isle of Wight from Hampshire.


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Soleri, Paolo (1919-...), is an Italian-born architect and urban planner.


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Solid, in mathematics, is a geometric figure with the three dimensions of length, breadth, and thickness.


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Solid-state physics, also called condensed-matter physics, deals with the physical properties of solid materials.


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Solihull (pop. 195,100) is a metropolitan area in West Midlands, England.


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Solitaire is a board game of French origin.


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Solomon (?-922?  B.C.) was the third king of ancient Israel.


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Solomon Islands is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean.


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Solomon Islands are a chain of islands in the South Pacific Ocean.


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Solomon's-seal is a hardy plant that grows in the temperate zones of Asia and North America.


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Solon (639?-559?  B.C.) was a famous lawmaker.


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Solstice is one of the two moments each year when the sun is at either its northernmost or southernmost position.


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Solti, Sir Georg (1912-1997), was a leading symphony orchestra and opera conductor.


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Solution is a mixture of two or more individual substances that cannot be separated by a mechanical means, such as filtration.


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Solvent is a substance that dissolves another substance to form a solution.


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Solway Firth is an inlet of the Irish Sea on the west coast of Scotland.


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Solzhenitsyn, Alexander (1918-...), is a Russian novelist.


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Somalia is the easternmost country on the mainland of Africa.


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Somare, Michael (1936-...), leader of the Pangu Party, served as chief minister of Papua New Guinea from 1972 to 1975.


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Somerset is a county in southwestern England, bordering on the Bristol Channel.


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Somerset, Duke of (1506?-1552), Edward Seymour, was a brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII of England.


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Somerset, Lord Charles Henry (1767-1831), was appointed governor of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, in 1814.


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Somerset House was one of the first buildings in Britain designed specifically to house public offices.


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Somes, Michael (1917-1994), won fame as a dancer with the Sadler's Wells Ballet (now the Royal Ballet).


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Somoza Garcia, Anastasio (1896-1956), was a Nicaraguan dictator who ruled his country for 20 years before he was assassinated in 1956.


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Sonar is a device that uses sound energy to locate objects; measure their distance, direction, and speed; and even produce pictures of them.


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Sonata is an instrumental composition that consists of several movements.


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Sondheim, Stephen (1930-...), is an American composer and lyric writer who won fame for his musical comedies.


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Song is a musical composition usually sung by a solo voice.


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Song dynasty also spelled Sung, ruled China from 960 to 1279.


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Song of Hiawatha is a narrative poem by the American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.


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Song of Solomon is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament.


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Songhai Empire was a black trading state in Africa that reached its peak in the 1400's and 1500's.


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Sonic boom is a loud noise caused by an object--usually an aeroplane--flying at a supersonic speed.


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Sonnet is a poem of 14 lines with a fixed pattern of metre and rhyme.


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Sonometer is an instrument used to study the mathematical relations of musical tones.


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Sontag, Susan (1933-...), is an American essayist and novelist.


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Soo Canals permit ships to pass between Lakes Superior and Huron.


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Soong Ching-ling (1890-1981) was a prominent figure in the Chinese Communist government.


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Soot is a black or dark brown substance found in smoke.


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Sophists were members of an educational movement in the city-states of Greece during the second half of the 400's B.C. The Sophists were migrant teachers who taught grammar and public speaking, which was vital in such ancient democracies as Athens.


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Sophocles (about 496-406 B.C.) was the second of the three great Greek writers of tragedy.


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Sorbonne was a world-famous college in Paris.


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Sorell, William (1775-1848), a British army officer, became lieutenant governor of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania, Australia) in 1817.


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Sorensen, Virginia (1912-1991), was an American author.


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Sorghum is the name of a group of tropical grasses from Africa and Asia.


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Soroptimist International is the world's largest service organization for business, executive, and professional women.


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Sorrel is a name given to several plants of the buckwheat family.


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S O S is the accepted call for help from a ship in distress.


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Sotho is the name of a group of people who speak similar languages in South Africa, Lesotho, and Botswana.


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Sou was a small coin in the French money system.


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Sound-powered telephone is a communication device that operates only on the power of the sound that enters it.


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Sousa, John Philip (1854-1932), was an American composer and bandmaster.


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South Africa is the richest and most highly developed country in sub-Saharan Africa.


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South Africa, Art of.  Art in South Africa began thousands of years ago with the work of the San people.


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South Africa, Government of.  South Africa is a parliamentary republic.


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South Africa, History of.  The story of human settlement in southern Africa spans many thousands of years.


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South Africa, Languages of.  South Africa is a multilingual nation.


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South Africa, Literature of.  South African literature reflects a country of many languages and a great diversity of cultures.


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South African homelands were areas that the former South African government reserved for certain groups of people to live in.


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South America is the fourth largest continent in area.


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South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an organization of nations that includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.


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South Australia is the third largest state in Australia.


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South Bedfordshire (pop. 106,800) is a local government district in Bedfordshire, England, containing the ancient towns of Dunstable, Houghton Regis, Leighton Buzzard, and Linslade.


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South Bucks (pop. 60,300) is a local government area in Buckinghamshire, England.


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South Cambridgeshire (pop. 118,100) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England.


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South Carolina (pop. 3,505,707) is a state in the southern United States.


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South Dakota (pop. 699,999) is a state in the midwestern United States.


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South Derbyshire (pop. 71,100) is a local government area in Derbyshire, England.


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South Hams (pop. 77,300) is a rural local government area in Devon, England, administered from the town of Totnes.


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South Herefordshire (pop. 51,200) is a local government area in Hereford and Worcester, England.


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South Holland (pop. 66,000) is a local government area in Lincolnshire, England.


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South Kesteven (pop. 107,200), a local government area in Lincolnshire, England, contains the towns of Grantham, Stamford, and Bourne.


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South Lakeland (pop. 101,900) is a local government area in Cumbria, England.


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South Norfolk (pop. 101,400) is a local government area in Norfolk, England, that is predominantly low lying and agricultural.


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South Northamptonshire (pop. 66,700), is a local government area in Northamptonshire, administered from the ancient town of Towcester.


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South Oxfordshire (pop. 130,900) is a local government area in Oxfordshire, England, containing Didcot, Henley-on-Thames, Thame, and Wallingford.


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South Pacific Commission is an international organization that provides technical advice, training, assistance, and dissemination of information in social, economic, and cultural fields to 22 governments and administrations.


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South Pacific Games are open to competitors from all the countries and islands of the South Pacific area except Australia and New Zealand.


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South Pembrokeshire (pop. 42,100) is a local government area in Dyfed, Wales, administered from Pembroke Dock.


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South Pole is a term used for several invisible surface points in the Antarctic region.


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South Ribble (pop. 99,800) is a local government area in Lancashire, England.


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South Sea Bubble was a financial crash that shook the British government in the early 1700's.


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South Shropshire (pop. 37,800) is a local government area in Shropshire, England, administered from the historic town of Ludlow.


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South Somerset (pop. 139,400), a local government area in Somerset, England, includes the towns of Chard, Crewkerne, Ilminster, Wincanton, and Yeovil.


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South Staffordshire (pop. 103,900) is a local government area in Staffordshire, England, administered from Codsall, near Wolverhampton, in West Midlands.


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South Tyneside (pop. 151,900) is a local government area in Tyne and Wear, England, administered from the industrial town of South Shields.


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South Wight (pop. 56,400) is a local government area on the Isle of Wight, England, administered from Newport, in the neighbouring area of Medina.


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Southall, Ivan (1921-...), an Australian writer, achieved international fame for his children's books.


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Southampton (pop. 194,400), is a major seaport in Hampshire, England.


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Southcott, Joanna (1750-1814), was a British religious zealot.


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Southeast Asia includes the peninsula and islands east of India and Bangladesh and south of China.


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Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) was an alliance of eight nations that signed the Southeast Asia Collective Defence Treaty in Manila, the Philippines, on Sept. 8, 1954.


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Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) is a regional organization whose aim is to promote cooperation among the nations of Southeast Asia through education, science, and culture.


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Southend-on-Sea (pop. 153,700) is a popular seaside resort in southeastern Essex, England.


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Southern Cloud was one of Australia's first passenger- carrying aeroplanes.


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Southern Cross is a famous constellation (group of stars) in the Southern Hemisphere.


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Southern Cross was the aeroplane used by Charles Kingsford Smith on many of his pioneeering flights.


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Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, consist mainly of rolling savannah country suitable for sheep and cattle.


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Southey, Robert (1774-1843), was poet laureate of the United Kingdom from 1813 until his death.


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Southland is the most southerly area of the South Island of New Zealand.


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Southwark (pop. 196,500) is a borough lying in the Greater London area.


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Southwell, Robert (1561?-1595), was a Roman Catholic martyr and poet.


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Sovereignty.  The name "sovereign" was first applied to kings.


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Soviet is a Russian word that means council.


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Sow thistle is the name of a group of weeds that grow wild in Europe.


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Soweto is South Africa's largest urban black community.


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Soybean is a plant that supplies feed for animals, food for human beings, and raw materials for industry.


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Soyinka, Wole (1934-...), is a Nigerian poet, dramatist, novelist, and critic.


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Spaak, Paul-Henri (1899-1972), was a European statesman and the first Socialist prime minister of Belgium.


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Space exploration is our human response to curiosity about the earth, the moon, the planets, the sun and other stars, and the galaxies.


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Spain is a country in Western Europe famous for its colourful bullfights, sunny climate, and beautiful story-book castles.


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Spalding, Albert (1888-1953), was an American violinist.


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Spallanzani, Lazzaro (1729-1799) an Italian experimental biologist, showed that the air carries microscopic life.


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Spaniel is a large family of dogs made up of such breeds as the American water, clumber, American cocker, cocker, English springer, field, Irish water, Sussex, and Welsh springer spaniels, and the Brittany.


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Spanish America is the name sometimes given to the Spanish-speaking parts of Latin America.


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Spanish-American War marked the emergence of the United States as a world power.


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Spanish Armada was a fleet of armed ships that tried to invade England in 1588.


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Spanish bayonet is the name of a low, slender yucca tree that grows in the southern United States and in Mexico and the West Indies.


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Spanish fly is a type of blister beetle, not a true fly.


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Spanish language is the official language of Spain.


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Spanish literature is one of the richest and most varied of all European literatures.


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Spanish Main was the name English buccaneers and pirates gave to the northern coast of South America and to the Caribbean Sea and its islands.


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Spanish moss is a flowering plant that hangs from trees in the southeastern United States and in tropical Central and South America.


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Spanish Town (pop. 110,379) is a city in southeastern central Jamaica.


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Spark, Muriel (1918-...), is a British author best known for her short novels.


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Spark chamber is a scientific instrument that produces sparks along the paths followed by electrically charged subatomic particles.


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Sparks, Jared (1789-1866), was an American historian and biographer who was a pioneer in collecting original documents on American history.


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Sparrow is the name of many small, common birds that are mainly brown, white, and black in colour.


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Sparrowhawk is a bird of prey that lives in Africa, central Asia, and Europe.


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Sparta, also called Lacedaemon, the capital of Laconia, was at one time the most powerful city-state of ancient Greece.


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Spartacus (?-71B.C.) led a great slave revolt against the Roman Empire.


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Spas are towns situated on the sites of natural springs or wells.


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Spastic paralysis is a condition in which there is poor control over the muscles as a result of damage to the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord).


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Spavin is a common name for two unrelated diseases that affect the hocks of horses.


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Spawn is a word that refers to the eggs of fishes, molluscs, amphibians, and other animals.


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Speaker is the presiding officer in the lower house of national, state, and provincial legislatures in many countries.


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Speaker is an electric device that reproduces sound.


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Spear is one of the oldest weapons known to human beings.


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Spearfishing is the sport of hunting fish underwater with a spear or a gun that shoots a spear.


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Spearmint is a type of mint plant that grows in most temperate regions of the world.


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Special drawing rights are reserve assets entered in the books of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as credits for member nations.


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Special education is instruction designed to help both handicapped and gifted children use their full learning ability.


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Special Olympics is a year-round international programme of athletic training and competition for people with learning disabilities.


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Spectrometer is an instrument that spreads out light into a spectrum and displays it for study.


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Speech therapy is the treatment of speech problems and disorders.


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Speed reading is the ability to read rapidly and with good understanding.


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Speedometer is an instrument that indicates the speed of a car or other vehicle.


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Speedwriting is the registered trademark for a widely used shorthand system.


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Speelman, Cornelis Janszoon (1628-1684), served as governor general of the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1681 to 1684.


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Speer, Albert (1905-1981), directed the production of weapons in Nazi Germany during World War II (1939-1945).


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Speke, John Hanning (1827-1864), was a British explorer who explored much of eastern Africa.


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Speleology is the scientific study of caves.


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Spelling is the way we combine letters to write words.


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Spelthorne (pop. 87,100) is a borough and local government district in Surrey, England.


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Spemann, Hans (1869-1941), a German biologist, pioneered in the analysis of embryonic development.


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Spence, Sir Basil Urwin (1907-1976), a British architect, is best known for his work on Coventry Cathedral and the University of Sussex, at Brighton.


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Spence, William Guthrie (1846-1926), did much to advance the trade union movement in Australia.


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Spencer, Herbert (1820-1903), was a British philosopher.


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Spencer, Sir Stanley (1891-1959), a British artist, is best known for the paintings in which he depicts themes from the Bible in terms of contemporary everyday life.


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Spencer Gulf lies between Eyre Peninsula and Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.


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Spender, Sir Percy (1897-1985), as Australia's minister for external affairs in 1950, proposed the original idea that became the Colombo Plan (see COLOMBO PLAN).


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Spender, Sir Stephen (1909-1995), was a British poet.


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Spengler, Oswald (1880-1936), was a German philosopher of history.


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Spenser, Edmund (1552?-1599), was a great English poet of the Elizabethan era.


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Sperm whale is the largest of the toothed whales.


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Spermaceti is a waxy material obtained from the enormous head of the sperm whale.


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Sperrin Mountains are a range in Tyrone in Northern Ireland.


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Sperry, Armstrong (1897-1976), was an American author and illustrator of children's books.


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Sperry, Elmer Ambrose (1860-1930), was an American scientist, inventor, and manufacturer.


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Sphalerite is the most important zinc ore.


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Sphere is a solid figure shaped like a ball or globe.


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Spheroid is a solid figure that resembles a sphere but is not perfectly round.


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Sphinx is an imaginary creature of ancient myths.


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Spica is the brightest star in the constellation Virgo.


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Spice is the name given to food seasonings made from plants.


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Spice Islands are a group of Indonesian islands lying near the equator.


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Spider is a small, eight-legged animal that spins silk.


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Spider crab is the name of members of a family of crabs that look like spiders.


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Spider monkey is a large monkey noted for using its tail as an extra limb.


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Spielberg, Steven (1947-...), is an American film director and producer.


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Spielvogel, Nathan Frederick (1874-1956), was a schoolteacher in Victoria, Australia, who wrote poetry and short stories.


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Spier, Peter (1927-...), is an American illustrator of children's books.


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Spikenard, also called nard, is a plant related to the valerians.


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Spina bifida is a spinal defect that is present at birth.


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Spine is the part of the skeleton that extends down the centre of the back.


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Spinet is a keyboard musical instrument that was popular from the 1500's to the 1700's.


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Spinifex is either of two kinds of grasses that grow in dry, sandy areas, chiefly in eastern Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.


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Spinning is the process of making threads by twisting together plant or animal fibres.


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Spinning jenny is a machine for spinning yarn.


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Spinoza, Baruch (1632-1677), was a Dutch philosopher.


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Spiraea is the name of a group of herbs and shrubs in the rose family, which bear white, pink, or rose-coloured flowers.


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Spire is an architectural term used to describe the tapering structure at the top of a tower.


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Spirit of '76 is a famous patriotic scene painted about 1875 by the American artist Archibald M. Willard.


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Spiritual is a type of religious song made famous by the blacks of the Southern United States.


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Spiritualism is the belief that spirits of the dead can communicate with the living.


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Spirometer is an instrument that measures the amount of air a person breathes.


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Spitteler, Carl (1845-1924), a Swiss poet and writer, won the 1919 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Spitz is the name of a family of dogs of far northern descent.


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Spleen is a soft, purplish organ located behind and to the left of the stomach in human beings.


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Splicing is a method of joining two ends of rope or wire together without forming a knot.


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Split (pop. 235,398) is a city in southern Croatia that developed from an ancient Roman town.


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Spock, Benjamin McLane (1903-1998), an American doctor, became famous for his books on child care.


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Spode, Josiah (1754-1827), was one of Britain's greatest potters and the inventor of bone china.


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Spode china is a popular type of English porcelain.


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Spofforth, Fred (1853-1926), an Australian cricketer, became well known for his aggressive fast bowling.


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Spokane (pop. 177,196; met. area pop. 361,364) is an important commercial centre in eastern Washington, in the United States.


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Sponge is an animal that lives at the bottom of oceans and other bodies of water.


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Spontaneous combustion is burning that may occur when heat generated by chemical changes within a substance becomes trapped inside the substance.


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Spontaneous generation refers to the theory that certain forms of life, such as flies, worms, and mice, can develop directly from nonliving things, such as mud and decaying flesh.


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Spoonbill is a wading bird that looks like an ibis.


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Spore is a tiny, specialized structure that is able to grow into an organism.


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Sport, in genetics, is a term applied to the sudden appearance of certain new hereditary types in plants and animals.


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Sports are organized athletic activities played individually or in teams.


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Sports medicine is a field that provides health care for physically active people.


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Spot is a popular sport fish ranging from 15 to 25 centimetres long and weighing about 0.2 kilogram.


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Sprague, Frank Julian (1857-1934), was an American electrical engineer and inventor.


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Sprain is an injury to a ligament or to the tissue that covers a joint.


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Sprat is one of the smaller sea fish in the herring family.


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Spring is a device that recovers its shape after an outside force changes that shape and is then removed.


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Spring is a natural source of water that flows from the ground.


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Spring is the season between winter and summer.


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Spring, Dick (1950-...), was the Republic of Ireland's minister of foreign affairs and tanaiste (deputy prime minister) from 1993 to 1997.


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Spring, Howard (1889-1965), a British novelist, won fame with his best-selling novel My Son, My Son (1938).


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Spring beauty is the name of a wild flower that grows in the forests of North America from Nova Scotia to Georgia and from Saskatchewan to Texas.


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Springbok, also called springbuck, is an antelope that lives on the grassy open plains of southwestern Africa.


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Springfield (pop. 105,227; met. area pop. 189,550) is the state capital of Illinois, in the United States, and the centre of a rich farming region.


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Springhare is a rodent that lives in eastern and southern Africa.


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Springsteen, Bruce (1949-...), is a popular American singer, songwriter, and guitarist.


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Spruce is the common name of a genus of cone-bearing evergreen trees in the pine family.


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Spruce budworm is a highly destructive forest insect pest that lives throughout the northern United States and southern Canada.


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Spurge family, also called euphorbiaceae, is a family of herbs, shrubs, and trees.


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Spurgeon, Charles Haddon (1834-1892), was one of the greatest British preachers of his time.


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Sputnik is the name of a series of unmanned earth satellites launched into space by the former Soviet Union.


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Spy is anyone who gathers information of value to the political leadership of the country that person is serving.


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Spyri, Johanna (1827-1901), was a Swiss author of children's stories.


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Squall is a sudden rise in the wind, often with a marked change in wind direction.


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Squanto (1585?-1622), also called Tisquantum, was an American Indian of the Patuxet tribe who befriended the Pilgrims, the early English settlers of North America.


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Square, in geometry, is a plane figure that has four equal straight sides and four right (90) angles.


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Square dancing is a type of North American folk dancing performed by groups of four couples.


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Square deal originally referred to fair treatment in dealing playing cards and in other matters.


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Square measure is the system used in the measurement of surfaces.


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Square root of a number is a second number whose product with itself gives the original number.


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Squash is any of more than 40 kinds of gourd-shaped vegetables.


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Squash, also called squash racquets, is an indoor game that is similar to handball.


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Squatter is a person who lives on land but has no deed or other evidence of title to it.


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Squatters in Australia were originally pastoralists who occupied land illegally.


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Squid is a marine mollusc (animal with a soft, boneless body) that is similar to the octopus, nautilus, and cuttlefish.


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Squill is the name of several plants with bulbous roots.


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Squirrel is a furry-tailed animal with large, black eyes and rounded ears.


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Squirrel monkey is a small, brightly coloured monkey that lives in large groups.


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Sri Lanka is a beautiful island country in the Indian Ocean.


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Srirangapatnam, Storming of, was the last stage in the fourth and final war fought between the British East India Company and Tipu Sultan.


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Srivijaya was a great Malay empire in southern Sumatra, in Indonesia.


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St. John, Lord (1929-...), a British author and politician, was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the cabinet minister responsible for the arts from 1979 to 1981.


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Stadium is a large structure for spectators built around a playing field or arena.


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Stael, Madame de (1766-1817), was a prominent French critic and novelist of the early 1800's.


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Staffa is a small, uninhabited island in the Inner Hebrides, Strathclyde Region, Scotland.


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Stafford (pop. 117,000) is a local government district in Staffordshire, England, centred upon the towns of Stafford and Stone.


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Staffordshire is the Midlands county of England that includes the great industrial area around Stoke-on-Trent called the Potteries.


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Staffordshire bull terrier is a powerful, heavyset dog.


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Staffordshire Moorlands (pop. 94,000) is a local government district in north Staffordshire, England, administered from the town of Leek.


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Stag beetle is the name of a family of beetles in which some males have oddly enlarged jaws.


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Stagecoach was a horse-drawn coach that was used to carry passengers and mail on a regular route.


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Staghorn is the name of about 20 species of ferns, mainly from moist, tropical regions.


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Stain is a special type of dye used to bring out the grain in wood.


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Stained glass is coloured glass that has been cut into pieces and reassembled to form a picture or decorative design.


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Stainless steel is the name of a family of alloy steels that resist rust and other forms of corrosion.


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Stalactite is a beautiful stone formation found in some limestone caves.


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Stalagmite is a stone formation that rises up from the floors of caves, especially in limestone caverns.


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Stalin, Joseph (1879-1953), was dictator of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) from 1929 until 1953.


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Stalingrad, Battle of, one of the most important battles of history, was a turning point in World War II (1939-1945).


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Stamford Bridge, Battle of (1066), ended an attempted invasion of England by Harald Hardrada, king of Norway, and Tostig, the brother of Harold II of England.


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Stamp Act.  The British Parliament passed the Stamp Act in March 1765.


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Stamp collecting is one of the most popular collecting hobbies in the world.


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Stamp duty is an important tax in many countries.


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Standard, Battle of the, occurred during the period of anarchy that followed the death of Henry I of England.


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Standard & Poor's indexes are statistics that measure changes in American stock market prices.


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Standard of living usually refers to the economic level achieved by an individual, family, or nation.


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Standard Oil Company.  In 1859, Edwin L. Drake, a retired railway conductor, drilled the first commercially successful oil well in the United States near Titusville, Pennsylvania.


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Standard schnauzer is a powerfully built dog with a wiry coat, shaggy whiskers, and bushy eyebrows.


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Standard time is a worldwide system of uniform time zones.


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Standish, Miles (1584?-1656), went to America with the Pilgrim Fathers in the Mayflower.


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Stanford, Sir Charles Villiers (1852-1924), was a composer, conductor, and teacher.


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Stanislas, Saint (1030-1079), is the patron saint of Poland and the city of Krakow, where he served as bishop.


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Stanislavski, Konstantin (1863-1938), was the stage name of a well-known Russian director and actor.


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Stanley, Wendell Meredith (1904-1971), an American biochemist, did outstanding research on viruses.


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Stanley and Livingstone were two British explorers who excited the Western world with their travels in Africa.


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Stanley brothers were two American inventors and manufacturers who built the Stanley steamer, one of the most famous steam-powered cars.


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Stanthorpe (pop. 9,561) is the main centre of a fruit-growing area in Queensland, Australia.


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Staphylococcus is a common organism that belongs to a group of round bacteria.


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Stapledon, Olaf (1886-1950), was a major British author of science fiction.


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Star is a huge ball of glowing gas in the sky.


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Star Chamber was an English court of law during the 1500's and 1600's.


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Star-of-Bethlehem is a small, hardy plant that belongs to the lily family.


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Star of David, also called the Shield of David, is the universal symbol of Judaism.


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Star-Spangled Banner is the national anthem of the United States.


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Starch is a white, powdery substance found in the living cells of green plants.


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Starfish, also called sea star, is a spiny-skinned sea animal that has thick, armlike extensions on its body.


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Stark, Johannes (1874-1957), a German physicist, was noted for his discovery of the Stark effect.


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Starlight, Captain, was a leading character in the Australian novel Robbery Under Arms by Thomas Alexander Browne, who wrote under the name of Rolf Boldrewood.


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Starling is the name of about 80 species of noisy and active small- to medium-sized birds.


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Starr, Belle (1848-1889), has been considered one of the few female outlaws in the United States.


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Starr, Ringo (1940-...), is a British musician who gained international fame as a member of the Beatles pop group from 1962 to 1970 (see BEATLES).


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Starter is a device that sets an engine in motion.


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Starvation occurs when a living thing dies from lack of any food substance essential for life.


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State, Department of, is the executive department of the United States government that handles U.S. relations with other governments.


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Stately homes of Britain and Ireland are houses of the past that are valued for their beautiful architecture and craftsmanship or for their associations with an important family.


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Staten Island forms one of New York City's five boroughs (districts).


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Statesman is a person with a broad general knowledge of government and politics, who takes a leading part in public affairs.


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Static is a term for a disturbance in a radio or television receiver, usually caused by atmospheric electricity.


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Statice, also known as sea lavender, is a plant of Western Europe which grows in salt marshes.


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Statics is one of the two branches of mechanics, the science that studies the effects of forces on bodies at rest or in motion.


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Stationery Office is the central government agency for publishing and selling British official publications.


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Stations, in Australia and New Zealand, are large cattle and sheep farms.


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Statistics is a set of methods that are used to collect and analyse data.


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Statler, Ellsworth Milton (1863-1928) was an American hotel owner and operator.


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Statue of Liberty, in New York City, is one of the most famous landmarks of the United States of America.


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Statute of limitations is a law that sets a time limit for the starting of legal proceedings.


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Statute of Westminster (1931) established the basic legal framework for the Commonwealth of Nations.


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Staudinger, Hermann (1881-1965), a German chemist, was a pioneer in organic chemistry.


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Stead, Christina (1902-1983), is one of the best-known Australian novelists, and is widely regarded as the greatest.


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Stead, William Thomas (1849-1912), a British editor, was one of the pioneers of modern journalism.


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Steam is water that has been changed into gas.


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Steam engine is any engine that is operated by the energy of expanding steam.


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Steam hammer is a power-driven hammer used to make heavy forgings.


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Steamboat is a term used for steam-driven vessels that sail on rivers.


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Stearic acid is a valuable organic fatty acid that comes from many animal and vegetable fats and oils.


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Stedman, Edmund Clarence (1833-1908), was an American poet and journalist.


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Steel, Sir David (1938-...), a British politician, was the leader of the Liberal Party from 1976 to 1988.


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Steel band is a group of musicians who play a distinctive form of West Indian dance music on percussion instruments called steel pans.


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Steele, Sir Richard (1672-1729), an Irish-born writer, created the popular journalistic essays that were published as The Tatler.


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Steen, Jan (1626?-1679), was a Dutch painter.


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Steenbok, also spelled steinbok, is a small antelope that lives in southern and east-central Africa.


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Steeplechasing is a sport in which horses ridden by jockeys race over a series of obstacles on a course that is generally between 3 and 7 kilometres long.


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Steer, Philip Wilson (1860-1942), was an outstanding British landscape and portrait painter.


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Stefansson, Vilhjalmur (1879-1962), an Arctic explorer and author, emphasized that the Arctic region is of great military and strategic importance.


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Stegosaurus was a large, plant-eating dinosaur that lived about 150 million years ago in what is now the western United States.


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Steichen, Edward (1879-1973), was an American photographer who helped develop photography as a creative art.


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Steig, William (1907-...), is an American cartoonist and children's author who won the 1970 Caldecott Medal for Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.


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Stein, Sir Aurel (1862-1943), was a Romanian-born orientalist, explorer, and archaeologist.


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Stein, Gertrude (1874-1946), was an American author who introduced a unique style of writing.


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Steinbeck, John (1902-1968), an American author, won the 1962 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Steinberg, Saul (1914-...), is a Romanian-born artist noted for his humorous and thought-provoking pen-and-ink drawings.


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Steinberg, William (1899-1978), was a symphony orchestra and opera conductor who became best known as music director of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra from 1952 to 1976.


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Steinem, Gloria (1934-...), is an American writer and a leading supporter of the women's liberation movement in the United States.


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Steinmetz, Charles Proteus (1865-1923), was a German-born mathematician and engineer.


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Steinway, Henry Engelhard (1797-1871), was a German-born piano maker who founded the Steinway & Sons piano company.


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Stella, Frank (1936-...), is an American artist known for his abstract paintings.


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Stellenbosch (pop. 37,680) is South Africa's second oldest town.


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Stem is the part of a plant that produces and supports buds, leaves, flowers, and fruit.


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Stendhal (1783-1842) is the pen name of Marie Henri Beyle, one of the chief figures in the history of the French psychological novel.


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Stephen (1097?-1154) was an English king whose reign was so full of strife that it is called "The Anarchy."  The cause was a disputed succession.


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Stephen, Sir Leslie (1832-1904), was a British biographer, essayist, and editor.


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Stephen, Sir Ninian (1923-...), a distinguished Australian judge, was governor general of Australia from 1982 to 1989.


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Stephen, Saint, was the first Christian martyr.


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Stephens, James (1882?-1950), was an Irish author.


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Stephenson, George (1781-1848), was a British engineer whose inventions helped create the British railway system.


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Stephenson, Robert (1803-1859), was a British engineer noted chiefly for the great bridges and viaducts he built.


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Stepinac, Aloysius Cardinal (1898-1960), a Croatian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, became a symbol of resistance to Communism in Yugoslavia after World War II (1939-1945).


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Steppe is an area covered chiefly by short grasses.


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Stereoscope is an optical viewing device that makes photographs seem to have three dimensions.


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Stereotyping is the method of making metal plates for use in printing.


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Sterility refers to the inability to reproduce.


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Sterilization, in medicine and bacteriology, means the killing of germs.


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Sterkfontein Caves, in South Africa, are the site of some of the world's most important archaeological discoveries.


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Stern, G. B. (1890-1973), was a British author, who wrote novels, plays, short stories, and biographies.


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Stern, Irma (1894-1966), was a controversial South African painter.


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Stern, Isaac (1920-...), is an outstanding American violinist.


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Stern, Otto (1888-1969), a German-born physicist, received the 1943 Nobel Prize for physics.


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Sterne, Laurence (1713-1768), was a British clergyman who suddenly became famous as the author of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1760-1767).


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Steroid is any of a class of chemical compounds important in chemistry, biology, and medicine.


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Stethoscope, an instrument doctors use to listen to the sounds produced by certain organs of the body, such as the heart, lungs, intestines, veins, and arteries.


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Stetson, John Batterson (1830-1906), was an American hat manufacturer and philanthropist.


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Steuben, Baron von (1730-1794), was a Prussian soldier who served in the American army during the American Revolution (1775-1783).


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Stevenage (pop. 73,700) is a local government district and new town in northern Hertfordshire, England.


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Stevens, Theodore Fulton (1923-...), an American, served as Republican whip (assistant leader) of the United States Senate from 1977 to 1985.


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Stevens, Wallace (1879-1955), was an American poet.


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Stevenson was the family name of two American politicians, grandfather and grandson.


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Stevenson, Robert (1772-1850), was a Scottish civil engineer noted as a builder of lighthouses.


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Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850-1894), was a Scottish novelist, essayist, and poet who became one of the world's most popular writers.


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Stevenson, Thomas (1818-1887), was a Scottish civil engineer and meteorologist.


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Stewart, Douglas (1913-1985), an Australian poet, dramatist, and writer, became famous for his verse plays.


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Stewart, Jackie (1939-...), was one of Britain's most successful racing drivers.


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Stewart, James (1908-1997), was a lanky American film actor who spoke with a distinctive drawl.


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Stewart, Michael (1906-1990), served as British secretary of state for foreign and Commonwealth affairs from 1968 to 1970.


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Stewart Island is the most southerly of the three main islands of New Zealand.


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Steyn, Marthinus Theunis (1857-1916), was the last president of the independent Orange Free State before it became part of South Africa.


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Stick insect is an insect that looks like a twig, or the stem of a plant.


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Stickleback is a name given to a family of small fishes of the Northern Hemisphere.


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Stieglitz, Alfred (1864-1946), was an American photographer who was a pioneer in developing photography as an art form.


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Stilt is a wading bird with long, slender legs.


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Stimson, Henry Lewis (1867-1950), was an American statesman who held Cabinet posts under four presidents.


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Stimulant is a substance that causes an increase in the activity of an organ of the body.


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Stink bug is a kind of insect that gives off a foul odour when disturbed.


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Stirling (pop. 81,717) is a city and large local government area in central Scotland.


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Stirling, Sir James (1791-1865), was the first governor of Western Australia.


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Stirling engine is an experimental source of power that one day may be used in cars, boats, and other vehicles.


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Stivens, Dal (1911-...), an Australian novelist and short-story writer, produced The Tramp and Other Stories (1936), a collection of brief, vigorous stories written with blunt realism.


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Stoat is a small animal that lives in northern regions of the Northern Hemisphere.


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Stock is a name given to three different garden flowers.


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Stock, Frederick August (1872-1942), conducted the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1905 to 1942.


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Stock exchange is a market place in which members of the market buy and sell stocks and shares, and investments in companies or in governments.


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Stock ticker is an electronic display that shows purchases and sales of stocks and shares.


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Stockhausen, Karlheinz (1928-...), a German composer, has been a leading force in the development of modern music since the early 1950's.


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Stockholm (pop. 692,954) is the capital and largest city of Sweden.


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Stockings are articles of clothing that fit snugly over the feet and part or all of the legs.


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Stockport (pop. 276,800) is a manufacturing town and local government district in Greater Manchester, England.


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Stocks are an old device used for punishment.


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Stocks and shares are the right of ownership in a limited liability company.


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Stockton-on-Tees (pop. 170,200) is a town in northern England and a unitary authority with all the local government powers within its boundaries.


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Stoddard, William Osborn (1835-1925), was an American author, journalist, and inventor.


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Stoic philosophy flourished from about 300 B.C. to A.D. 300.


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Stoke-on-Trent (pop. 244,800), a city in west-central England, is the pottery centre of the United Kingdom.


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Stoker, Bram (1847-1912), a British author, wrote Dracula (1897), one of the most famous horror stories of all time.


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Stokes, Carl Burton (1927-...), was the first black to be elected mayor of a major American city.


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Stokowski, Leopold (1882-1977), was a famous British-born orchestra conductor.


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Stomach is an enlarged part of the alimentary canal.


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Stone, Edward Durell (1902-1978), was an American architect best known for his decorative use of concrete.


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Stone, Irving (1903-1989), was an American biographer and novelist.


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Stone, Melville Elijah (1848-1929), was an American newspaperman.


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Stone Age is a term used to designate the period in all human cultures when people used stone, rather than metal, tools.


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Stonechat is the name of a small bird that lives in Europe, Asia, and Africa.


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Stonefish got its name because it looks remarkably like blocks of weathered rock or coral.


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Stonehenge is an ancient monument on the Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, a county in southwestern England.


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Stoneware is a hard, nonporous kind of pottery.


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Stopes, Marie Carmichael (1880-1958), a British scientist and author, is best known for her pioneering work in family planning.


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Stoppard, Tom (1937-...), is a major British playwright.


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Stork is a large bird with long legs, strong wings, and a long, pointed beak.


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Storm usually refers to unpleasant or destructive weather, consisting of rain, snow, freezing precipitation, hail, strong winds, or a combination of these.


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Stormont Parliament is a building at Stormont, an outlying district of Belfast, in Northern Ireland.


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Stornoway is the chief town and seaport of the island of Lewis with Harris, off the west coast of Scotland.


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Story Bridge across the Brisbane River, in Australia, links the northern suburbs and inner city of Brisbane with the southern suburbs.


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Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of folk art.


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Stoss, Veit (1440?-1533), was a German sculptor.


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Stout, Rex Todhunter (1886-1975), was an American detective-story writer.


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Stout, Sir Robert (1844-1930) was premier of New Zealand from 1884 to 1887.


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Stow, Randolph (1935-...), an Australian novelist, set his novels in Western Australia.


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Stowe, Harriet Beecher (1811-1896), an American writer, is remembered chiefly for her antislavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin (1851-1852).


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Strabane (pop. 35,711) is a local government district in the west of Northern Ireland.


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Strabismus is an abnormal alignment of the eyes in which one eye is fixed on one object and the other eye is fixed on another object.


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Strabo (63 B.C.?-A.D. 24?) was a Greek geographer and historian.


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Strachey, Lytton (1880-1932), was a British biographer, essayist, and literary critic.


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Stradbroke is the name of two islands in Moreton Bay, near Brisbane in southeastern Queensland, Australia.


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Stradivari, Antonio (1644?-1737), was one of the leading instrument makers in music history.


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Strafford, Earl of (1593-1641), was an English statesman.


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Strait is a narrow channel of water between two large bodies of water.


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Straits Settlements, in southeastern Asia, were part of colonial British Malaya.


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Strand, Paul (1890-1976), an American photographer, helped develop photography as an art.


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Stransky, Joel, (1967-...), is a South African Rugby Union player.


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Strasbourg (pop. 255,937; met. area pop. 388,483) is a trading centre in France.


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Strassmann, Fritz (1902-1980), was a German chemist.


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Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT), a series of meetings between the Soviet Union and the United States, took place between 1969 and 1979.


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Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) refers to either of two arms agreements designed to reduce the numbers of long-range nuclear weapons.


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Strategic Defense Initiative was a United States effort lasting from 1983 to 1993 to develop a high-technology system of defence against nuclear missiles.


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Strategic Services, Office of (OSS), was a secret intelligence agency of the United States government during World War II (1939-1945).


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Stratemeyer, Edward (1862-1930), was an American author who created many popular characters in children's literature.


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Stratford-on-Avon (pop. 103,600) is a local government area in Warwickshire, England, that includes the towns of Alcester, Shipston on Stour, Southam, and Stratford-upon-Avon itself.


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Stratford-upon-Avon is a quiet market town, in Warwickshire, England, that has become famous as the birthplace of William Shakespeare.


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Strath is a Scottish word for a wide valley.


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Strathclyde Region takes up the western part of central Scotland.


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Strathkelvin (pop. 83,616) is a local government district in Strathclyde Region, Scotland.


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Stratified rock consists of layers, or strata.


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Stratosphere is a layer of the earth's atmosphere.


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Stratton, Charles Sherwood (1838-1883), was an American midget who became best known by his circus name, General Tom Thumb.


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Straus, Oscar (1870-1954), an Austrian composer, was the last of the successful Viennese operetta composers.


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Strauss, Johann, Sr. (1804-1849), was an Austrian composer who became known as the "Father of the Waltz."  He was also a violinist and the leader of a popular orchestra that played light, entertaining music.


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Strauss, Johann, Jr. (1825-1899), was an Austrian composer who became known as the "Waltz King."  Strauss composed nearly 400 waltzes that represent the peak of their style.


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Strauss, Levi (1829-1902), was an American clothing manufacturer.


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Strauss, Richard (1864-1949), was a German composer.


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Stravinsky, Igor (1882-1971), was a Russian-born composer.


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Straw consists of the dried stems of such grains as wheat, rye, oats, and barley.


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Strawberry, a small plant of the rose family, is grown for its tasty heart-shaped fruit.


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Strawflower is a tall annual herb with yellow, orange, red, or white flowers.


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Streamlining is the shaping of a body so that it meets the smallest amount of resistance as it moves through a fluid (liquid or gas).


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Streatfeild, Noel (1895-1986), was a British writer of children's stories with theatrical backgrounds.


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Streep, Meryl (1949-...), is an American actress known for her sensitive portrayals of a wide variety of characters.


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Street cries were a distinctive feature of city and town life in Britain until the 1900's.


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Streeton, Sir Arthur (1867-1943), was Australia's most celebrated landscape painter during the period from 1920 to 1940.


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Streisand, Barbra (1942-...), is an American singer and actress who became famous for her dramatic interpretation of popular songs.


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Strength of materials is a term used by engineers to describe how much force a material can resist.


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Streptococcus (plural, streptococci) is a genus (group) of bacteria that share certain characteristics.


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Streptomycin is an antibiotic that fights certain disease-causing bacteria.


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Stress is a body condition that occurs in response to actual or anticipated difficulties in life.


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Strike is a stopping of work by a group of employees.


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Strickland, Shirley (1925-...), an Australian athlete, competed successfully as a hurdler at the Olympic Games three times.


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Strindberg, August (1849-1912), a Swedish writer, is one of the key figures in the history of modern drama.


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Strine is a mock language that satirizes the Australian pronunciation of English.


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Stritch, Samuel A. Cardinal (1887-1958), was named a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Pius XII in February 1946.


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Stroessner, Alfredo (1912-...), served as president of Paraguay from 1954 until 1989.


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Stroke is the sudden loss of brain function.


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Stromboli is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northeastern coast of Sicily.


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Strontium, a chemical element, is a soft, silvery metal.


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Stroud (pop. 108,300) is a local government district on the edge of the Cotswold Hills, in southern Gloucestershire, England.


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Struve, Otto (1897-1963), was an American astronomer who contributed much to the study of stars.


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Strychnine is a bitter and poisonous drug obtained from the seeds of plants such as the nux vomica tree, found in India and Indonesia.


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Strzelecki, Sir Paul Edmund de (1797-1873), a Polish explorer and scientist, climbed and named Mount Kosciusko, the highest peak in the Australian Alps, in 1840.


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Stuart, Gilbert Charles (1755-1828), was an American artist.


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Stuart, House of.  Stuart is the name of a royal family of England and Scotland.


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Stuart, John McDouall (1815-1866), a Scottish-born explorer of remarkable courage and endurance, made several expeditions into the Australian interior and crossed the continent from south to north in 1862.


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Stuart Range is a series of low hills about 210 kilometres west of Lake Eyre in South Australia.


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Stubbs, George (1724-1806), a British painter, engraver, and anatomist, won fame for his paintings of horses.


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Stucco is a plasterlike material applied to outside walls.


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Studebaker is the name of an American family that became famous as makers of wagons and other vehicles.


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Study is an effort to learn about any subject.


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Stumpjump plough was invented because Australia's pioneer farmers needed ploughs that would not be damaged by stumps and other obstacles left in the ground after clearing.


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Sturgeon is the common name of a family of large fishes living in the fresh waters and seas of the North Temperate Zone.


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Sturges, Preston (1898-1959), was an American film writer and director.


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Sturt, Charles (1795-1869), a British military officer, made several explorations of Australia.


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Sturt Desert lies between Cooper Creek and the Diamantina River, in the northeastern part of South Australia.


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Sturt's desert pea is a spectacular plant that covers wide areas of the arid parts of Australia in a good season.


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Stuttering, also called stammering, is a form of speech characterized by repetitions of sounds or syllables, by prolonged sounds, by hesitations, or by complete verbal blocks when no sound is produced.


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Stuttgart (pop. 579,988) is the capital of the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg.


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Stuyvesant, Peter (1610?-1672), was the last Dutch governor of New Netherland, in North America.


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Sty is an infection of a follicle (sac) from which an eyelash grows or of a gland in the eyelid.


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Styrofoam is the trade name of one form of a plastic called polystyrene foam.


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Styron, William (1925-...), is an American novelist.


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Styx was a gloomy river of the Underworld in Greek and Roman mythology.


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Suardi Suryaningrat (1889-1959), a prominent Indonesian nationalist, founded the system of education that became known as Taman Siswa (garden for pupils).


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Suarez, Francisco (1548-1617), was a great Spanish theologian, and a founder of the philosophy of international law.


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Subbulakshmi, M. S. (1916-...), is an outstanding singer of Indian classical music.


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Sublette, William Lewis (1799?-1845), was an American fur trader and merchant.


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Sublimation is the process by which a solid substance changes into a gas, or vapour, without first becoming a liquid.


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Subliminal refers to stimuli that are so weak or last so short a time that a person is not aware of them.


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Submarine is a ship that travels underwater.


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Subpoena is a written legal order, or writ, to appear as a witness and give testimony in court.


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Subsidy is a payment of money or other form of aid by a government to a state company, industry, private company, or individual.


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Subtraction is a way of taking away a number of things from a larger number.


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Suburb is a district on the outskirts of a city or town.


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Succession wars.  Wars growing out of disputes over who should succeed to (inherit) a throne are called succession wars.


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Succulent is the name for a fleshy plant, such as the cactus, that has large stems or leaves in which to store water.


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Sucker is the name given to several kinds of fish closely related to the minnow family.


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Suckling, Sir John (1609-1642), was the most famous member of the Cavalier poets, a group associated with the court of King Charles I of England.


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Sucre (pop. 79,941) is the official capital of Bolivia.


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Sucre, Antonio Jose de (1795-1830), liberated Ecuador and Bolivia from Spain and served as the first president of Bolivia.


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Sucrose is the chemical name for common table sugar.


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Sudan is the largest country in Africa in area.


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Sudan grass is a variety of drought-resistant grass traditionally cultivated in Asia and Africa.


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Sudden infant death syndrome, also called SIDS, cot death, or crib death, is a condition that results in the death of an apparently healthy baby.


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Sudermann, Hermann (1857-1928), was a German dramatist and novelist associated with the naturalism movement.


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Sudetenland is a region located on the slopes of the Sudeten Mountains.


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Suede is a soft leather that has a nap on one side.


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Suet is the hard, white fat around the loins and kidneys of some animals, especially cattle and full-grown sheep.


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Suetonius (A.D. 69?-140?) was a Roman biographer.


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Suez (pop. 326,820) is an Egyptian city at the southern entrance to the Suez Canal.


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Suez Canal is a narrow, artificial waterway in Egypt that extends about 190 kilometres to join the Mediterranean and Red seas.


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Suez Crisis began on July 26, 1956, when the newly elected Egyptian president, Gamal A. Nasser, nationalized the Suez Canal.


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Suffolk is a county on the eastern coast of England.


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Suffolk Coastal (pop. 106,800) is a local government district in England on the Suffolk seaboard, containing large areas of forest and agricultural land.


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Suffragettes were British women who struggled during the early 1900's for the right to enjoy the same suffrage (voting rights) as men.


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Sugar is a food widely used as a sweetener.


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Sugar beet is a plant grown for the sugar contained in its large, fleshy root.


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Sugar cane is a tall grass plant that grows in tropical and semitropical countries.


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Sugar glider is a small Australian marsupial that can glide up to 50 metres between one tree and another.


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Suggestion, in psychology, is the acceptance of an idea by the mind without critical thought.


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Suharto (1921-...), an Indonesian army general, gradually took over control of his country from President Sukarno between 1965 and 1967.


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Sui dynasty was a Chinese dynasty (family of rulers) that governed from A.D. 581 to 618.


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Suicide is the act of deliberately killing oneself.


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Suir is a river in the southeastern part of the Republic of Ireland.


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Suit.  People who seek the help of a court of law to enforce their rights may be said to "bring suit."  Someone who has suffered injury at the hands of another may bring suit for damages.


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Sukarno (1901-1970), also spelled Soekarno, was a leader in Indonesia's struggle for independence from Dutch rule.


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Sukkot is a Jewish festival that begins on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Tishri (approximately September and October).


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Suleiman I (1494-1566) became known in the Western world as The Magnificent, but among his own people as The Lawgiver.


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Sulgrave Manor is an estate in Northamptonshire, England, which is regarded as the home of the ancestors of George Washington, the first president of the United States of America.


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Sulla, Lucius Cornelius (138-78 B.C.), reformed the Roman government.


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Sullivan, Sir Arthur Seymour (1842-1900), was a British composer best known for a series of comic operettas he wrote with the British playwright Sir William Gilbert.


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Sullivan, John L. (1858-1918), a famous American boxer, held the world heavyweight championship from 1882 to 1892.


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Sullivan, Louis Henri (1856-1924), ranks with Frank Lloyd Wright and Henry Hobson Richardson as one of America's greatest architects.


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Sully, Thomas (1783-1872), an American painter, was noted for his elegant portraits.


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Sully-Prudhomme, Rene Francois Armand (1839-1907), a French poet, won the 1901 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Sulman, Sir John (1849-1934), a British-born architect, created a fund from which is provided the John Sulman Medal.


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Sulphate is a chemical compound that contains a certain group of associated atoms of sulphur and oxygen.


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Sulphide is a compound of sulphur with some other element, usually a metal.


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Sulphonamide is any of a group of chemically related antibacterial compounds.


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Sulphur is a yellow, nonmetallic chemical element that is found in many parts of the world.


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Sulphur dioxide is a colourless, poisonous gas with a sharp odour.


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Sulphuric acid is a colourless, dense, oily liquid that is extremely corrosive.


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Sultan is a title of honour given to Muslim princes and rulers.


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Sulu Sea lies between the Philippine Islands and Borneo.


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Sumach is the name of a group of small trees and shrubs of the cashew family.


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Sumatra is the second largest island of Indonesia, after Kalimantan.


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Sumer, an ancient region in southern Mesopotamia (now southeastern Iraq), was the birthplace of the world's first civilization.


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Summer is the warmest season of the year.


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Summons is an order served (delivered) by an officer of a court.


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Sumner, James Batcheller (1887-1955), an American biochemist, crystallized the first enzyme.


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Sumptuary law.  The word sumptuary comes from a Latin word which means expenditure.


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Sun is a huge, glowing ball of gases at the centre of the solar system.


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Sun City is a tourist resort in North West province of South Africa.


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Sun lamp is an electrical device that produces artificial ultraviolet radiation.


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Sun worship developed in some lands as people came to associate the sun with the growing season and with warmth.


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Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), a Chinese statesman and revolutionary leader, fought to establish a republic of China.


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Sunbird is the common name of about 115 species of small songbirds.


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Sunburn is a painful inflammation of the skin caused by overexposure to the sun.


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Sunday is the first day of the week among Christian peoples.


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Sunderland (pop. 286,800) is a local government area in northeastern England.


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Sundew is an unusual plant that traps and digests insects.


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Sundial is the oldest known device for the measurement of time.


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Sundiata Keita (?-1255) ruled the Mali Empire in West Africa from about 1240 to 1255.


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Sunfish is the name for several kinds of fish.


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Sunflower is a tall plant known for its showy yellow flowers.


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Sunni Ali (?-1492?) ruled the Songhai Empire in West Africa from 1464 to 1492.


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Sunnis are the followers of the Sunni division of the Islamic religion.


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Sunshine Coast, in Australia, is a region of 3,107 square kilometres that includes the shires of Landsborough, Maroochy, and Noosa, in southeastern Queensland.


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Sunspot is a relatively dark area on the surface of the sun.


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Sunstroke is the common name for conditions that result from overheating the body.


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Supercomputer is the fastest type of computer.


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Superconductivity is a phenomenon in which certain metals, alloys, and ceramics conduct electricity without resistance.


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Supermarket is a large store that sells food and various other products.


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Supernova is a star that explodes and becomes billions of times as bright as the sun before gradually fading.


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Superstition is a traditional belief that a certain action or event can cause or foretell an apparently unrelated event.


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Suppe, Franz von (1819-1895), was an Austrian composer known for his operettas in the Viennese style.


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Supply and demand are economic forces that determine the amount of a product that is produced and its price.


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Supremacy, Acts of, passed in 1534 and 1559, were two steps in the development of the Church in England away from papal control and towards the establishment of the Church of England.


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Surabaya (pop. 2,159,170) is the second largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta.


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Surapati (?-1706), a Balinese soldier, rose from being a slave to the position of a semi-independent ruler in Java in the 1600's.


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Surf lifesaving is an Australian term for a movement made up of trained voluntary lifesavers who patrol ocean beaches each weekend to make them safe for bathers.


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Surface tension is a force that causes the surface of liquids to behave in certain ways.


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Surfers Paradise (22,484), a tourist centre in Australia situated on Queensland's popular Gold Coast, is famous for its many hotels and its sporting facilities.


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Surfing is an exciting water sport in which a person rides waves, usually in the ocean.


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Surgery is the branch of medicine that deals with the treatment of disease, deformities, or injuries by operations.


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Surinam toad is an odd-shaped toad known for the unusual way it raises its young.


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Suriname is a country on the northeast coast of South America.


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Surrealism is a movement in art and literature.


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Surrey, an English county that lies south of London, has much beautiful scenery and many fine old buildings.


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Surrey, Earl of (1517?-1547), is usually linked in literary history with Sir Thomas Wyatt.


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Surrey Heath (pop. 78,300) is a local government district in Surrey, England, administered from the town of Camberley.


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Surtees, John (1934-...), British motorcyclist and racing driver, was world champion for 500 cc (cubic centimetre capacity) motorcycling in 1956, 1958, 1959, and 1960.


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Surveying is the technique of measuring to determine the position of points, or of marking out points and boundaries.


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Susa, also called Shush, was once the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Elam and the Persian Empire.


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Sushruta was an Indian doctor and writer who lived in the A.D. 400's.


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Suslov, Mikhail Andreyevich, (1902-1982), was a leading Soviet Communist Party official.


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Suspension is a mixture in which the particles of a substance separate from a liquid or gas slowly.


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Sussex is a large county on the southeastern coast of England.


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Sussex spaniel originated in England, and gets its name from the county of Sussex, in southern England.


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Sutan Sjahrir (1909-1966) was an early leader in the struggle for Indonesian independence from Dutch rule.


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Sutcliff, Rosemary (1920-1992), a British author, won a wide reputation as a writer of children's novels.


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Sutcliffe, Bert (1923-...), was a brilliant left-handed opening batsman.


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Sutherland (pop. 13,743) is a local government district in the extreme north of Highland Region, Scotland.


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Sutherland, Graham (1903-1980), one of the United Kingdom's best-known painters, gained fame primarily as a painter of atmosphere in landscapes.


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Sutherland, Dame Joan (1926-...), an Australian operatic soprano, won acclaim for her brilliant vocal technique.


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Sutherland, Margaret (1897-1984), was the first Australian composer to write modern music.


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Sutherland Falls is the fifth highest mountain waterfall in the world.


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Sutlej River is the longest branch of the Indus, the chief river of Pakistan.


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Suttee is a Hindu custom once widely practised in India.


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Sutton (pop. 164,300) is a borough within the Greater London area.


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Sutton Hoo is a hill at Sutton, in Suffolk, England, on the east bank of the River Deben, opposite the town of Woodbridge.


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Suture is the line formed where bones are joined in an immovable joint, as in the skull.


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Suva (pop. 71,608) is the capital and largest city of Fiji, a country made up of more than 800 islands in the South Pacific Ocean.


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Suzhou (pop. 3,273,010) is an ancient Chinese city known for its canals, gardens, and pagodas (temples).


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Suzman, Helen (1917-...), became South Africa's best-known woman politician.


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Suzuki method is a way of teaching children how to play certain musical instruments at a very early age.


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Svalbard is a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean, about midway between Norway and the North Pole.


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Svedberg, Theodor (1884-1971), a Swedish chemist, became famous for developing the ultracentrifuge.


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Swagman was a farm worker who walked from job to job in Australia during the 1800's.


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Swahili are an African people of mixed Bantu and Arab ancestry.


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Swain reefs lie about 193 kilometres off the eastern coast of Australia.


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Swale (pop. 113,700) is a local government district in the north of Kent, England.


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Swammerdam, Jan (1637-1680), was a Dutch anatomist and zoologist.


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Swamp is a wet area of land where trees and shrubs grow and where surface water is present for at least part of the year.


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Swan is a water bird closely related to ducks and geese.


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Swan, Sir Joseph Wilson (1828-1914), was a leading English chemist, electrical engineer, and inventor.


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Swan Hill (pop. 9,358), is a city on the Murray River in Victoria, Australia.


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Swan River is a river in Western Australia.


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Swan River Colony was established on the present sites of Fremantle and Perth in Western Australia.


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Swanscombe man was a type of prehistoric human being who lived about 350,000 years ago.


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Swansea (pop. 182,100) is an important industrial centre and seaport in South Wales.


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Swastika is an ancient symbol often used as an ornament or a religious sign.


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Swaziland is a small, beautiful country in southern Africa.


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Sweatshop is a term for makeshift factories where poverty-stricken people--mostly women and children--work at top speed for 12 or more hours a day in an effort to earn a living wage.


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Swede is a plant with an edible root that tastes like a turnip.


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Sweden is a prosperous industrial nation in northern Europe.


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Swedenborg, Emanuel (1688-1772), was a Swedish scientist, inventor, and mystical religious leader (see SWEDENBORGIANS).


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Swedenborgians follow the formulation of Christian doctrine as set forth by Emanuel Swedenborg, a Swedish theologian.


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Swedish vallhund, or Vastgotaspets, is a native dog of southern Sweden.


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Sweet alyssum is a low, spreading plant with clusters of tiny flowers.


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Sweet cicely is a European perennial plant related to cow parsley, but it is a stouter plant that grows up to 1 metre high.


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Sweet flag is a tall reedlike plant of the arum family.


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Sweet gum, also called red gum, is a tall, stately tree.


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Sweet pea is a favourite garden flower that belongs to the same family as the kind of pea that we eat.


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Sweet potato is a vegetable with large, fleshy, edible roots.


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Sweet William is a popular garden plant that is native to northern Europe and Asia.


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Sweetbread is a tasty meat that comes from certain internal organs in young animals.


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Sweets are many kinds of popular sweet-tasting food.


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Swettenham, Sir Frank (1850-1946), a British administrator, is widely acknowledged as "the father and founder of modern Malaya."  In 1874, he was appointed assistant resident (adviser) of Selangor.


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Swift is a small bird that can fly for many hours with its long, strong wings.


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Swift is the name of certain small, quick-moving lizards.


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Swift, Frank (1913-1958), was a notable British soccer player.


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Swift, Jonathan (1667-1745), an English author, wrote Gulliver's Travels (1726), a masterpiece of comic literature.


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Swimming is the act of moving through water by using the arms and legs.


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Swimming pool.  Millions of people in many countries enjoy the fun and recreation provided by swimming pools.


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Swinburne, Algernon Charles (1837-1909), was one of the major English poets of the 1800's.


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Swindon is the largest town in Wiltshire, England.


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Swiss is a fine, sheer cotton cloth that was first made in Switzerland.


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Swiss chard is a garden vegetable plant.


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Swiss Guard.  This famous body of Swiss soldiers grew out of a group of 250 Swiss who were picked to guard the pope in the late 1400's.


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Swithin, Saint, also spelled Swithun, was a bishop of Winchester, England.


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Switzerland is a small European country known for its beautiful, snow-capped mountains and freedom-loving people.


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Swordfish is a large ocean fish with a long, rounded body and large eyes.


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Sycamore is a type of maple tree native to central and southeastern Europe.


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Sydenham, Thomas (1624-1689), an English doctor, was one of the most widely admired doctors of his time.


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Sydney is Australia's oldest and largest city.


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Sydney was a cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy during World War II (1939-1945).


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Sydney Cove is part of Sydney Harbour, in New South Wales, Australia.


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Sydney Harbour, in New South Wales, Australia, is one of the finest natural harbours in the world.


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Sydney Harbour Bridge, in New South Wales, is Australia's most famous bridge, and one of the longest single-span bridges in the world.


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Sydney Harbour Tunnel, in New South Wales, Australia, is a 2.3-kilometre long, four-lane link between freeways north and south of Sydney Harbour.


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Sydney-Hobart yacht race is one of the world's classic ocean racing events.


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Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, is often considered one of the great buildings of the 1900's.


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Syed Sheik al Hadi (1862?-...?) was a prominent Islamic writer, publisher, and editor in Malaya during the early 1900's.


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Sylvester I, Saint (?-335), was elected pope in 314.


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Sylvester II (940-1003), elected pope in 999, became the first French pope.


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Symbol is anything that communicates a fact or an idea or that stands for an object.


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Symbolism is a literary movement started by a group of French poets between 1885 and 1895.


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Syme is the name of a family connected with The Age, a newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia, since the 1800's.


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Symons, George James (1838-1900), a meteorologist, started the collection of British rainfall statistics in 1860.


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Symphonic poem is an orchestral composition that tries to portray a nonmusical idea in music.


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Symphony is a large-scale musical composition for an orchestra.


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Synagogue is the Jewish house of worship and the centre of Jewish education and social life.


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Synchro-cyclotron is a device that accelerates protons or heavier nuclear particles to high energies.


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Synchrotron is a device that accelerates electrons and protons to high energies.


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Syndicalism was a revolutionary labour movement that achieved its greatest popularity in France during the late 1800's and early 1900's.


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Synge, John Millington (1871-1909), was an Irish dramatist.


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Synge, Richard Laurence Millington (1914-...), a British biochemist, shared in 1952 Nobel Prize for chemistry with A. J. P. Martin for the invention of partition chromatography.


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Synonym is a word that has the same, or nearly the same, meaning as another word.


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Syntax is a description of the way words are put together to make sentences.


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Synthesizer is a musical instrument that produces sounds electronically.


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Synthetic fuel is fuel that can be substituted for crude oil and natural gas.


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Synthetics are artificially created substances in which two or more elements are chemically combined to make a new compound.


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Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease that can lead to a variety of severe symptoms if left untreated.


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Syracuse, on the southeastern coast of Sicily, was one of the most powerful cities of the ancient Greek world.


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Syracuse (pop. 163,860; met. area pop. 659,864) is an industrial centre of the state of New York, U.S.A. It was once called Salt City because it produced so much salt.


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Syria is an Arab country at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea.


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Syrian Desert is a triangular desert plateau that extends northward from the An Nafud Desert of northern Arabia.


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Systems analysis is the study of how the parts of a system work together.


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Szczecin, or in German, Stettin (pop. 414,200), is the leading port of Poland.


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Szell, George (1897-1970), was a Hungarian-born musician known principally as a symphony orchestra conductor.


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Szent-Gyorgyi, Albert (1893-1986), an American biochemist, discovered actin, a muscle protein.


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Szigeti, Joseph (1892-1973), was a famous Hungarian-born violinist.


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Szilard, Leo (1898-1964), an American physicist, pioneered work in the development of nuclear energy.


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T is the 20th letter of the English alphabet.


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Tabernacle, also called the Tent of Meeting, was the centre of worship of the Israelites during early Biblical times.


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Table Mountain is one of South Africa's best known landmarks.


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Table tennis, or ping-pong, is a lively indoor game that resembles a miniature version of tennis.


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Taboo is an action, object, person, or place forbidden by law or culture.


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Tabriz (pop. 852,296), is the fourth largest city in Iran.


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Tache, Sir Etienne-Paschal (1795-1865), was a Canadian statesman.


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Tachometer is a device that is used for measuring the speed of rotation of a spinning shaft or wheel, usually in terms of revolutions per minute (rpm).


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Tachycardia is an unusually fast heartbeat, sometimes referred to as palpitations.


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Tachyon is a hypothetical elementary particle.


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Tacitus, Cornelius (c. A.D. 55-120), was one of the world's greatest historians.


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Tacloban (pop. 137,190) is the chief city of Leyte Island in the Philippines.


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Taconite is a hard rock that contains about 30 per cent iron in the form of fine specks of iron oxide.


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Taegu (pop. 2,229,040) is the third largest city in South Korea.


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Tael was a Chinese weight indicating a unit of value in silver.


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Taff-Ely (pop. 95,400) is a local government area in Mid Glamorgan, Wales.


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Taffeta is a smooth, rather stiff cloth of rayon, nylon, or silk.


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Taft, Lorado (1860-1936), was an American sculptor, teacher, and writer.


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Taft, William Howard (1857-1930), was president of the United States from 1909 to 1913.


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Taglioni, Marie (1804-1884), was one of the most famous ballerinas of the early 1800's.


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Tagore, Rabindranath (1861-1941), one of the greatest poets of modern India, received the 1913 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Tagus River, also called Tajo, is the longest river of the Iberian Peninsula of southwest Europe.


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Tahiti, an island in the South Pacific Ocean, is known for its exotic beauty and tropical climate.


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Tahr is the name of three species of goatlike antelopes.


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Tail is the part of the body of a vertebrate animal that extends backward beyond the pelvis.


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Tailorbird is a songbird found in tropical regions of China, India, Malaya, and the Philippines.


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Taine, Hippolyte Adolphe (1828-1893), was a French intellectual and critic.


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Taipan is Australia's largest and most feared venomous snake.


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Taipei (pop. 2,637,100), is the capital and largest city of the island country of Taiwan.


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Taira was the name of a family that ruled Japan from about 1160 to 1185.


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Taiwan is a mountainous island in the South China Sea, about 140 kilometres off the Chinese coast.


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Taj Mahal is one of the most beautiful and costly tombs in the world.


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Tajikistan, also spelled Tadzhikistan, is a mountainous country in central Asia.


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Takahe is a flightless bird that lives only in New Zealand.


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Takdir Alisjahbana, Sutan (1908-1994), an Indonesian writer and philosopher, became known for his pioneering studies of the Indonesian language and its literature.


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Takin is a large hoofed mammal closely related to goats, sheep, and musk oxen.


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Taklimakan Desert lies in northwestern China between the Tian Shan and Kunlun mountains.


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Talbotype is a picture made by an early photographic process.


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Talc is a soft mineral found in flat smooth layers of rock, and in compact masses.


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Talent is a famous old unit of weight and value.


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Talgai skull, a partly fossilized human skull, was discovered in 1884 near Warwick on the Darling Downs in Queensland, Australia.


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Tallchief, Maria (1925-...), became the first American-trained ballerina of international importance.


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Talleyrand (1754-1838) was a French statesman famous for his diplomatic achievements under Napoleon I and at the Congress of Vienna.


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Tallinn (pop. 458,000) is the capital and largest city of Estonia.


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Tallis, Thomas (1505?-1585), was an English composer of religious vocal music during the Renaissance period.


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Tallon, Don (1916-1984), an Australian cricketer, was one of the leading wicket keepers in test cricket in the late 1940's and the 1950's.


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Tallow is a fatty substance used in many products.


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Tallowtree is the name of several trees that produce a waxy substance that can be used like tallow for making candles.


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Talmadge, Eugene (1884-1946), was an American Democratic politician.


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Talmadge, Herman Eugene (1913-...), an American politician, is a member of the Democratic Party.


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Talmud is a collection of Jewish religious and civil laws, together with scholarly interpretations of their meaning.


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Tamarin is a type of small monkey that lives in tropical rainforests in Central and South America.


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Tamarind is an attractive evergreen tree that grows in the tropics.


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Tamarisk is a small tree or shrub which grows on salty ground.


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Tamayo, Rufino (1899-1991), was an important Mexican painter.


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Tambo, Oliver (1917-1993), led the African National Congress (ANC) in exile after it was banned in South Africa in 1960.


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Tamborine Mountains form a chain stretching 19 kilometres in Queensland, Australia.


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Tambourine is a percussion instrument that consists of a narrow wooden or metal hoop with a thin membrane (sheet) of plastic or animal skin stretched across one side.


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Tamerlane (1336?-1405) was an Asian conqueror who created by the sword a vast but short-lived empire.


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Tameside (pop. 211,700) is a local government area in Greater Manchester, England.


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Tamil Nadu is a state in southeast India.


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Tamm, Igor Yevgenevich (1895-1971), a Soviet physicist, shared the 1958 Nobel Prize for physics with Pavel A. Cherenkov and Ilya M. Frank.


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Tampa, Florida (pop. 280,015), is a major United States seaport, an important commercial and industrial centre, and Florida's third largest city.


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Tampere (pop. 176,149; met. area pop. 218,722) is Finland's second largest city and industrial centre.


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Tampico (pop. 272,690) is the second most important port in Mexico, after Veracruz.


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Tamworth (pop. 68,900) is a borough in Staffordshire, England.


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Tamworth (pop. 35,068) is a city in New South Wales, Australia.


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Tan Chee Khoon (1919-...), a popular politician, became known as Mr. Opposition because of the role he played in the Malaysian parliament.


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Tan Cheng Lock (1883-1960), later known as Sir Cheng-lock Tan, was a Chinese political leader in Malaya.


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Tan Kah Kee (1874-1961), a Singapore businessman, was one of Southeast Asia's most outstanding industrialists, philanthropists, and political leaders.


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Tan Malaka (1896?-1949), an Indonesian Communist, played an important part in his country's struggle for independence from Dutch rule.


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Tan Tock Seng (1798-1850) became a leader of the Chinese community in Singapore.


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Tanager is the common name given to a subfamily of American birds, many of which have brilliant red, blue, or green feathers.


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Tanami Desert Sanctuary is one of Australia's largest wildlife reserves, covering more than 3.5 million hectares of the Northern Territory.


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Tandridge (pop. 75,000) is a local government district in Surrey, England.


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Tang dynasty was a series of rulers who governed China from A.D. 618 to 907.


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Tange, Kenzo (1913-...), is a Japanese architect.


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Tangelo is a mandarin citrus fruit that results from cross-pollination between a tangerine and a grapefruit.


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Tangerine is the popular name for a citrus fruit of the mandarin group.


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Tangier (pop. 266,346), also spelled Tanger, is a city on the northern coast of Morocco.


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Tangiwai is a settlement 16 kilometres south of Ohakune, in the central part of the North Island of New Zealand.


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Tango was the first Latin American dance to gain great international popularity.


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Tangor is a citrus fruit that belongs to the mandarin family (see MANDARIN).


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Tanguy, Yves (1900-1955), a French-born surrealist artist, painted with precise technique a strange world where objects such as bones and rocks are grouped in fantastic structures.


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Tank Stream, in Sydney, was a watercourse that rose on the Hyde Park plateau and flowed north to enter Sydney Cove near Bridge Street.


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Tanker is a ship designed to carry liquid cargo.


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Tanner, Henry Ossawa (1859-1937), was a black American painter.


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Tannhauser was a German minnesinger (minstrel) of the 1200's.


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Tannic acid, also called tannin, is a group of chemical substances found in the bark, leaves, fruit, roots, and other parts of many trees.


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Tansy is a plant related to the thistle.


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Tantalum is a chemical element with symbol Ta.


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Tantalus was a king of Lydia in Greek mythology.


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Tanzania is a large country in eastern Africa that borders the Indian Ocean.


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Taoism is a philosophy that began in China, probably during the 300's B.C. Taoism is also the name of a religion that began in about the 100's B.C. Through the centuries, the philosophy has influenced artists and writers in the East and West.


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Tape recorder is a device for recording sound, pictures, and various kinds of information on magnetic tape.


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Tapestry is a woven fabric made from threads of different colours to form a picture or design.


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Tapeworm is any of a group of tapelike flatworms that live as parasites.


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Tapioca is a food starch that is widely used in making puddings.


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Tapiola, a community in the city of Espoo, Finland, became world famous as a model for city planning.


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Tapir is related to the horse and rhinoceros, though it looks more like a pig.


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Tar is any of a group of thick, oily, dark-brown or black liquids.


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Tarantella is a popular folk dance that originated in southern Italy.


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Tarantula is the common name of any one of a group of mostly large, hairy spiders.


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Tararuas is a range of mountains in the southern part of the North Island of New Zealand.


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Tarawa (pop. 24,598), is the capital of Kiribati, a country of many small islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean.


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Taree (pop. 40,513) is the chief town of the Manning River area, a prosperous dairy-farming and cattle breeding area in eastern New South Wales, Australia.


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Tariff is a tax placed on goods that one nation imports from another.


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Tarkington, Booth (1869-1946), was an American novelist and dramatist.


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Tarnish.  When a metal rusts, or combines with oxygen, it is tarnished.


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Tarpan was a wild horse that lived in the forests of Europe and on the steppes (vast plains) of Russia.


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Tarpon is a large game fish that resembles a herring.


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Tarquinius was the name of two of the seven legendary kings of Rome.


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Tarpeena is a small town in South Australia, 460 kilometres southeast of Adelaide, and 30 kilometres north of Mount Gambier.


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Tarragon is a plant that provides leaves used to flavour meats, vegetables, sauces, dressings, vinegar, and cooking oil.


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Tarsier is a small mammal with a round head and unusually large owllike eyes.


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Tarsus (pop. 146,502), a city in south-central Turkey, is an agricultural centre.


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Tartan is a plaid cloth pattern that developed chiefly in Scotland.


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Tartar emetic is a medicinal preparation once used to cause vomiting.


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Tartaric acid is an organic chemical that occurs naturally in grapes and several other fruit.


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Tartarus was a deep pit below the surface of the earth in early Greek mythology.


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Tartary was once the name of a vast region in Europe and Asia which was inhabited by tribes of Tatars.


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Tartini, Giuseppe (1692-1770), was an Italian violinist, composer, and teacher.


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Tartu (pop. 110,000) is the second largest city in Estonia.


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Tashkent (pop. 1,986,000) is the capital of Uzbekistan, a country in Asia.


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Tasman, Abel Janszoon (1603-1659), a Dutch sea captain, explored the South Pacific Ocean.


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Tasman Bay is a wide inlet on the northern coast of Nelson province in the South Island of New Zealand.


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Tasman Bridge crosses the Derwent River, in Tasmania, connecting Hobart's eastern shore with the city centre.


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Tasman Peninsula is located in southeastern Tasmania.


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Tasman Sea is that part of the Pacific Ocean which lies between southeastern Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand.


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Tasmania is the smallest state in Australia.


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Tasmanian Aborigines of today are mostly descended from the tribal Aboriginal women who were taken from Tasmania to nearby islands in Bass Strait by European sealers in the early 1800's.


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Tasmanian devil is a fierce animal that lives on the Australian island of Tasmania.


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Tasmanian tiger, also known as thylacine, or Tasmanian wolf, was a large animal of the Australian island of Tasmania.


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Tass is an important news agency in Russia.


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Tasso, Torquato (1544-1595), was an Italian poet of the late Renaissance period.


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Taste is an important sense in people and many animals.


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Tata is the name of a family prominent in the industrial and commercial life of India.


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Tatars are a Turkic-speaking people of Europe and Asia.


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Tate, Allen (1899-1979), was an American poet and critic.


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Tate, Frank (1863-1939), was an Australian educationist who helped to improve the professional working conditions and status of teachers as well as teacher training methods in Victoria.


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Tate, Maurice (1895-1956), was an England and Sussex all-round cricketer.


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Tate Gallery, in London, houses an outstanding collection of paintings and sculptures by both British and other artists.


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Tati, Jacques (1908-1982), was a French film director, comic actor, writer, and mime artist.


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Tattersalls, commonly called Tatts, is the oldest lottery in Australia.


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Tatting is a form of lacemaking involving only the use of the fingers, a pointed shuttle, and thread.


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Tattooing is the practice of making permanent designs on the body.


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Tatum, Art (1909-1956), ranks among the greatest piano soloists in the history of jazz improvisation.


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Tatum, Edward Lawrie (1909-1975), an American biochemist, shared the 1958 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for discovering that genes regulate specific chemical processes.


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Tauber, Richard (1892-1948), was an Austrian-born British tenor singer famous for his performances in the operas of Mozart and the operettas of the Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehar.


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Taumata is a hill that rises 271 metres southwest of Porangahau, in Hawkes Bay on the North Island of New Zealand.


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Taunton Deane (pop. 93,300) is a local government district in Somerset, England, situated in the Vale of Taunton Deane.


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Tauranga (pop. 70,803) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Taurus, the Bull, is a constellation (group of stars) that forms the second sign of the zodiac.


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Taussig, Frank William (1859-1940), was a leading American economist.


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Taussig, Helen Brooke (1898-1986), was an American doctor who specialized in children's heart diseases.


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Tavener, John (1944-...), an English composer, won popular acclaim in the early 1990's after The Protecting Veil (1987), a work for cello and string orchestra, became a best-selling record.


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Taverner, John (1495?-1545), was one of the most accomplished composers of church music.


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Tawney, Richard Henry (1880-1962), was a noted British historian and social philosopher.


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Taxation is a system of raising money to finance government services and activities.


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Taxco (pop. 86,864) is a historic silvermining town about 110 kilometres southwest of Mexico City.


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Taxidermy is a technique for preserving animals and showing them as they looked when they were alive.


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Tay is the longest river in Scotland, flowing 190 kilometres from its source to the North Sea.


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Tay-Sachs disease is a hereditary disorder that occurs chiefly among Jewish children of eastern European ancestry.


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Taylor, Brook (1685-1731), an English mathematician, developed the formula that became the basis of the calculus of finite differences (see CALCULUS).


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Taylor, Edward (1642?-1729), was the finest poet in colonial American literature.


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Taylor, Elizabeth (1932-...), is an American film actress.


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Taylor, G. A. (1872-1928), an Australian pioneer aviator and technician, made what many historians regard as the first flight in Australia.


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Taylor, Sir Geoffrey (1886-1975), an English physicist, devoted a lifetime to science.


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Taylor, Sir Gordon (1896-1966), helped to make Australian aviation history.


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Taylor, Jeremy (1613-1667), was an English preacher and religious writer.


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Taylor, John Henry (1871-1963), was one of the United Kingdom's most successful golfers.


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Taylor, Laurette (1884-1946), was an American actress.


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Taylor, Mark Anthony (1964-...), is an Australian cricketer.


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Taylor, Richard (1805-1873), was a noted author and Anglican missionary in New Zealand.


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Taylor, Squizzy (1888-1927), was a notorious Australian criminal.


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Taylor, Zachary (1784-1850), was president of the United States from 1849 to 1850.


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Tayra is a large member of the weasel family.


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Tayside Region lies in eastern Scotland.


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Tbilisi (pop. 1,140,000) is the capital of Georgia.


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Tchaikovsky, Peter Ilich (1840-1893), was the first Russian composer to gain international fame.


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Te Heu Heu was the name of five Maori chiefs of the Ngati-Tuwharetoa tribe that lived near Lake Taupo in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Te Kanawa, Dame Kiri (1944-...), a New Zealand opera singer, is one of the most praised sopranos in the world.


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Te Kooti (1831-1893), a warrior chief, was one of the greatest of the Maori leaders during the New Zealand Wars.


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Te Puea Herangi (1884-1952), a Maori princess, was for many years the effective leader of the Kingite Maori of the North Island of New Zealand.


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Te Rauparaha (1768-1849), a Maori chief, was one of the greatest and most ruthless of all the Maori warriors known to Europeans.


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Te Wherowhero (1800-1860) was the first Maori king.


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Te Whiti (1831-1907), was a Maori prophet.


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Te Wiata, Inia (1915-1971), an actor and singer of Maori, Swedish, and Scottish descent, gained an international reputation during the 1950's.


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Tea is a beverage prepared by pouring boiling water over dry processed tea leaves.


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Teagarden, Jack (1905-1964), was an American trombone player and blues singer.


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Teak is a forest tree native to the tropical forests of Southeast Asia.


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Teal is the name of about 15 species of small, dabbling ducks.


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Teapot Dome was one of the most notorious government scandals in United States history.


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Tears are the secretion of the lacrimal glands.


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Teasel is the name of a group of plants that have one commercially valuable species.


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Teatree is any one of about 50 kinds of woody shrubs or small trees that grow in Australia and New Zealand.


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Tebaldi, Renata (1922-...), an Italian singer, became one of the great operatic sopranos of her time.


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Tebbit, Norman (1931-...), a British Conservative Party politician, was chairman of his party from 1985 to 1987.


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Tebbutt, John (1834-1916) was an Australian astronomer who pioneered the study of astronomy in Australia.


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Technetium is a chemical element with symbol, Tc.


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Technical drawing, also called mechanical drawing, refers chiefly to a drawing produced with instruments.


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Technicolor is a patented process for making films in colour.


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Technology refers to all the ways people use their inventions and discoveries to satisfy their needs and desires.


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Tecumseh (1768?-1813) was an outstanding leader of the eastern American Indian tribes in the late 1700's and early 1800's.


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Tedder, Arthur William (1890-1967), Baron Tedder of Glenguin, became a marshal of the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom in 1945.


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Tees is a river in northeastern England.


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Teesdale (pop. 24,200) is a local government district in Durham.


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Teeth are hard, bonelike structures in the upper and lower jaws of human beings and many kinds of animals.


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Tegu, also spelled teju, is the name of two species of ground-dwelling South American lizards.


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Tegucigalpa (pop. 571,400) is the capital and largest city of Honduras.


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Teheran (pop. 5,734,199), also spelled Tehran, is the capital of Iran and the second largest city in the Middle East.


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Teheran Conference was the first meeting of the main Allied leaders during World War II.


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Tehuantepec, Isthmus of, forms the narrowest part of Mexico.


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Teifi is a river in Dyfed, in southwest Wales.


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Teignbridge (pop. 107,100) is a local government district in south Devon, England.


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Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre (1881-1955), was a French palaeontologist (expert in fossils).


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Tektite is a glassy stone that may look like a teardrop, ball, disc, rod, dumbbell, or button.


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Tel Aviv (pop. 357,400) is the second-largest city of Israel and the nation's chief commercial, financial, and industrial centre.


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Telecommunication is the transmission and reception of messages over long distances.


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Telegraph was the first device to send messages by electricity.


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Telegraph plant is a herb about 1.2 metres high.


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Telemann, Georg Philipp (1681-1767), was perhaps the most famous German composer of his day.


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Telemetry means measuring at a distance.


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Telepathy is the communication of thoughts, feelings, or knowledge from one person to another without the use of any of the traditionally accepted senses of hearing, sight, smell, taste, or touch.


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Telephone is an instrument that sends and receives voice messages, usually by means of electric current.


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Telephone tapping, or wiretapping, usually means the interception of telephone conversations by a listening device connected to the telephone wire or placed nearby.


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Telephoto, also known as Wirephoto, is a way of sending pictures by wire or radio.


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Teleprinter is an electromechanical typewriter that transmits electrical impulses over a wire to a receiver which prints a message.


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Telescope is an instrument that magnifies distant objects.


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Teletypesetter (TTS) is an electrical machine somewhat like a teleprinter (see TELEPRINTER).


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Television, also called TV, is one of our most important means of communication.


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Telford, Thomas (1757-1834), a noted Scottish civil engineer, devised improved methods of road construction.


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Tell, William, was a legendary hero of Switzerland.


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Teller, Edward (1908-...), an outstanding American atomic scientist, is often called the father of the hydrogen bomb.


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Teller, Henry Moore (1830-1914), an American politician, served five terms representing Colorado in the United States Senate.


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Tellurium is a chemical element with symbol Te.


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Temperature is how hot or cold something is as measured on a particular scale.


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Temperature, Body.  Body temperature is a measurement of the heat in an animal's body.


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Temperature-humidity index, also called THI, is a scale of values that serves as an estimate to predict how comfortable people will feel in hot weather.


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Tempering is a process of hardening glass and metals, especially steel.


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Tempest, Dame Marie (1864-1942), was a popular British comedy actress.


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Temple, Frederick (1821-1902), became archbishop of Canterbury in 1897.


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Temple, Shirley (1928-...), was the most popular child film star of the 1930's.


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Temple, William (1881-1944), became archbishop of Canterbury in 1942.


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Temple Bar was a gateway at the boundary of the City of London.


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Templer, Sir Gerald (1898-1979), was an English field-marshal who served as high commissioner in Malaya from 1952 to 1954.


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Ten Commandments are Biblical rules that state the basic religious and moral ideals of Judaism and Christianity.


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Tenant, in law, is a person who holds or possesses lands or buildings by any kind of title.


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Tench is a fish with a heavy body and head, rounded fins, and small scales.


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Tench, Watkin (1759?-1833), a British officer, wrote several accounts of life in the early period of the colony of New South Wales, Australia.


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Tendon, also called sinew, is a strong white cord that attaches muscles to bones.


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Tendring (pop. 125,100) is a local government district in northeast Essex, England.


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Tendulkar, Sachin (1973-...), is an Indian cricketer.


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Tenement is a term usually used to describe a crowded, decaying apartment building.


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Tenggren, Gustaf (1896-1970), was a Swedish-born painter and illustrator of children's books.


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Tennant, Kylie (1912-1988), an Australian author, gained a major reputation as a novelist with Tiburon, published in 1935, and The Battlers (1941).


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Tennant Creek (pop. 3,478), is an important mining centre of the Northern Territory of Australia.


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Tennessee is a state in the Southern United States.


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Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a United States federal government corporation that works to develop the natural resources of the Tennessee Valley in the U.S.A. The U.S. Congress created TVA in 1933 and gave it the overall goal of conserving the


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Tenniel, Sir John (1820-1914), an English cartoonist and book illustrator, illustrated Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass (1871).


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Tennis is a game in which opposing players--one or two on each side--use rackets to hit a ball back and forth over a net.


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Tennyson, Lord (1809-1892), Alfred Tennyson, was one of the most important English poets of the 1800's.


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Tenochtitlan was the capital of the Aztec empire.


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Tenor is the second highest male singing voice.


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Tenrec is the name of about 30 species of small mammals that live primarily in Madagascar.


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Tense is a feature of verbs that indicates the time of an action.


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Tent is a portable shelter that many campers use for protection against the weather and insects.


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Tent caterpillar is the larva (second stage in the life cycle) of certain North American moths that damage trees.


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Tentacle is a slender, flexible growth on the head or around the mouth of certain animals.


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Tenzing Norgay (1914-1986), a Nepalese mountaineer, became famous as the first person, with the New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary, to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.


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Teotihuacan was one of the largest cities of ancient Mexico.


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Tepee, also spelled tipi, was the type of tent most commonly used by the Plains tribes of North American Indians.


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Terbium is a chemical element with the symbol Tb.


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Terence (195?-159?  B.C.) was a Roman comic playwright.


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Terengganu is a state on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.


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Teresa, Mother (1910-1997), was a Roman Catholic nun who received the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the poor.


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Teresa, Saint (1515-1582), also spelled Theresa, is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.


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Tereshkova, Valentina Vladimirovna, (1937-...), a Soviet cosmonaut, became the first woman to travel in space.


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Terhune, Albert Payson (1872-1942), an American writer, was best known for his stories about dogs, particularly collies.


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Terman, Lewis Madison (1877-1956), was an American psychologist who became known for his studies of intelligence.


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Termite is the common name of a group of insects that live in communities somewhat as ants do.


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Tern is a subfamily of sea birds related to gulls.


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Terracotta, is a hard, durable kind of earthenware.


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Terrapin is the common name of some freshwater turtles of the United States.


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Terrarium is the name for a transparent container in which small plants or small land animals are kept.


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Terrier is the name of a group of breeds of dogs.


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Territorial waters are areas of the sea where a nation has sovereign rights.


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Territoriality is a form of animal behaviour in which an individual animal or a group claims a certain area as its own.


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Territory is a type of region that belongs to or is controlled by a country or other independent political unit.


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Terrorism is the use or threat of violence to create fear and alarm.


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Terry, Dame Ellen (1847-1928), was a leading English actress especially noted for her performances as Shakespearean heroines.


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Tertis, Lionel (1876-1975), became famous as a viola player and designer of stringed instruments.


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Tesla, Nikola (1856-1943), an electrical engineer, is generally recognized as the inventor of the induction motor.


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Test Acts.  Certain religious laws passed by the English Parliament were known as Test Acts.


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Test pilot is a person who flies new aircraft to test them for safety.


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Test tube baby is the popular name for a baby resulting from in vitro fertilization (IVF).


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Test Valley (pop. 99,000) is a local government district in Hampshire, England.


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Testicle is either of a pair of small oval glands in the male reproductive system.


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Testing, in education and psychology, is an attempt to measure a person's knowledge, intelligence, or other characteristics in a systematic way.


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Testosterone is one of a group of hormones that stimulate sexual development in male human beings.


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Tetanus is a serious disease that affects muscles.


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Tetany is a condition associated with overexcitability and spontaneous activity of the nervous system.


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Tetra is a type of small tropical fish that lives in rivers of South America and Africa.


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Tetracycline is any of a family of antibiotics used to treat infections.


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Tetraethyl lead is an ingredient added to petrol to improve the performance of engines.


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Tetrahedron in geometry, is a regular pyramid whose sides consist of four equilateral triangles.


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Tetzel, Johann (1465-1519), was a Dominican friar who sold papal indulgences in Germany in 1517.


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Teuku Umar (1854-1899) was a chief in Aceh, northern Sumatra, Indonesia.


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Teutonic Knights was the name of an organization of German crusaders that arose in Europe during the 1100's.


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Teutons is a name sometimes given to the Germanic peoples.


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Tewkesbury (pop. 87,400) is a borough in Gloucestershire, England.


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Texas is a state in the Southwestern United States.


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Texas Rangers are special police officers of the U.S. state of Texas.


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Textile has traditionally meant a woven fabric.


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Teyte, Dame Maggie (1888-1976), achieved fame as an opera and concert singer.


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Thackeray, William Makepeace (1811-1863), was one of the great novelists of the English Victorian Age.


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Thailand is a tropical country in Southeast Asia.


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Thalassaemia is an inherited blood disease that causes anaemia.


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Thales (625?-546?  B.C.) was the earliest known Greek philosopher.


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Thallium is a chemical element with symbol Tl.


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Thames, River, is the most important river in England.


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Thane is an Anglo-Saxon title which was used for many years in early England.


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Thanet (pop. 121,700) is a local government district in Kent, England.


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Thanksgiving Day is a day set aside each year for giving thanks to God for blessings received during the year.


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Thant, U (1909-1974), a Burmese diplomat, served as secretary-general of the United Nations (UN) from 1962 to 1971.


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Thar Desert stretches northwest of the Aravalli Range in India across Rajasthan to the Indus River plain in Pakistan.


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Tharp, Twyla (1941-...), is an American dancer and choreographer (creator of dances).


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Thatcher, Margaret (1925-...), was prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.


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Theatre is a live performance before an audience.


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Thebes is the Greek name of a city in ancient Egypt that served as a capital for many Egyptian kings.


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Thebes was an ancient city in Boeotia, a region in central Greece.


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Theiler is the family name of two South African scientists, a father and son, who gained international fame.


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Theme park is an outdoor entertainment centre that offers rides, games, exhibitions, and shows based on one or more special ideas, or themes.


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Themistocles (514?-449?  B.C.) was an Athenian statesman and soldier in the Persian Wars.


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Theocracy is a form of government in which the state is ruled by a priest or priests, and in which members of the priesthood have authority in civil and religious matters.


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Theocritus (200's B.C.) was a Greek poet who established the character of Greek pastoral poetry.


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Theodolite is an instrument surveyors use to measure angles and directions.


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Theodora (A.D. 502?-548) was the wife of Justinian I, Byzantine (East Roman) emperor from 527 to 565.


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Theodore, E. G. (1884-1950), played a prominent part in Australian politics in the early 1900's.


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Theodoric (A.D. 455?-526) was an Ostrogoth (East Goth) king who governed what is now Italy from A.D. 493 until his death.


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Theodosius I (A.D. 346-395) was the Roman emperor who prohibited all pagan (non-Christian) practices in the Roman Empire.


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Theology is the study and description of God.


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Theorell, Hugo (1903-1982), a Swedish biochemist, made valuable contributions to our knowledge of enzymes and the combustion of alcohol in the body.


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Theosophy is a system of philosophic and religious thought.


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Theremin is a boxlike musical instrument that resembles a radio receiver.


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Therese of Lisieux, Saint (1873-1897), also called Little Flower of Jesus, became a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 1925.


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Thermal pollution occurs when hot wastewater is discharged into rivers, lakes, seas, or other bodies of water.


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Thermocouple is an electric device that changes heat into electricity or electricity into heat.


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Thermodynamics is the study of various forms of energy, such as heat and work, and of the conversion of energy from one form into another.


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Thermography is a detection technique that converts invisible heat energy into a visible picture.


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Thermometer is an instrument that measures the temperature of gases, liquids, and solids.


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Thermopylae was the name of a mountain pass in ancient Greece.


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Thermos flask is a container that keeps liquids hot or cold for many hours.


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Thermosphere is the uppermost region of the earth's atmosphere.


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Thermostat is a device that helps control the temperature of an indoor area or of an appliance.


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Therry, John Joseph (1790-1864), a Roman Catholic priest, landed with his superior, Philip Conolly, in Sydney in 1820.


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Theseus was a great king of early Athens in Greek mythology.


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Thespis a Greek actor and dramatist of the 500's B.C., helped to create drama as we know it.


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Thessalonians, Epistles to the, are the 13th and 14th books of the New Testament.


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Thessaly is a region in northern Greece.


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Thiele, Colin (1920-...), an Australian writer, became known particularly for his children's books.


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Thiers, Louis Adolphe (1797-1877), was the first president of the Third Republic of France.


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Thiopentone sodium is a barbiturate used to produce sleep for surgery.


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Third World was a name sometimes given to economically developing countries, particularly those in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.


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Thirst is a sensation caused by the body's need for water.


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Thirty-Nine Articles were a statement of doctrine issued in England in 1563 and approved by Parliament in 1571.


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Thirty Tyrants was the name given to the government of Athens after the city was captured by the Spartans in 404 B.C. The men who ruled at this time have also been called simply The Thirty.


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Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) was a series of religious and political wars that eventually involved most European nations.


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Thistle is the name given to a group of plants that have sharp spines or prickles.


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Thistle Island lies at the western entrance to Spencer Gulf in South Australia.


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Thomas, Ambroise (1811-1896), a French composer, is remembered chiefly for his opera Mignon (1866).


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Thomas, Augustus (1857-1934), was an American dramatist.


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Thomas, David Alfred (1856-1918), Viscount Rhondda, was a successful Welsh businessman, coal-mine owner, and politician.


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Thomas, Dylan (1914-1953), was a Welsh poet who wrote some of the most stirring, passionate, and eloquent verse in modern literature.


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Thomas, Edward (1878-1917), was a British poet and critic.


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Thomas, George (1908-...), Viscount Tonypandy, was speaker of the House of Commons in Britain's Parliament, from 1976 until 1983.


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Thomas, Isaiah (1749-1831), was the leading printer and publisher in colonial America.


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Thomas, Lowell (1892-1981), was an American news commentator and author specializing in world travel.


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Thomas, Saint, was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.


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Thomas, Seth (1785-1859), was an American clock manufacturer.


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Thomas a Kempis (1380?-1471) was a medieval monk and religious writer.


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Thompson, Andrew (1773-1810), a former convict, became the most successful grain grower and one of the wealthiest settlers in New South Wales, Australia.


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Thompson, Daley (1958-...), is one of Britain's most outstanding all-round athletes.


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Thompson, David (1770-1857), a Canadian geographer and explorer, travelled the Columbia River from its source in Canada to its mouth in the United States.


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Thomson, Sir Edward Deas (1800-1879), a British administrator, was chancellor of Sydney University in New South Wales, Australia, from 1865 to 1878.


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Thompson, Francis (1859-1907), was an English poet whose emotional poems reflect his intense Roman Catholic faith.


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Thomsen, Christian Jurgensen (1788-1865), was a Danish archaeologist.


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Thomson, Lord (1894-1976), Roy Herbert Thomson, Baron Thomson of Fleet, was a leading newspaper owner.


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Thomson, George (1921-...), Baron Thomson of Monifieth, served from 1973 to 1977 as a Common Market commissioner with special responsibility for regional policy.


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Thomson, James (1700-1748), was the most celebrated Scottish poet of the 1700's until Robert Burns.


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Thomson, Jeff (1950-...), an Australian cricketer, became one of the fastest bowlers ever timed in cricket.


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Thomson, Sir Joseph John (1856-1940), a British physicist, received the 1906 Nobel Prize for physics for his discovery of the electron.


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Thomson, Peter (1929-...), one of Australia's finest golfers, won the British Open Golf Championship five times - in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, and 1965.


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Thomson, Tom (1877-1917), was a Canadian landscape painter.


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Thomson, Virgil (1896-1989), was an American composer and music critic.


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Thor, the god of thunder and lightning, was the ruler of the sky in Norse mythology.


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Thoreau, Henry David (1817-1862), was an American writer who is remembered for his attacks on the social institutions he considered immoral and for his faith in the religious significance of nature.


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Thorium is a radioactive chemical element with symbol Th.


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Thorn is a short, sharp, modified stem that grows out of the woody stems of many species of trees and shrubs.


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Thorndike, Edward Lee (1874-1949), an American educational psychologist, made many contributions to the study of learning, teaching, and mental testing.


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Thorndike, Dame Sybil (1882-1976), was a distinguished British actress.


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Thornhill, Sir James (1675-1734), was an outstanding British mural painter.


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Thornycroft, Sir John (1843-1928), was a British pioneer in naval architecture.


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Thorpe, Jeremy (1929-...), was the leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976.


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Thorpe, Jim (1887-1953), was one of the greatest all-round athletes in history.


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Thorvaldsen, Bertel (1770-1844), was a Danish sculptor.


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Thousand Islands is a group of more than a thousand islands in the Saint Lawrence River, in North America.


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Thrace was the ancient name for a large region in the Balkan Peninsula.


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Thrasher is the name of a group of brownish, long-tailed birds found from southern Canada to South America.


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Thredbo is a village and large ski resort within the Kosciusko National Park in the Snowy Mountains of southern New South Wales, Australia.


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Three Kings are islands off the northeastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand.


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Three Rivers (pop. 74,100) is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England.


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Three Sisters are huge formations of sandstone near Katoomba, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia.


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Threshing machine is a machine that farmers once used to thresh (separate) kernels of grain from stalks.


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Thrifts are a group of colourful plants used in rock gardens and flower-bed borders.


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Thring, Edward (1821-1887), was a leading supporter of the public (fee paying) school system in the United Kingdom.


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Thrips are short, slender insects with sucking mouthparts.


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Throat is a popular term for the front part of the neck between the chin and the collar bone.


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Thrush is the name of a group of songbirds found throughout the world.


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Thrush is an infection with a yeastlike fungus, usually one known as Candida albicans.


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Thucydides (460?-400?  B.C.), a Greek historian, became the world's first historian who aimed to write an unbiased and accurate history that would also reveal the workings of human nature in society.


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Thug is a member of an old society in India, the members of which killed in the name of religion.


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Thulium is a chemical element with symbol Tm.


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Thumboo, Edwin (1933-...), a Singapore writer, critic, and academic, became professor of English at the National University of Singapore in 1979.


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Thunder.  Prehistoric people thought that thunder was the sound of the gods roaring in anger when they were displeased with the people of the earth.


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Thunderbolt, Captain, was a bushranger who operated mainly in the New England district of New South Wales, Australia, between 1864 and 1870.


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Thuraisingham, Dato Sir Clough (1898-1979), a politician and a prominent member of the Tamil community in Malaya, founded the Ceylon Federation of Malaya.


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Thurber, James (1894-1961), was a celebrated American humorist.


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Thuringowa is a city surrounding Townsville in northern Queensland.


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Thurrock (pop. 124,300), is a unitary authority with all the local government powers within its boundaries in the county of Essex, England.


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Thursday Island lies in the Torres Strait, about 40 kilometres north of Cape York, in Australia.


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Thurstone, Louis Leon (1887-1955), an American psychologist, played a major role in the development of psychological tests.


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Thyme is the name of a group of fragrant, shrubby mint plants native to the Mediterranean region.


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Thymus is a flat, pinkish-grey organ that plays an important part in the immune system of the human body.


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Thyroid gland is an endocrine (hormone-producing) gland located in the front of the neck.


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Tian Shan, also spelled Tien Shan, is a mountain system in central Asia.


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Tianjin (pop. 5,804.023) is a trading centre in northern China.


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Tiber River is the third longest river in Italy.


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Tiberius (42 B.C.-A.D. 37) was the emperor of Rome during the life of Jesus Christ.


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Tibetan spaniel is a breed of dog that originated in Tibet hundreds of years ago.


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Tibetan terrier is a breed of dog that originated in Tibet, where Buddhist monks raised it in monasteries.


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Tic is a term used to describe repetitive, brief, rapid, involuntary movements of various muscle groups.


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Tick is the name of a tiny, bloodsucking animal that is related to mites, spiders, and scorpions.


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Tick fever is a name for several diseases carried by the bite of ticks.


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Ticking is a strong fabric used chiefly to cover mattresses and pillows.


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Ticknor, George (1791-1871), an American scholar, became noted for his learned work, History of Spanish Literature (1849).


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Tidal wave is a destructive wave that sweeps in from the sea like a huge tide.


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Tide is the rise and fall of large expanses of water, on a definite time schedule.


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Tie dyeing is a method of dyeing cloth to produce a design.


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Tiepolo, Giovanni Battista (1696-1770), was the last important Italian painter of the Venetian group.


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Tierra del Fuego is the name of a group of islands lying off the extreme southern tip of South America.


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Tiffany, Charles Lewis (1812-1902), was an American dealer in precious stones.


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Tiffany, Louis Comfort (1848-1933), was a major stained-glass designer of the late 1800's and early 1900's.


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Tiger is the largest member of the cat family.


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Tiger cat, or spotted-tailed quoll, is a flesh-eating marsupial that lives in eastern Australia and Tasmania.


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Tiger lily is a tall garden flower that originally grew in eastern Asia.


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Tiger shark gets its name from the characteristic prominent dark bars on its back and sides.


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Tiger snake is the name of one of Australia's deadliest snakes.


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Tiglath-pileser III (?-727 B.C.) was a king of Assyria, a land centred in what is now northern Iraq.


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Tigris River is a major river of southwestern Asia.


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Tijuana (pop. 698,752) is a city in the Mexican state of Baja California Norte.


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Tikal was one of the largest cities of the Maya civilization.


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Tikhonov, Nikolai Aleksandrovich (1905-1997), served as premier of the Soviet Union from 1980 to 1985.


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Tiki is a Maori neck pendant in the form of a human figure (see MAORI).


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Tilak, Bal Gangadhar (1856-1920), an Indian politician and journalist, was an early leader in the campaign for Indian independence from British rule.


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Tile.  All the several kinds of clay tile are made in much the same way.


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Tilefish is a deep-sea fish that lives along the north-east coast of North America.


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Tilley, Vesta (1864-1952), was a male impersonator who appeared mainly in British music halls.


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Tillich, Paul (1886-1965), was an important German-born theologian.


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Tilly, Count of (1559-1632), was a leading Roman Catholic general during the Thirty Years' War, a struggle between European Catholics and Protestants.


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Timaru (pop. 27,637), is a city on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand, about 160 kilometres south of Christchurch.


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Timber includes logs and unprocessed wood, as well as standing trees.


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Timbuktu (pop. 20,483) is a small trading town in central Mali.


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Time is one of the world's deepest mysteries.


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Time lock.  This type of combination lock cannot be opened before a certain hour to which the lock has been set.


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Timothy was one of the friends of Saint Paul.


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Timothy, also called meadow grass, is a grass crop grown primarily for hay.


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Tin is a chemical element with symbol Sn.


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Tin can is a container used for packaging, transporting, and marketing hundreds of food and nonfood items for home and industry.


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Tinaroo Falls Dam blocks the Barron River near Kairi on the Atherton Tableland in north Queensland, Australia.


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Tinbergen, Jan (1903-1994), a Dutch economist, shared the first Nobel Prize for economics with Ragnar Frisch of Norway in 1969.


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Tinbergen, Nikolaas (1907-1988), was a Dutch-born zoologist who studied how the behaviour of animals is adapted to their environment.


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Tinchebrai, Battle of (1106) established Henry I as undisputed king of England.


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Ting, Samuel Chao Chung (1936-...), an American-born Chinese scientist, was awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1976.


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Tinnitus is the sensation of hearing sounds that seem to come from within the head.


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Tintoretto (1518-1594) was a Venetian painter during the late Italian Renaissance.


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Tipperary is one of the six counties of the province of Munster in the Republic of Ireland.


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Tippett, Sir Michael (1905-1998), was a British composer.


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Tipu Sultan (1750-1799), also known as Tipu Sahib, was ruler of the southern Indian state of Mysore from 1782 to 1799.


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Tirane (pop. 260,000) is the capital and largest city of Albania.


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Tirikatene, Sir Eruera Tihema Teaika (1895-1967), a Maori politician, held Cabinet rank in the New Zealand government from 1957 to 1960.


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Tirpitz, Alfred von (1849-1930), was a German statesman and naval officer who was active in building up the German Navy.


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Tirso de Molina was the pen name of Gabriel Tellez (1584-1648), a Spanish playwright.


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Tiselius, Arne (1902-1971), a Swedish physical chemist, perfected new methods for analyzing proteins.


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Tishah be-av is a Jewish day of mourning observed on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av (approximately August).


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Tissue is a group of similar cells that work together to perform a particular function in an organism.


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Tissue transplant is any tissue or organ permanently transferred from one part of the body to another, or from one person to another.


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Tit is the name of over 50 species of small songbirds.


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Titanic was a British passenger ship that struck an iceberg and sank in the North Atlantic Ocean in 1912.


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Titaniferous ore is an iron ore rich in the metal titanium.


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Titanium is a chemical element with symbol Ti.


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Titans were the first gods in Greek mythology.


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Tithe.  The word tithe comes from the Anglo-Saxon word teotha, which means a tenth part.


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Tithe barns are barns built in England during the Middle Ages to store the large quantities of grain that were paid to the church as tithes.


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Titi is a type of small South American monkey.


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Titian (1487?-1576) was a Venetian painter of the Italian Renaissance.


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Title is a legal term often used to describe ownership of property.


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Tito, Josip Broz (1892-1980), established a Communist government in Yugoslavia after World War II (1939-1945) and then became the country's ruler.


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Titus was an early Christian who was a companion of Saint Paul.


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Titterton, Sir Ernest William (1916-...) was professor of nuclear physics at the Australian National University in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, from 1950 to 1981.


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Titus (A.D. 41-81), a Roman emperor, was noted for his generosity and his regard for the people's welfare.


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Tizard, Sir Henry Thomas (1885-1959), a British scientist, fostered the development of radar early in World War II (1939-1945).


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TNT is short for trinitrotoluene, a powerful solid explosive.


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Toad is a small, tailless animal that closely resembles the frog.


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Toadfish is the name of a group of large-headed fish that live in tropical seas.


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Toadflax is a plant with yellow flowers and pale green leaves.


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Tobacco is a plant whose leaves are used chiefly in making cigarettes and cigars.


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Tobermory is a seaside resort on the north coast of the Island of Mull, in Strathclyde Region, Scotland.


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Tobey, Mark (1890-1976), was an American artist who painted elaborate linear abstract pictures, often on a small scale.


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Tobogganing is the winter sport of coasting on snow or ice by means of toboggans, which are sledges without runners.


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Toc H is a Christian organization for men and women.


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Tocqueville, Alexis de (1805-1859), was a French historian and political philosopher.


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Todd is a river in the Northern Territory, Australia.


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Todd, Sir Charles (1826-1910), was postmaster general and government astronomer of South Australia.


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Todd, Sir Garfield (1908-...), a New Zealand-born missionary, was prime minister of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) from 1953 to 1958.


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Todd, Mark (1956-...), a New Zealand horse rider, won an Olympic gold medal in the three-day equestrian event at the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 and in the same event at the Seoul Olympic Games in 1988.


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Toddy palm is any one of several palm trees that contain a sugary sap that can be used to make the fermented drink called toddy.


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Tofu is a food made of soybean curds pressed into cakes or blocks.


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Toga was the outer garment worn by the citizens of ancient Rome.


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Togo is a small country in western Africa.


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Togo, Heihachiro (1847-1934), was one of Japan's greatest admirals and naval heroes of the 1900's.


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Tojo, Hideki (1884-1948), was the general who, as prime minister of Japan, led his country into war with the United States in 1941.


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Tokelau is a group of three coral atolls situated in the South Pacific Ocean about 480 kilometres to the north of Samoa.


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Tolais are a people who live in an area about 32 kilometres from Rabaul, on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea.


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Toledo (pop. 57,769) is a Spanish city located on a high hill about 65 kilometres southwest of Madrid.


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Toledo (pop. 332,943; met. area pop. 614,128) is a leading industrial and transportation centre in northwestern Ohio, U.S.A. It is also a major Great Lakes port.


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Tolentino, Guillermo (1890-1976), was a great Filipino sculptor.


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Toleration Act is a law permitting people to believe in any religion they choose.


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Tolkien, J. R. R. (1892-1973), an English author and scholar, wrote a popular series of novels about an imaginary people called hobbits.


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Tolman, Edward Chace (1886-1959), was an American psychologist known for his theory of how human beings and animals learn.


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Tolpuddle martyrs were six farm labourers from the village of Tolpuddle, in Dorset, England.


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Tolstoy, Alexei (1882-1945), Count Tolstoy, won great popularity and wealth in Russia as a writer of novels and plays.


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Tolstoy, Leo (1828-1910), a Russian writer, ranks among the greatest novelists in world literature.


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Toluene is a colourless liquid related to benzene.


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Tom Thumb was the name of the first American-built steam locomotive to be operated on a common-carrier railway.


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Tom-tom is a musical instrument that belongs to the drum family.


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Tomahawk was a small axe that the Indians of North America used as a tool and a weapon.


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Tomato is a plant grown for its smooth, usually round, juicy fruit.


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Tomb is any chamber in which the dead are buried.


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Tombaugh, Clyde William (1906-1997), was an American astronomer.


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Tombstone (pop. 1,632) is a town in southeastern Arizona, U.S.A., that was the centre of a rich silver-mining district in the late 1800's.


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Tomkins, Thomas (1572-1656), was a composer of madrigals and church music.


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Tomlin, Bradley Walker (1899-1953), was an American abstract expressionist painter.


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Tomonaga, Sin-Itiro, (1906-1979), of Japan, shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in physics with United States physicists Richard P. Feynman and Julian S. Schwinger.


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Ton is the name of three different units used to measure weight and capacity.


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Tonbridge and Malling (pop. 99,100) is a local government district in Kent, England.


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Tone, in music, is a word that has several meanings.


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Tone, Theobald Wolfe (1763-1798), was an Irish soldier and patriot.


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Tonga is a country made up of about 150 islands in the South Pacific Ocean.


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Tonsil is any one of several masses of specialized tissue found in the throat.


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Tonsillitis is a painful disease resulting from inflamed tonsils.


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Tonti, Henri de, also spelled Tonty (1650-1704), was a French explorer who helped open the midwestern part of what is now the United States.


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Tool is any instrument that a worker uses to do work.


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Toolmaking chiefly involves the making of precision devices and parts for power-driven machines used to shape metal.


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Toomer, Jean (1894-1967), was a black American writer.


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Toothpaste and toothpowder are substances used with a toothbrush to clean teeth.


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Toowoomba (pop. 81,011) is the fourth largest city in Queensland, Australia.


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Topaz is a mineral composed of aluminium, silicon, oxygen, and fluorine.


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Topelius, Zachris (1818-1898), was a Finnish short-story writer and poet.


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Topiary work is the art of training and cutting plants into ornamental shapes.


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Topography is the natural and artificially created surface features of the land.


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Topology is a branch of mathematics that explores certain properties of geometrical figures.


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Torbay (pop. 122,500), is a town on the south coast of Devon, England.


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Torch is a portable electric light in a metal, fibre, or plastic case.


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Torfaen (pop. 88,200) is a local government area in south Wales, administered from Pontypool.


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Tornado is a powerful, twisting windstorm.


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Torne River, also called the Tornio River, rises in Lake Torne in northern Sweden and flows eastward through northern Sweden.


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Toronto (pop. 653.395; met. area pop. 3,893,046) is the capital of Ontario, Canada.


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Torpedo is a self-propelled, cigar-shaped, underwater weapon used to blow up ships.


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Torpedo ray, also called electric ray, is a kind of ray that lives in warm seas.


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Torque is the amount of twisting effort that a force or forces exert on an object.


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Torquemada, Tomas de (1420-1498), a Roman Catholic priest, was inquisitor-general (chief official) of the Spanish Inquisition for 15 years.


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Torre, Eugene (1951-...), a Filipino chess player, became, in 1982, the first Asian to qualify for the world championships, which were held that year at Toluca, in Mexico.


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Torrens, Sir Robert (1814-1884), an Australian politician, introduced a system of land registration in South Australia.


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Torrens system is a system of registering titles to real property (land and buildings).


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Torres, Luis Vaez de (?-1613?), was a Spanish navigator who became the first European to discover the strait that lies between Australia and Papua New Guinea.


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Torres Strait Islands (pop. 5,000) are a group of islands in the Torres Strait, governed as part of Queensland, Australia.


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Torricelli, Evangelista (1608-1647), was an Italian mathematician and physicist.


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Torridge (pop. 52,600) is a local government district in Devon, England, administered from the market town of Bideford.


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Torsion balance is a device for measuring small forces of push or pull.


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Torsion bar suspension is a method of absorbing the shock, or energy, that results when a car travels over uneven road surfaces and bumps.


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Tort is a harmful act against a person that gives the person the right to collect money to pay for damage he or she has suffered.


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Tortoise is a reptile with a shell that lives on land.


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Torture is the use of physical or mental pain, often to obtain information, to punish a person, or to control the members of a group to which the tortured person belongs.


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Tory Island lies 14 kilometres off the coast of Donegal, Ireland.


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Tory Party was a conservative political party in Great Britain.


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Toscanini, Arturo (1867-1957), was perhaps the most influential symphony orchestra and opera conductor of his time.


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Totalitarianism is a form of government in which the state has absolute control over almost every aspect of people's lives.


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Totem is a symbol for a tribe, clan, or family.


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Toucan is a bird with an enormous and, in most species, brilliantly coloured bill.


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Touch is the sense that gives us notice of contact with an object.


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Toulon (pop. 170,167; met. area pop. 437,553) is a seaport city on the southeast coast of France.


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Toulouse (pop. 365,933; met. area pop. 608,430) is a city in southwestern France.


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Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri de (1864-1901), was a French painter who also became known for his lithographs and posters.


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Touraco, or turaco, is any member of a family of African birds that live south of the Sahara.


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Toure, Sekou (1922-1984), became Guinea's first president in 1958 and held that position until his death.


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Tourette syndrome is an inherited disorder characterized by involuntary utterances and body movements.


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Tourism is the supplying of services to tourists.


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Tourmaline is a mineral commonly found in rocks called granitic pegmatites.


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Tourneur, Cyril (1575?-1626), was an English dramatist.


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Tourniquet is a tight, twisted cloth wrapped around a limb to control bleeding.


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Tours (pop. 133,403; met. area pop. 271,927) is a historic city and important economic centre in western France.


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Toussaint L'Ouverture (1743-1803), Francois Dominique Toussaint-Breda, was a black revolutionary and general who became ruler of Haiti.


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Tovey, Sir Donald (1875-1940), was a British pianist, composer, and teacher.


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Tower is an architectural structure whose height is much greater than its width or its thickness.


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Tower Hamlets (pop. 153,500) is a borough within the Greater London area.


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Tower of Babel was a tower in Babylon, a city in ancient Mesopotamia.


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Tower of London is a group of stone buildings in the East End of London, on the north bank of the River Thames.


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Tower of Silence is a platform on which the Parsees of India place the bodies of their dead for the vultures to eat.


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Town is a community of closely clustered dwellings and other buildings in which people live and work.


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Town crier was a person appointed to make public announcements.


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Town planning is the process of guiding the development of cities and towns.


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Townes, Charles Hard (1915-...), is a United States physicist.


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Towns, Robert (1794-1873), a successful merchant and estate owner, was the first farmer to grow cotton on a large scale in Australia.


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Townshend, Viscount (1674-1738), was an English politician and promoter of agricultural reform.


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Townsville (pop. 87,268) is a port in tropical Queensland, on the east coast of Australia.


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Towton, Battle of (1461), was a decisive battle of the Wars of the Roses.


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Towy, also spelt Tywi, is a river in South Wales.


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Toxaemia of pregnancy is a disease that attacks women during the later months of pregnancy or just after giving birth.


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Toxic shock syndrome, or TSS, is a rare disease that most frequently occurs in young women who are having a menstrual period.


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Toxin is a poison produced by a living organism.


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Toxoplasmosis is a common disease characterized by enlargement of lymph nodes, usually in the neck region.


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Toy is an object children can use as a plaything.


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Toy dog is the name of a group of small dogs.


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Toynbee is the family name of two men, uncle and nephew, who contributed to sociology and our understanding of history.


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Trace elements are minerals needed in small amounts by plants, animals, and human beings.


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Tracery, in architecture, originally was the framework of light ornamental stone bars dividing a large window into smaller areas so that the stained glass could be easily placed and supported.


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Trachea, also called windpipe, is the tube that carries air between the lungs and the upper respiratory passages.


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Trachoma is a contagious eye disease caused by a form of Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria.


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Tractarians were leaders of the Oxford Movement in the Church of England in the 1830's.


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Tractor is a machine that pulls or pushes a tool or a machine over land.


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Tracy, Spencer (1900-1967), was an American film actor.


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Trade is buying and selling goods and services.


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Trade association is a nonprofit organization that represents a group of business firms.


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Trade publication is a periodical devoted to a specific professional, business, industrial, or trade field.


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Trade route is a route along which goods are transported from one area to another.


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Trade unions are organizations of workers that seek to improve their members' pay and working conditions.


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Trade wind is a strong wind that blows toward the equator from the northeast or southeast.


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Trademark is a word or words, a name, a design, a picture, a sound, or any other symbol that distinguishes the products of one particular firm or company from those of another.


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Tradescantia is the name of about 65 species (kinds) of plants with attractive foliage and three-petalled flowers.


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Trading post is a type of market place where people bring products to sell or to exchange for other goods.


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Trading stamps are premiums or bonuses that a retailer gives with a cash purchase of goods.


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Trading standards ensure fair and honest trading.


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Trafalgar, Battle of, fought on Oct. 21, 1805, is one of the major naval battles in history.


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Traffic is the movement of people and goods from one place to another.


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Trafford (pop. 205,700) is a local government area within Greater Manchester, England.


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Tragacanth is a true gum obtained from various shrubs (Astragalus) of the pulse family.


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Tragedy is a form of drama that deals with serious human actions and issues.


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Tragopan is the name of five species of handsome quaillike birds of the pheasant family.


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Trajan (A.D. 53?-117) was a Roman emperor and an important military leader.


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Tram and trolleybus are types of city passenger vehicle, generally driven by electricity from an overhead power line.


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Trampoline is a device that a person bounces or jumps on to perform aerial tumbling exercises.


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Trance is a term that is generally used to describe any kind of unnatural sleep or partly conscious state.


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Tranquillizer is a drug that calms a person by acting on the nervous system.


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Transactional analysis is a method of psychotherapy.


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Trans-Canada Highway stretches about 8,000 kilometres across Canada and links the 10 provinces.


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Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a method of relaxing the body that became popular in many countries during the 1970's.


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Transcendentalism was a philosophy that became influential during the late 1700's and 1800's.


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Transducer is a device that converts one form of energy into another.


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Transfiguration was the change in physical appearance that came over Jesus Christ on one occasion during His ministry.


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Transformer is a device that increases or decreases the voltage of alternating current.


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Transistor is a tiny device that controls the flow of electric current in radios, television sets, computers, and almost every other kind of electronic equipment.


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Transit, in astronomy, is the crossing of one heavenly body over the disc of a larger one, as seen from the earth.


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Transkei was a region on the southeastern coast of the Republic of South Africa.


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Transmission is a device that transmits power from the engine of a vehicle to other parts, from which it is eventually delivered to the wheels.


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Transmutation of elements is the conversion of one element into another through changes in an atom's nucleus.


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Transpiration is the giving off of water by the leaves of a plant.


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Transplanting, in gardening, is the process of removing a plant from one place and planting it in another.


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Transportation is the act of moving people or goods from one place to another.


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Transportation was the system of exiling criminals from Britain (now known as the United Kingdom) to the British colonies, particularly to Australia.


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Transsexualism is a condition in which a person experiences persistent discomfort about his or her sexual designation.


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Trans-Siberian Railway was the first railway built across Siberia, the vast area that makes up most of the Asian part of Russia.


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Transubstantiation is a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church.


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Transuranium element is a radioactive element that has an atomic number higher than 92, the atomic number of uranium.


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Transvaal was a province of South Africa from 1910 to 1994.


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Transylvania is a geographical region of Romania near the Hungarian border.


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Trap-door spider digs a burrow in the ground and covers the entrance with a lid, or trap door.


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Trapping is the capture or killing of wild animals in traps.


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Trappists are Roman Catholic monks who belong to the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.


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Traralgon (pop. 19,702), is a city in Victoria, Australia, 160 kilometres east of Melbourne.


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Trauma, in psychiatry, is an unpleasant emotional experience of such intensity that it leaves a lasting impression on the mind.


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Travel agency is a business that helps people arrange journeys and holidays by handling their travel arrangements.


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Traveller's cheque is a cheque that can be used as money or as a letter of credit.


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Travers, P. L. (1906?-1996), an Australian-born author, became known for her children's stories about Mary Poppins, an English nanny (nursemaid) who has magical powers.


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Travertine is a dense, closely compacted form of limestone found mostly in banded layers.


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Travis, William Barret (1809-1836), was a hero of the Alamo, a famous battle that took place during the war for Texan independence from Mexico.


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Travois is a device used by American Indians and other peoples for carrying loads.


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Treadmill is a wheeled mechanism rotated by people or animals walking on or inside the wheel.


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Treason originally meant disloyalty to a sovereign ruler, such as a king.


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Treasure-trove is a term applied to articles containing a substantial amount of gold or silver that have been hidden and are later discovered in a house or in the earth.


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Treaty is a formal agreement between two or more independent governments.


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Treaty port.  Over the years, foreign powers have used different methods to gain trading rights in China.


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Treble is the upper, or highest, part in choral music of two or more parts.


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Tree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm (1853-1917), an English actor and theatre manager, became famous for his magnificent Shakespearean productions at the Haymarket Theatre, in London, and later at Her Majesty's Theatre, also in London, which he founded in 189


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Tree farming.  A tree farm is a privately owned area used to grow trees for profit.


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Tree frog is an amphibian (an animal that lives on land and in water) which spends much of its time in trees.


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Tree shrew is a small, swift-moving mammal that lives in the forests of India, Southeast Asia, and southern China.


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Tree snake is any snake that lives in trees.


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Tree surgery is the care of trees, chiefly by pruning, bracing, filling hollows, and removing decayed wood.


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Trefoil, meaning three-leaved, is the name generally applied to various plants having compound leaves with three leaflets, like the clover.


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Treitschke, Heinrich Gotthard von (1834-1896), a German historian and teacher, argued for German unity in his writings.


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Trench, Richard (1807-1886), was a noted British churchman and scholar of the 1800's.


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Trench foot is a diseased condition of the lower limbs and feet, caused by prolonged exposure to wet cold.


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Trench mouth, also called Vincent's infection, is a disease which centres in the mouth and throat.


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Trenchard, Viscount (1873-1956), was a British military commander.


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Trent is the third longest river in England and the principal river of the Midlands.


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Trent, Council of, was a series of conferences held by the Roman Catholic Church in Trent, Italy, between 1545 and 1563.


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Trent Affair was a naval incident in the first year of the American Civil War.


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Trenton (pop. 88,675; met. area pop. 325,824) is the capital of New Jersey, U.S.A., and an important manufacturing centre of the state.


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Trepang is the commercial name of the dried bodies of certain species (kinds) of marine animals called sea cucumbers (see SEA CUCUMBER).


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Trephining is a surgical operation that involves cutting out a small, circular piece of the skull.


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Trespass, in law, is most commonly known as the unlawful entrance upon the property of another.


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Trestle, in engineering, is a structure used to support a roadway over a valley or crossroads.


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Trevelyan, George Macaulay (1876-1962), was a famous British historian.


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Trevino, Elizabeth Borton de (1904-...), is an American author.


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Trevino, Lee (1939-...), is an American golfer.


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Trevithick, Richard (1771-1833), was an English inventor and engineer.


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Trevor, William (1928-...), an Irish writer, first won recognition for his novel The Old Boys (1964).


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Trial is a method of settling disputes verbally in a court of law.


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Trial by combat, also called trial by battle or wager of battle, was a way of settling legal disputes in the Middle Ages.


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Triangle, in plane geometry, is an enclosed figure that has three line segments for sides.


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Triangle is a percussion instrument that consists of a steel bar bent into a triangular shape with one open corner.


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Trianon, Treaty of, was signed by Hungary and the Western Allies after World War I (1914-1918).


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Tribe is a term used to describe certain human social groups.


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Tribunal is a court of justice appointed to examine special evidence or appeals.


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Tribune was an official in ancient Rome.


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Trichina is a small roundworm that causes the disease trichinosis.


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Trier (pop. 93,472) is the oldest city in Germany.


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Trieste (pop. 231,100) is a city in northeastern Italy.


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Triggerfish is a type of fish that lives in warm and tropical seas.


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Triglyceride is one of the major fatty substances in the blood.


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Trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that deals with the relationships between the sides and angles of triangles.


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Tromp, Martin Harpertzoon (1597-1653), was a Dutch naval officer.


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Trillion is a thousand billion in the United States and France.


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Trillium is a wild flower that grows in damp, wooded places in North America and Asia.


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Trinidad and Tobago is an independent country in the West Indies.


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Trinity is a term used to express the belief that in the one God there are three Divine Persons--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost).


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Trinity House is the lighthouse authority for England, Wales, and the Channel Islands.


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Tripe is a meat that comes from the stomach walls of cattle.


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Triple Alliance was a defence agreement among Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy.


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Triple Entente means triple, or threefold, agreement.


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Triple jump is an athletics event in which an athlete leaps as far as he or she can in three continuous jumps.


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Tripoli (pop. 175,000) is the second largest city in Lebanon.


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Tripoli (pop. 990,697) is the capital and largest city of Libya.


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Tripura is a small, mainly agricultural state in northern India.


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Triticale is a grain produced by crossbreeding wheat and rye.


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Tritium is a hydrogen isotope used in the release of nuclear energy through fusion, as in the hydrogen bomb.


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Triton was a sea god in Greek mythology.


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Triumph, in ancient Rome, was the highest honour given to a victorious general.


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Triumvirate.  In Roman history, a triumvirate was a group of three men who seized control of the government.


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Troika is a Russian word that means a group of three.


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Trojan War was a conflict in which ancient Greece defeated the city of Troy.


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Trollope, Anthony (1815-1882), was a popular English novelist of the 1800's.


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Trombone is a brass instrument that consists chiefly of an oblong tube expanded into a bell at one end.


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Trona is one of the most important natural soda minerals.


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Trondheim (pop. 134,654) is the third largest city in Norway.


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Trooping the colour, in British regiments, is part of the ceremony of mounting guard.


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Tropic of Cancer is an imaginary line that traces the northern boundary of the earth's Tropical Zone.


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Tropic of Capricorn is an imaginary line that traces the southern boundary of the earth's Tropical Zone.


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Tropical fish.  Many kinds of fish live in the freshwater and saltwater habitats of the tropics.


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Tropical rainforest is a forest of tall trees in a region of year-round warmth and plentiful rainfall.


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Tropicbird is any of three species of sea birds found in tropical regions.


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Tropics are the regions of the earth that lie within about 2,570 kilometres north and 2,570 kilometres south of the equator.


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Tropism is a bending movement in living things caused by an outside stimulus (signal).


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Troposphere is the layer of the atmosphere closest to the earth.


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Trossachs is a beautiful wooded gorge in Scotland's Central Region near Ben A'an and Ben Venue.


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Trotsky, Leon (1879-1940), also spelled Trotzky, was a leader of the Bolshevik revolution in Russia (see BOLSHEVIKS).


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Trotting, also called harness racing, is a popular form of horse racing.


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Troubadour was one of a large group of poet-musicians who flourished in southern France in the 1100's and 1200's.


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Trout is a fish closely related to salmon, whitefish, and chars.


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Trouvere was one type of a group of lyric poets who flourished in northern France in the 1100's and 1200's.


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Troy, also called Ilium, was an ancient city in Asia Minor (now Turkey) that was made famous in the legends of early Greece.


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Troy weight is a standard system used in weighing gold, silver, platinum, and coins.


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Truce is a short suspension of hostilities between opposing sides in a war.


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Truck is a motor vehicle used to carry freight.


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Trudeau, Edward Livingston (1848-1915), was a famous pioneer in the antituberculosis movement in the United States.


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Trudeau, Pierre Elliott (1919-...), was prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984.


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Trueman, Freddie (1931-...), a cricketer for Yorkshire, England, became one of the world's greatest opening fast bowlers.


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Truffaut, Francois (1932-1984), was a leading French film director.


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Truffle is a fungus that is used as a food and a flavouring.


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Truganini (1812-1876), was generally thought to have been the last tribal Tasmanian Aborigine.


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Trujillo Molina, Rafael Leonidas (1891-1961), was the ruling force in the Dominican Republic for over 30 years.


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Truk Islands form a large island group in the western Pacific, about 2,900 kilometres southeast of Manila in the Philippines.


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Truman, Harry S. (1884-1972), was president of the United States from 1945 to 1953.


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Trumper, Victor (1877-1915), was an outstanding Australian batsman.


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Trumpet is a popular brass instrument in bands and orchestras.


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Truro is a city in Cornwall, England, known as a tourist centre.


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Trust fund is money or other property managed by one person or group for the benefit of another person or group.


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Trust territory refers to an area administered by a country under the supervision of the United Nations (UN) Trusteeship Council.


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Trusthouse Forte, formed in 1970, is one of the world's largest hotel and catering groups.


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Truth, Sojourner (1797?-1883), was the name used by Isabella Baumfree, one of the best-known American abolitionists of her day.


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Truth table is a method of showing logical relationships.


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Trypanosome is a microscopic one-celled organism.


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Tsetse fly is a two-winged fly of Africa.


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Tswana is the Bantu language spoken by people living in southern Africa.


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Tuamotu Islands are an island group in the South Pacific.


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Tuareg are the largest group of nomads living in the Sahara.


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Tuart is the Aboriginal name for a Western Australian eucalyptus.


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Tuatara is a lizardlike reptile that lives only on a few small islands off the coast of New Zealand.


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Tuba is the general name for a number of musical instruments in the brass family.


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Tube worm is the name for marine worms that live in tubes.


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Tuber is the thick, enlarged part of a stem that grows underground.


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Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that mainly affects the lungs but can also involve other organs.


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Tuberose is a plant of the agave family.


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Tubman, Harriet (1820?-1913), was a black American whose daring rescues helped hundreds of slaves escape to freedom.


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Tubman, William V. S. (1895-1971), was president of Liberia from 1944 until his death in 1971.


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Tuchman, Barbara Wertheim (1912-1989), was an American historian who won two Pulitzer Prizes for general nonfiction.


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Tucker, Albert (1914-...), an Australian painter, portrayed the devastating effects of World War II on Australian cities.


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Tucson, (pop. 405,390; met. area pop. 531,443), is the second largest city in Arizona, U.S.A. It is a commercial and research centre of the U.S. Southwest.


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Tucuman (pop. 473,271) is a city in northwestern Argentina.


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Tudor, House of, was the family that ruled England from 1485 to 1603.


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Tuesday is the name of the third day of the week.


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Tugboat, also called tug or towboat, is a small, powerful boat that manoeuvres large vessels.


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Tugendhat, Sir Christopher (1937-...), was a Common Market commissioner for the United Kingdom from 1977 until 1985.


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Tughluq, Muhammad bin (1290-1351), was the second sultan of the Tughluq dynasty.


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Tui is the name of one of New Zealands finest songbirds.


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Tuileries, a famous royal palace, stood on the right bank of the Seine River in Paris.


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Tularaemia, also called rabbit fever, is an infectious disease of many mammals, including human beings.


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Tulip is a lovely, graceful garden flower that originated in southern Europe and Asia.


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Tulip tree, also called yellow poplar and tulip poplar, is the tallest broadleaf tree in the eastern United States.


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Tull, Jethro (1674-1741), an English farmer, built the first practical farm tool for planting seeds in rows.


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Tully Falls, at the head of the Tully River in north Queensland, Australia, is a steep waterfall filled by a runoff from more than 2,500 millimetres of summer rainfall from November to March.


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Tulsa (pop. 367,302; met. area pop. 708,954) is a major centre of the United States petroleum industry.


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Tumbleweed is the popular name for several plants that grow in the prairie and plains regions of the United States.


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Tumour is an abnormal growth of tissues in the body.


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Tuna is any of 13 species of saltwater fish in the mackerel family.


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Tunbridge Wells (pop. 98,300) is a residential town in southwestern Kent, England.


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Tundra is a cold, dry region where trees cannot grow.


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Tung oil is an oil that comes from the seed kernels of the tung tree.


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Tungsten, also called wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W. It is a moderately hard, silver-white metal.


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Tunic is a loose, short garment, reaching from the neck to about the knee.


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Tuning fork is a device used for tuning musical instruments and for finding a standard pitch.


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Tunis (pop. 596,654) is the capital and largest city of Tunisia.


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Tunisia extends farther north than any other country in Africa.


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Tunney, Gene (1897-1978), an American boxer, defeated Jack Dempsey in 1926 to become world heavyweight champion.


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Tupelo is the name of several species of attractive trees native to North America, China, and Southeast Asia.


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Turbine is a device with a rotor that is turned by a moving fluid, such as water, steam, gas, or the wind.


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Turbot is a large flatfish that lives along the Atlantic Coast of Europe and in the Mediterranean Sea.


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Turgenev, Ivan (1818-1883), was one of the greatest Russian novelists.


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Turin (pop. 962,507) is a city in northern Italy that lies on the Po River.


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Turing, Alan Mathison (1912-1954), an English mathematician, made important contributions to the development of electronic digital computers.


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Turkestan, also spelled Turkistan, a vast geographical region in Asia, has no definite boundaries.


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Turkey is a Middle Eastern nation that lies both in Europe and in Asia.


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Turkey is the name of two species of American birds related to chickens, peafowl, and pheasants.


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Turkmenistan is a country in west-central Asia.


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Turks are people who speak Turkic languages.


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Turks and Caicos Islands are a dependency of the United Kingdom (UK) in the northern Caribbean Sea.


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Turmeric is a plant that grows in southern Asia.


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Turner, Ethel (1872-1958), an Australian author, wrote Seven Little Australians (1894).


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Turner, J. M. W. (1775-1851), was perhaps the greatest landscape painter in the history of English art.


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Turner, Nat (1800-1831), a black slave and preacher, led the most famous slave revolt in United States history.


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Turner, Richmond Kelly (1885-1961), was the leading American naval amphibious commander in the Pacific Ocean during World War II (1939-1945).


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Turner, Roscoe (1895-1970), was an American racing pilot and aviation business executive.


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Turner, Tina (1939-...) is an American rhythm and blues/rock singer known for her raspy voice and her dynamic stage performances.


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Turnip is a vegetable grown for its fleshy root and green leaves.


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Turnstone is the name given to two kinds of small shore birds.


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Turpentine is a colourless or yellowish liquid that has a strong odour and is highly flammable.


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Turpentine is the name of an Australian tree.


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Turpin, Dick (1706-1739), was an English robber whose exploits have appeared in English legends and literature.


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Turquoise is a mineral widely used as a gemstone.


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Turtle is a reptile with a shell, which lives mainly in water.


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Turtle dove is a small dove that breeds in woodland and open country in Europe, western Asia, and northern Africa.


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Tuscany is a political region, or state, in Italy.


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Tussaud, Marie Gresholtz (1761-1850), a Swiss modeller in wax, founded Madame Tussaud's Exhibition in London in 1802.


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Tussock moth makes up a family whose caterpillars have tussocks (tufts) of hair along the back.


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Tutankhamen served as king of Egypt from about 1347 B.C. until his death in 1339 B.C. His name is also spelled Tutankhamun or Tutankhamon.


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Tutsi are an African people who live mainly in the central African nations of Burundi and Rwanda.


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Tutu, Desmond (1931-...), is a South African civil rights leader and was Anglican archbishop of Cape Town from 1986 to 1996.


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Tuva is an autonomous (self-governing) republic in Russia.


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Tuvalu is a small island country in the South Pacific Ocean.


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Tuwhare, Hone (1922-...), a New Zealand writer, was the first Maori to win prominence as a poet.


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Twain, Mark (1835-1910), was the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, one of the major authors of American fiction.


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Tweed is a rough, heavy, hairy, woollen cloth that may contain synthetic fibres.


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Tweed, River, rises in Scotland's Southern Uplands at Tweed's Well, about 10 kilometres northwest of the tourist centre of Moffat.


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Tweed, River is in the extreme northeast of New South Wales, Australia.


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Tweeddale (pop. 15,314) is a local government area in Borders Region of the United Kingdom.


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Twelfth Night is a Christian holiday celebrated 12 days after Christmas, on January 6.


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Twelve Tables, Laws of the, were the first written laws of the Romans.


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Twenty-eight is the name of an Australian parrot whose ringing call sounds as though it is saying "twenty-eight."  The parrots are greenish in colour.


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Twenty-sixth of July Movement was a Cuban revolutionary group led by Fidel Castro that overthrew the dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959.


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Twilight is the period just before sunrise and the period just after sunset when the light in the sky is soft and mellow.


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Twill is a weave that is used in making many kinds of strong, durable cloth.


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Twine is tough cord made from the twisted strands of hard leaf fibres, usually those from the sisal or henequen plants.


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Twinflower, also called Linnaea, is a low-growing, evergreen, woody plant, named after the Swedish botanist Carl von Linne.


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Twining, Nathan Farragut (1897-1982), in 1957 became the first United States Air Force officer to be appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.


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Twofold Bay is a deepwater harbour and tourist resort on the far south coast of New South Wales, Australia, about 50 kilometres north of the Victorian border.


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Tyburn Tree was the popular name for the gallows that occupied a site close to what is now Marble Arch, in London, from the 1100's until the late 1700's.


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Tyler, John (1790-1862), was president of the United States from 1841 to 1845.


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Tylor, Sir Edward Burnett (1832-1917), a British anthropologist, is often regarded as the father of anthropology in the English-speaking world.


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Tyndale, William (1494-1536), was an early English leader of the Reformation.


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Tyndall, John (1820-1893), was a British physicist and natural philosopher.


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Tyne is a river in northeastern England.


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Tyne and Wear is a county in northeastern England.


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Tynedale (pop. 56,400) is a local government area in Northumberland, northeastern England, on the border with Scotland.


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Type is a letter, number, or other character used in printing.


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Typewriter is a machine that produces printed letters and figures on paper.


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Typhoid fever is a serious bacterial disease that results in fever, weakness, and, in severe cases, death.


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Typhoid Mary was a name sometimes used in referring to Mary Mallon (1868?-1938), the first known carrier of typhoid fever in the United States.


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Typhoon is a violent, low-pressure tropical storm that occurs in the western Pacific Ocean.


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Typhus is any one of a group of important diseases caused by rickettsiae.


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Tyrannosaurus was a large, meat-eating dinosaur that lived about 68 million to 65 million years ago in what is now western North America.


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Tyranny is a term used throughout history to describe various forms of government by rulers who have unrestricted power.


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Tyre is a covering for the outer rim of a wheel.


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Tyrol, also spelled Tirol, is a beautiful mountainous region in western Austria and northern Italy.


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Tyrone is the largest of the six counties of Northern Ireland.


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Tyrone, Earl of (1540?-1616), Hugh O'Neill, was the leader of an Irish rebellion against the English during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The revolt began in 1594.


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Tyrrell, Joseph Burr (1858-1957), was a Canadian geologist, historian, and mining engineer.


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Tyrrhenian Sea an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, lies between Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica.


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Tyson, Mike (1966-...), an American boxer, became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history when he won the World Boxing Council (WBC) version of the title in 1986.


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U is the 21st letter of the English alphabet.


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U-235 is a radioactive isotope of uranium that is used in nuclear reactors and certain nuclear weapons.


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Ubangi is a nickname given to women members of the Sara, a black African tribe living near the Ubangi River in the Central African Republic.


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Ubangi River is the chief northern tributary of the Congo River in Africa.


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Ubar is a highly decorated drum used by some Aboriginal tribes in northern Australia.


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Uccello, Paolo (1397-1475), was an Italian Renaissance painter.


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Uffizi Palace, a famous building in Florence, Italy, contains one of the world's finest art collections.


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Uganda is a thickly populated country in east-central Africa.


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Ukraine is the second largest country in area in Europe.


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Ukulele is a four-stringed musical instrument related to the guitar.


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Ulan Bator (pop. 515,000) is the capital and largest city of Mongolia.


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Ulbricht, Walter (1893-1973), was the leader of East Germany from 1960 to 1971.


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Ulcer is an open sore in the skin or mucous membrane.


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Ulithi atoll is one of the western Caroline Islands, which lie in the Pacific Ocean.


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Ulm, Charles (1897-1934), an Australian aviator, helped to pioneer flying in Australia.


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Ulster is one of the four provinces of Ireland.


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Ultima Thule was the name given in ancient literature to the most northern of known lands.


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Ultimatum is a final proposition or demand made by one of two negotiating parties.


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Ultrahigh frequency waves (UHF) are a type of short radio wave.


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Ultramarine is a blue pigment or colouring matter now prepared by artificial means.


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Ultramicroscope is an instrument that allows a person to see objects much smaller than those that can be seen under an ordinary microscope.


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Ultrasound is sound with frequencies above the range of human hearing.


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Ultraviolet rays are an invisible form of light.


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Ulysses was king of Ithaca and a brave and cunning hero in Greek mythology.


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Umber is a brown mineral pigment used to make certain oil and watercolour paints.


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Umbilical cord is a ropelike structure that connects the fetus (unborn child) to the placenta (see EMBRYO).


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Umbrella is a device that protects people from rain and sun.


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Umbrellabird is the name of three species of birds that live in the tropical forests of Central and South America.


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Umfolozi is a national park in northern Natal in South Africa.


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Unamuno, Miguel de (1864-1936), was a Spanish philosophical essayist, poet, novelist, and dramatist.


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Uncle Sam is a figure that symbolizes the United States.


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Uncle Tom's Cabin is a famous antislavery novel by the American author Harriet Beecher Stowe.


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Unconscious, in psychology, is a term used to describe such mental processes as thoughts, ideas, and feelings that go on in people's minds without their being aware of them.


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Underground, in political terms, is a secretly conducted movement to overthrow the government or the military occupation forces of a country.


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Underground railway is a form of transportation designed to move large numbers of people quickly to their destinations.


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Underwriting is a term first used in England in the 1600's.


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Undset, Sigrid (1882-1949), a Norwegian author, won the 1928 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Unemployment is the state of a person who is out of work, and actively looking for a job.


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UNESCO is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN).


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Ungulate is any mammal whose toes end in hoofs.


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UNICEF is the commonly used name for the United Nations Children's Fund.


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Unicorn is an imaginary animal that plays a prominent part in medieval European legend and art.


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Unicycle is a vehicle with a seat and frame mounted above a single wheel.


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Unidentified flying object (UFO) is a strange light or object that appears in the sky or near the ground and has no known cause.


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Uniform is a style of clothing that identifies people as members of a group or as workers in a particular field.


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Uniformity, Act of, is any one of several acts of the English Parliament, which were passed in 1549, 1552, 1559, and 1662.


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Union, Acts of, brought separate parliaments together into one United Kingdom parliament at Westminster, in London.


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Union Jack is the name sometimes used for the national flag of the United Kingdom, officially called the British Union Flag.


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Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), also called the Soviet Union, was the world's first and most powerful Communist country.


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Unionist parties, in Northern Ireland, are political parties that support the continuation of the union (political link) between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.


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Unit, in measurement, is a quantity adopted as the standard by which any other quantity of the same kind is measured.


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Unit trust is an investment company or trust that pools money from many investors and uses it to buy stocks and other securities.


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Unitarians believe in the unity of God, rather than in the doctrine of the Trinity as found in the historic creeds of the Christian church.


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Unitary authority is an administrative body forming part of the structure of local government in the United Kingdom (UK).


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United Arab Emirates is a federation of seven independent Arab states in southwestern Asia.


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United Arab Republic (U.A.R.) was a union of two independent Middle Eastern countries, Egypt and Syria.


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United Church of Christ is a Protestant religious denomination in the United States.


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United Irishmen were members of a movement that aimed to unite Irish Protestants and Roman Catholics in an effort to make Ireland independent of Britain and establish a truly national Irish parliament.


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United Kingdom is an island country in northwestern Europe.


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United Kingdom, Armed services of the.  The armed services of the United Kingdom (UK) have played an important part in UK history.


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United Kingdom, Arts of the.  The United Kingdom has a rich and varied artistic tradition.


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United Kingdom, Educational systems of the.  The four lands that make up the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) have different histories and distinctive cultures.


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United Kingdom, Geology of the.  This article discusses the geology of the geographical region known as the British Isles, which consists of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.


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United Kingdom, Government of the.  The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy.


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United Kingdom, History of the is part of the long story of all the peoples who have at one time or another lived in the lands that make up present-day England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.


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United Kingdom, Legal systems of the.  There are separate legal systems for England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.


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United Nations (UN) is an organization of nations that works for world peace and security and the betterment of humanity.


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United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that promotes industrialization in developing countries.


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United Nations University is a worldwide research and advanced training institution established by the United Nations (UN).


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United Press International (UPI) is one of the largest privately owned news agencies in the world.


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United States of America is the third largest country in the world in population and the fourth largest in area.


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United States, Armed services of the.  The armed services of the United States are the most powerful in the world.


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United States, Government of the.  The government of the United States represents, serves, and protects the American people at home and in foreign countries.


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United States, History of the.  The history of the United States is the story of a great nation that was carved out of a wilderness by a brave and freedom-loving people.


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Universal language.  Language is the main means of communication between peoples.


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Universe consists of all matter, light, and other forms of radiation and energy.


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University.  The term higher education refers to learning institutions that students can attend after they have finished secondary school.


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Unknown soldier.  After World War I (1914-1918), officials of the Allied countries found that the bodies of many soldiers killed in battle could not be identified.


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Unsworth, Barrie (1934-...), a member of the Australian Labor Party, became premier of New South Wales in July 1986.


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Untermeyer, Louis (1885-1977), was an American poet, critic, and editor.


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Unwin, Sir Raymond (1863-1940), was a pioneer in British town planning.


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Upanishads are a group of writings that make up the last section of a collection of Hindu scriptures called the Vedas.


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Upas is the name of a large forest tree that grows in southeastern Asia and Indonesia.


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Updike, John (1932-...), is an American author of novels, short stories, essays, and poetry.


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Upfield, Arthur (1888-1964), an Australian author, began writing detective stories in 1927.


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Upham, Charles Hazlitt (1908-1994), a New Zealand soldier, was the only man to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice during World War II (1939-1945).


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Upper Hutt (pop. 37,092), is a city in the southern part of the North Island of New Zealand, about 32 kilometres from Wellington.


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Upsilon particle is the heaviest known subatomic particle.


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Ur, a city in the ancient region of Sumer (now southeastern Iraq), was one of the world's first cities.


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Uraemia is a condition that occurs when excessive quantities of nitrogen-rich wastes, mainly urea, build up in the blood.


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Ural Mountains extend for about 2,400 kilometres through the western part of Russia.


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Ural River is a river that rises in the southern Ural Mountains in Russia.


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Uranium is a silvery-white, radioactive metal.


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Uranus was the earliest god of the sky in Greek and Roman mythology.


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Uranus is the seventh planet from the sun.


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Urban II (1042?-1099) was elected pope in 1088.


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Urban VI (1318-1389) was elected pope in 1378.


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Urea, also called carbamide, is a nitrogen-rich organic compound produced by the bodies of human beings and many other animals.


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Urewera is an area in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand.


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Urey, Harold Clayton (1893-1981), was an American chemist who made important contributions in two main fields.


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Urine is a liquid waste product of the body produced by the kidneys.


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Uris, Leon (1924-...), an American author, became known for his best-selling novels based on modern historical events.


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Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are two constellations (star groups) seen in the northern sky but not visible from south of the equator.


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Ursula, Saint, is a saint of the Roman Catholic Church.


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Ursulines are members of a Roman Catholic order of women.


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Uruguay is a small country on the southeastern coast of South America.


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Uruguay River is part of the great Parana and La Plata river system of South America.


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Ustad Fateh Ali Khan (1938-...) is a distinguished Pakistani classical singer.


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Ustinov, Dimitriy Fedorovich (1908-1984), was an important leader in the Soviet Union.


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Ustinov, Sir Peter (1921-...), is a British actor, playwright, and producer.


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Usury is the charging of interest on money loans at a high rate.


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Utah (pop. 1,727,784) is a state in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States.


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Utamaro (1753-1806) was a leading Japanese printmaker.


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Uterus, or womb, is a hollow organ of the female reproductive system in which an unborn baby develops.


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Utica, an ancient North African city, was the oldest Phoenician colony in the western Mediterranean Sea.


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Utilitarianism is a theory of morality that associates the rightness of an act with its consequences.


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Utopia is the name commonly given to an imaginary land where everything is supposed to be perfect.


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Utrecht (pop. 234,106; met. area 545,796) is a Dutch city that lies along the Rhine River, about 35 kilometres southeast of Amsterdam.


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Utrecht, Peace of, was one of the great international peace settlements of history.


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Utrillo, Maurice (1883-1955), was a French artist known for his paintings of Paris street scenes.


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Uttar Pradesh is a state in northern India.


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Uttlesford (pop. 63,900), the largest local government area in Essex, England.


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Uzbekistan is a country in central Asia.


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V is the 22nd letter of the English alphabet.


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V-E Day, which stands for Victory in Europe Day, was officially proclaimed on Tuesday, May 8, 1945 (May 9 in the Soviet Union).


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V-J Day, which stands for Victory over Japan Day, marked the end of World War II (1939-1945).


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Vaal is one of South Africa's major rivers.


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Vacuum is a space that has no matter in it.


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Vacuum cleaner is an electric appliance that cleans chiefly by suction.


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Vacuum tube is a device used in such electronic equipment as radios, television sets, and computers.


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Vaduz (pop. 4,920), is the capital of the principality of Liechtenstein.


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Vaginitis is an inflammation of the vagina.


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Vagrancy.  A person who wanders from place to place, and who lives without working and without any settled home, is called a vagrant, or vagabond.


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Valadian, Margaret (1936-...), an Aboriginal social worker, became Australia's first Aboriginal woman university graduate in 1966.


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Vale of Glamorgan (pop. 110,700), is a local government area in south Wales.


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Vale of White Horse (pop. 109,200), is a local government area in southwestern Oxfordshire, England.


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Vale Royal (pop. 111,100), is a local government area in central Cheshire, England.


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Valencia (pop. 752,909), is the third largest city in Spain.


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Valency, also called valence, is a number that indicates the ability of a chemical element to combine with other elements.


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Valens (A.D. 328-378), was the Roman emperor who allowed large numbers of barbarians to settle south of the Danube River.


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Valentine, Saint, is the name associated with two martyrs of the early Christian church.


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Valentine's Day is celebrated in many countries on February 14 as a festival of romance and affection.


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Valentinian I (A.D. 321-375) was Roman emperor from A.D. 364 until his death in 375.


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Valentinian III (A.D. 419-455), was emperor of the West Roman Empire.


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Valentino, Rudolph (1895-1926), was the most popular romantic star of American silent films.


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Valerian family includes more than 300 different kinds of perennial or annual herbs and some shrubs.


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Valery, Paul (1871-1945), was a French poet.


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Valhalla was the great hall of the dead heroes in Scandinavian mythology.


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Valkyrie was one of the warlike goddess-maidens of Scandinavian mythology.


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Valle, Jose Cecilio Del (1780-1834), a Central American patriot and statesman, wrote the Central American Declaration of Independence, proclaiming freedom from Spain on September 15, 1821.


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Valletta (pop. 14,249), is the capital and chief seaport of Malta.


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Valley is a natural trough in the earth's surface.


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Valley of the Kings is a rocky, narrow gorge, which was used as a cemetery by the pharaohs (kings) of ancient Egypt between 1550 and 1100 B.C. The Valley, sometimes called the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, lies on the west bank of the Nile River


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Vallis, Val (1916-...), an Australian poet and university lecturer, brought a fresh voice to Australian poetry with his descriptive lyrical verse Songs of the East Coast (1948).


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Valois was the family name of a branch of the great Capetian line of French kings (see CAPETIAN DYNASTY).


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Valparaiso (pop. 276,756) is the principal seaport and third-largest city of Chile.


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Value, in economics, means the power of a commodity to command other commodities in exchange.


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Value-added tax (VAT) is a tax imposed by a government at each stage in the production of a good or service.


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Valve is a term used for various mechanical devices which open and close to control the flow of fluids in pipes and vessels.


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Vampire is a corpse that supposedly returns to life at night to suck people's blood.


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Vampire bat is the name given several different bats.


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Vanadium, a chemical element with symbol V, is a silvery-white metallic element.


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Van Allen, James Alfred (1914-...), an American physicist, discovered the Van Allen belts, two zones of electrically charged particles that surround the earth.


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Van Allen belts, also called radiation belts, are two zones of electrically charged particles that surround the earth high above its surface.


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Vanbrugh, Dame Irene (1872-1949), a British actress, was particularly noted for her performances in plays by J. M. Barrie, especially The Admirable Crichton.


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Vanbrugh, Sir John (1664-1726), was an English playwright and architect.


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Van Buren, Martin (1782-1862), was president of the United States from 1837 to 1841.


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Vancouver (pop. 471,844; met. area 1,602,502) is the largest city in British Columbia and the busiest port in Canada.


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Vancouver, George (1758-1798), was a British explorer.


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Vancouver Island is the largest island on the Pacific Coast of North America, and an important part of the Canadian province of British Columbia.


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Vandalism is criminal damage to property.


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Vandals were a Germanic tribe of barbarians that invaded the West Roman Empire during the early A.D. 400's.


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Van de Graaff generator, also known as an electrostatic generator, is a device for building up a high electrical charge.


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Vandenberg, Arthur Hendrick (1884-1951), was an American statesman and political leader.


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Vandenberg, Hoyt Sanford (1899-1954), served as chief of staff of the United States Air Force from 1948 to 1953.


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Van Den Bosch, Johannes (1780-1844), was governor general of the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) from 1830 to 1834.


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Van der Bijl, Hendrik Johannes (1887-1948), was a South African engineer, inventor, and industrialist.


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Vanderbilt, Cornelius (1794-1877), was the most successful and powerful American businessman of his time.


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Van der Goes, Hugo (1440?-1482), was the leading Flemish painter of religious subjects and portraits of his generation.


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Van der Waals, Johannes Diderik, (1837-1923), a Dutch theoretical physicist, became famous for his work on the behaviour of liquids and gases.


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Van der Weyden, Rogier (1399?-1464), was a Flemish painter of portraits and religious subjects.


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Van Devanter, Willis (1859-1941), an American judge, served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1911 to 1937.


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Van Diemen, Anthony (1593-1645), was governor general of the Netherlands Indies (now Indonesia) from 1636 to 1645.


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Van Doren, Carl (1885-1950), was an American biographer and critic.


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Van Doren, Mark (1894-1972), was an American poet, critic, and educator.


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Van Druten, John William (1901-1957), was an English-born playwright who became known for his polished comedies.


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Van Dyck, Sir Anthony (1599-1641), was one of the most popular portrait painters of his time.


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Van Eyck, Jan (1380?-1441), was one of the greatest and most influential Flemish painters of altarpieces and portraits of the 1400's.


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Van Gogh, Vincent (1853-1890), is one of the most famous painters in modern art.


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Van Hise, Charles Richard (1857-1918), was an American geologist and educator.


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Vanilla is the name of a group of climbing orchids.


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Van Leyden, Lucas (1494?-1533), was a Dutch graphic artist and painter best known for his engravings.


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Van Loon, Hendrik Willem (1882-1944), an American historian, biographer, journalist, and lecturer, won a 1922 Newbery medal for his history of the world, The Story of Mankind (1921).


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Van Praagh, Dame Peggy (1910-...), a ballet teacher, choreographer, and dancer, was artistic director of the Australian Ballet from 1962 to 1965 and co-artistic director from 1965 to 1974.


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Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen (1595-1643), was one of the leading Dutch colonizers of the territory that later became New York, U.S.A. In 1629, the Dutch West India Company authorized large grants of land in New Netherland to company members who promised t


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Van Riebeeck, Jan (1619-1677), was the Dutch commander of the first settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa.


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Van't Hoff, Jacobus Henricus, (1852-1911), was a Dutch chemist who received the first Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1901.


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Vanuatu is an island country in the southwest Pacific Ocean.


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Van Wouw, Anton (1862-1945), was one of South Africa's foremost sculptors.


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Vapour, in physics, is the term applied to the gaseous state into which solids and liquids pass when they are heated.


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Vapour lamp is a source of electric light that uses a vapour or gas, rather than a wire, to produce light.


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Vapour lock occurs in a petrol engine when some of the petrol boils in the fuel-supply system.


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Varanasi (pop. 1,018,370), is an ancient holy city of the Hindus in northern India.


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Vardaman, James Kimble (1861-1930), a Mississippi Democrat, served as governor from 1904 to 1908 and as a United States senator from 1913 to 1919.


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Vardon, Harry (1870-1937), a British golfer, was the only player to win the British Open Golf Championship six times.


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Varese, Edgard (1883-1965), a French-born American composer, was a leading composer of the early 1900's.


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Vargas, Getulio Dornellas (1883-1954), served as president of Brazil from 1930 to 1945 and from 1950 to 1954.


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Vargas Llosa, Mario (1936-...), is the first Peruvian novelist to win international renown.


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Variation, in music, is the technique of adding to or changing some element of a composition.


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Varicose vein is a swollen vein caused by some body condition that interferes with the flow of blood toward the heart.


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Varley, Eric Graham (1932-...), a United Kingdom Labour politician, was secretary of state for industry from 1975 to 1979.


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Varnish is a transparent liquid used to protect wood, metal, and other materials from air and moisture, and to improve their appearance.


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Vase is a general term for a decorative or ornamental hollow vessel that is usually used to hold flowers.


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Vatican City (pop. 1,000), is the smallest independent state in the world.


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Vatican Council I was the 20th ecumenical (general) council of the Roman Catholic Church.


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Vatican Council II was the 21st ecumenical (general) council of the Roman Catholic Church.


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Vatican Library is the library of the Roman Catholic Church in Vatican City.


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Vauban, Sebastien Le Prestre (1633-1707), Marquis de Vauban, best known as a French military engineer, was equally brilliant as a statesman and economist.


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Vaudeville is a kind of theatrical entertainment that features a wide variety of acts.


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Vaughan, Henry (1622-1695), a Welsh-born poet, was one of the leading poets of the 1600's.


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Vaughan Williams, Ralph (1872-1958), was one of Great Britain's foremost composers.


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Veal is the flesh of a calf (young cow or bull) used for food.


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Veblen, Thorstein Bunde (1857-1929), was an American economist.


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Vedas are the oldest sacred books of Hinduism.


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Vega is the brightest star in Lyra, a constellation in the Northern Hemisphere.


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Vega, Lope de (1562-1635), was the most important playwright of Spain's Golden Age.


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Vegemite is a concentrated yeast extract that has become a popular food product in Australia.


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Vegetable is any of many nutritious foods that come from the leaves, roots, seeds, stems, and other parts of certain plants.


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Vegetable oil is a fatty substance obtained from certain plants.


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Vegetarianism is the practice of not eating meat.


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Vein is a blood vessel which carries blood toward the heart.


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Velazquez, Diego (1599-1660), was an important Spanish baroque painter.


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Veld is a word from the Afrikaans language used to describe natural vegetation in South Africa.


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Velocity is the rate at which a body moves in space in a given direction.


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Velvet is a handsome fabric with a soft and luxurious feel.


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Velvetleaf is a weed that has velvety, heart-shaped leaves.


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Vendetta is a family feud once common in Italy, especially in Sicily.


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Vending machine is a self-service device that dispenses a product or service when money or a token, card, or key is inserted into it.


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Veneer is a thin sheet of wood of uniform thickness cut by peeling, slicing, or sawing logs.


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Venetian blind is a window blind made of slats.


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Venezuela is a prosperous South American country that ranks as one of the world's leading producers and exporters of petroleum.


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Venice (pop. 309,422), Italy, is one of the world's most famous and unusual cities.


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Venizelos, Eleutherios (1864-1936), was the dominant figure in Greek politics from 1910 to 1935.


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Venkataraman, Ramaswami (1910-...), an Indian politician, was the president of the Republic of India from 1987 to 1992.


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Venn, Harry Whitall (1844-1908), was commissioner for railways, and minister of public works for Western Australia, from 1890 to 1896.


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Venom is a poisonous substance produced by many kinds of animals.


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Ventilation supplies fresh air to indoor places and removes stale air from these places.


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Ventriloquism is the illusion of making the voice appear to come from somewhere other than its source.


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Ventris, Michael George Francis (1922-1956), a British architect, solved one of the great mysteries of archaeology.


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Venturi, Robert (1925-...), is an American architect whose theories and designs helped establish post-modernism as an important architectural movement.


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Venus was a major goddess in Roman mythology.


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Venus is known as Earth's "twin" because the two planets are so similar in size.


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Venus de Milo is a famous ancient Greek statue.


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Venus'-flytrap is a plant found in a small area of the coastal regions of North and South Carolina, in the United States.


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Veracruz (pop. 328,607), is the chief port of Mexico.


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Verb is a part of speech that expresses an action or a state of being.


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Verbena is the name of a large group of plants, almost all of which are native to North America and South America.


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Verbrugghen, Henri (1873-1934), a conductor, music teacher, and violinst, became the first director of the New South Wales Conservatorium.


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Verdi, Giuseppe (1813-1901), was an Italian composer of operas.


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Verdun, Battles of.  Verdun, one of the oldest cities of France, has been a battleground since Attila the Hun ravaged it in A.D. 450.


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Verdun, Treaty of, divided Charlemagne's empire into three parts.


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Vereeniging (pop. 60,680), is an important industrial town in Gauteng province in South Africa.


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Verga, Giovanni (1840-1922), was an Italian novelist, playwright, and short-story writer.


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Verlaine, Paul (1844-1896), was a French poet who became a leader of the poetic movement called symbolism.


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Vermeer, Jan (1632-1675), was a Dutch painter.


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Vermiculite is a mineral that occurs as layered flakes.


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Vermilion is a pigment or colouring matter used in making paint.


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Vermont (pop. 564,964), is a state in New England, United States.


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Verne, Jules (1828-1905), a French novelist, wrote some of the first science-fiction stories.


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Vernier is an instrument used in measuring lengths and angles.


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Veronese, Paolo (1528-1588), painted in and around Venice at the end of the Italian Renaissance.


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Veronica, Saint, is traditionally supposed to have been one of the women of Jerusalem who followed Jesus on His way to Calvary.


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Verrazano, Giovanni da (1485?-1528?), an Italian navigator in the service of France, sailed to North America in 1524.


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Verrocchio, Andrea del (about 1435-1488), was an Italian sculptor and painter.


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Versailles, Palace of, is a magnificent palace in northern France.


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Versailles, Treaty of, officially ended military actions against Germany in World War I (1914-1918).


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Vertebrate is an animal with a spinal column (backbone) and a cranium (brain case).


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Verwoerd, Hendrik (1901-1966), was prime minister of South Africa from 1958 to 1966.


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Very high frequency waves, also called VHF waves, are electromagnetic waves in the frequency band from 30 megahertz (30 million cycles per second) to 300 megahertz (300 million cycles per second).


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Vesalius, Andreas (1514-1564), a Flemish anatomist and doctor, made important contributions to the study of human anatomy.


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Vespasian (A.D. 9-79), was a Roman emperor.


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Vespucci, Amerigo (1454-1512), was an Italian-born explorer after whom America was named.


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Vesta was the goddess of the home and family in Roman mythology.


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Vesuvius is the only active volcano on the mainland of Europe.


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Vetch is the name of about 140 species of plants of the pea family.


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Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the diseases of animals.


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Veto is the right of one person to prevent other people from making a decision or taking an action.


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Viaduct is like a bridge, except that it crosses over dry land instead of water.


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Vibraphone is a percussion instrument that consists of a number of aluminium bars arranged on a frame like the keys of a piano.


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Vibration, in mechanics, is the rapid back-and-forth motion of an object.


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Viburnum is the name of some 150 species of small trees and shrubs of the Northern Hemisphere.


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Vice president is the second highest executive officer in the government of some nations.


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Viceroy is an official who rules a province or colony in the name of a king.


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Vichy (pop. 30,527), is a resort town on the Allier River in central France.


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Vico, Giovanni Battista (1668-1744), was an Italian scholar and philosopher.


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Victor Emmanuel was the name of a king of the Kingdom of Sardinia and of two kings of Italy.


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Victor Harbor (pop. 7,228), is one of South Australia's most popular tourist towns.


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Victoria (1819-1901), was queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 to 1901 and became one of the most famous rulers in English history.


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Victoria lies in the southeastern corner of the Australian continent.


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Victoria (pop. 66,303; met. area pop. 255,547), is the capital of British Columbia, Canada.


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Victoria, Guadalupe (1785-1843), was the first president of Mexico.


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Victoria and Albert Museum, in London, houses one of the world's most important collections of decorative art and fine art.


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Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations.


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Victoria Falls is a waterfall that the British explorer David Livingstone sighted in southern Africa in 1855.


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Victoria Land is part of the Antarctic subcontinent.


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Victoria River Downs, a region in the Northern Territory of Australia, has one of the country's biggest cattle stations.


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Vicuna is the smallest member of the camel family.


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Vidal, Gore (1925-...), is an American author best known for his novels.


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Video camera is a device that captures images and converts them into electronic signals for viewing on a television set.


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Video game is a game played by an electronic device and displayed on a television set, computer monitor, or other viewing screen.


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Videodisc, also spelled video disk or videodisk, is a flat, round platter on which visual images and sound have been recorded for reproduction on a television set.


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Videophone is a device that allows images as well as speech to be transmitted along a telephone line or satellite link.


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Videotape recorder is a device that records visual images and sound on magnetic tape.


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Vienna (pop. 1,539,858), is the capital and largest city of Austria.


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Vienna, Congress of, was a meeting held from late 1814 to early 1815 to settle the issues arising from almost 25 years of war between France and the rest of Europe.


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Vientiane (pop. 264,277), is the capital and largest city of Laos.


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Vietnam is a tropical country in Southeast Asia.


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Vietnam War was a major conflict in Southeast Asia.


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Vigee-Lebrun, Elisabeth (1755-1842), was a popular French portrait painter.


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Vigilante is a member of a self-appointed citizen group or vigilance committee.


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Vigny, Alfred de (1797-1863), a French author, was a leading figure in the romantic movement.


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Vigoro is an Australian game for women played with a paddlelike bat and a ball, with stumps at each end of a pitch 17.7 metres long.


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Vijayanagar Empire was one of the last great kingdoms of India's medieval period.


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Vikings were seafaring peoples who rose to dominance in northern Europe during medieval times.


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Villa, Pancho (1877-1923), was a Mexican bandit chieftain who became a rebel general.


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Villa-Lobos, Heitor (1887-1959), was a Brazilian composer who played a crucial role in developing a Brazilian national style of music.


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Village is a small cluster of dwellings with inhabitants who feel a sense of community--that is, a sense of belonging to a group and sharing the economic and other resources of a place.


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Villard, Oswald Garrison (1872-1949), was editor of the New York Evening Post and then The Nation.


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Villein was an agricultural worker whose status was midway between that of freeman and slave during the Middle Ages in England.


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Villiers, Alan (1903-1982), a distinguished Australian sailor, became Australia's most important and prolific writer about the sea.


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Villon, Francois (1431-?), was a great French poet.


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Vilnius (pop. 535,000), is the capital and largest city of Lithuania.


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Vimy Ridge, Battle of, was a World War I (1914-1918) battle in which Canadian forces scored an important victory over the Germans.


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Vina del Mar (pop. 307,308), is the leading seaside resort city of Chile.


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Vincent de Paul, Saint (1581-1660), a Roman Catholic leader, founded two important religious orders.


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Vine usually means a plant that has a weak and flexible stem requiring some kind of support.


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Vinegar is a sour liquid used for seasoning and for preserving foods.


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Vinegar eel is a tiny roundworm that lives in vinegar.


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Vinland is the name early Scandinavian explorers gave to a region on the east coast of North America.


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Vintage and veteran cars provide an absorbing hobby for many people.


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Vinyl is one of the most useful plastics materials ever developed.


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Viol is the name of a class of stringed instruments played with a bow.


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Viola is a stringed musical instrument that resembles a large violin.


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Violet is the common name of a group of flowering plants.


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Violin is a stringed instrument that is played with a bow.


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Viper is any one of a group of poisonous snakes.


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Viper's bugloss is a hairy plant that has a spotted stem and showy blue flowers.


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Virchow, Rudolf (1821-1902), was a prominent German doctor, scientist, and statesman.


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Vireo is the name of a family of small songbirds.


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Virgil (70-19 B.C.), also spelled Vergil, was the greatest poet of ancient Rome and one of the outstanding poets in world literature.


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Virgin Islands, British, are a dependency of the United Kingdom located in the West Indies.


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Virgin Islands of the United States (pop. 111,000), is the name of a group of small islands that lie about 65 kilometres east of Puerto Rico.


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Virginal is a keyboard instrument that resembles a harpsichord.


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Virginia, a state in the Southern United States, was the site of some of the most important events in American history.


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Virginia creeper is the name of about 10 species of climbing plants of Asia and North America.


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Virgo, the Virgin, is the sixth sign of the zodiac.


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Viroid is one of the smallest known agents of infectious disease.


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Virtanen, Artturi Ilmari (1895-1973), a Finnish biochemist, won the 1945 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his research and inventions in agricultural and nutritive chemistry (see NOBEL PRIZE).


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Virtual reality is an artificial, three-dimensional environment created by a computer and various other devices.


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Virus is a microscopic organism that lives in a cell of another living thing.


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Visa is an endorsement that government officials place on a passport to show the passport is valid (see PASSPORT).


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Visayan Islands is a group of islands in central Philippines, lying between Luzon and Mindanao.


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Viscacha is the name of four species of South American rodents.


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Viscosity is a measure of the resistance of a fluid (liquid or gas) to flow.


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Viscount is a title held by certain British noblemen.


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Vishnu is one of the two main gods of Hinduism.


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Vistula River is an important waterway of east central Europe.


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Vital statistics are a record of the most basic human events, including birth, marriage, divorce, sickness, and death.


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Vitamin is a chemical compound that the human body needs in small amounts.


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Vivaldi, Antonio (1678-1741), was an Italian composer.


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Vivekananda (1863-1902), was an Indian philosopher and social reformer.


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Viviparous animal is an animal that reproduces by means of eggs that are fertilized and develop inside the mother's body.


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Vizier is the title some Muslim countries give to certain high officials, such as ministers of state.


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Vizsla is a short-haired hunting dog also known as the Hungarian pointer.


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Vladimir I (956?-1015), was a Grand Prince of Kiev, in what is now Ukraine.


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Vladivostok (pop. 590,000), is the most important Russian port on the Pacific Ocean.


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Vlaminck, Maurice de (1876-1958), was a French artist.


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Vocabulary is the total number of words in a language.


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Vogel, Sir Julius (1835-1899), was prime minister of New Zealand from 1873 to 1875, and again in 1876.


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Vogt, William (1902-1968), was an American ecologist and ornithologist.


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Voice, in grammar, is a feature of verbs.


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Voice-recognition software enables a computer to translate spoken words into digital format--that is, into the digits 0 and 1 that computers use to process data.


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Voiceprint, also called speech spectrogram, is a visual record of the sound waves of a human voice.


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Voile is a thin, open cloth made of silk, cotton, polyester, rayon, or nylon.


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Volapuk was the first widely used universal language.


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Volcano is an opening in the earth's surface through which lava, hot gases, and rock fragments erupt (burst forth).


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Volga River is the longest river in Europe.


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Volgograd (pop. 1,005,000) is an important manufacturing city in Russia.


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Volkswagen, a German car manufacturer, is one of the world's leading producers of passenger cars.


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Volleyball is a game in which the players hit a ball back and forth across a net with their hands or arms.


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Vollmer, August (1876-1955), was a police administrator, consultant, author, and criminologist.


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Volstead, Andrew John (1860-1947) was a Republican congressman from 1903 to 1923.


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Volt is a unit of electric measurement in the metric system known as the International System of Units.


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Volta, Count (1745-1827), was an Italian inventor who won fame as the inventor of the voltaic pile, an early type of electric battery.


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Voltaire (1694-1778), was the pen name of Francois-Marie Arouet, a French author and philosopher.


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Voltmeter is an instrument that measures the voltage (difference in potential) between two points of an electric current.


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Volume of a body is the amount of space it occupies.


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Vomiting is the act of expelling the contents of the stomach through the mouth.


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Von Bekesy, Georg (1899-1972), an American physicist, won the 1961 Nobel Prize in medicine for his research on the cochlea (the spiral canal of the inner ear).


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Von Braun, Wernher (1912-1977), was one of the world's foremost rocket engineers and a leading authority on space travel.


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Von Haast, Sir Julius (1822-1887), was a German-born New Zealand colonist and scientist.


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Von Karman, Theodore (1881-1963), became one of the outstanding scientists of the 1900's.


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Von Mueller, Baron Sir Ferdinand (1825-1896), was a German botanist and explorer who added greatly to knowledge of Australian plants during the 1800's.


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Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr. (1922-...), is an American author.


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Von Nida, Norman (1914-...), an Australian golfer was Australian Open champion in 1950, 1952, and 1953.


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Von Neumann, John (1903-1957), was an outstanding mathematician.


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Von Sternberg, Josef (1894-1969), was an American film director.


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Von Tempsky, Gustavus Ferdinand (1828-1868), was one of the most courageous and romantic figures of the New Zealand Wars.


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Von Willebrand's disease is a hereditary disease in which the skin bleeds for an abnormally long period of time when injured.


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Voodoo is a term used for a variety of beliefs, traditions, and practices that are derived largely from traditional African religions and from Christianity.


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Vorster, Balthazar Johannes (1915-1983), served as prime minister of South Africa from 1966 to 1978.


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Voting is a method by which groups of people make decisions.


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Vowel.  When a person says "ah" for the doctor, an open sound is made with free passage of breath.


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Voyager, a Daring class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy, sank after a collision with the aircraft carrier Melbourne on Feb. 10, 1964.


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V/STOL is a type of aircraft that can take off and land (1) vertically or (2) on a very short runway.


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Vuillard, Edouard (1868-1940), was a French painter.


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Vulcan, in Roman mythology, was the god of fire, metalworking, and skilled craftwork in general.


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Vulgate is the name of a Latin translation of the Bible, which was largely the work of Saint Jerome.


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Vulture is the name of various large birds of prey.


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W is the 23rd letter of the English alphabet.


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Wager is a bet, or anything which is risked on the outcome of an event or the answer to a question.


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Wages and hours.  Wages are the price paid for work.


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Wagga Wagga (pop. 53,453) is a city in southern New South Wales, Australia.


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Wagner, Richard (1813-1883), was a great German composer who fundamentally changed European musical, literary, and theatrical life.


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Wagon is a four-wheeled vehicle made to be drawn by a horse or tractor.


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Wagtail is the name of a group of mainly grassland birds that bob or wag their tail up and down as they walk.


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Wahoo is a fish that lives in warm parts of the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific oceans.


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Waikato is the richest farming district in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand.


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Wain, John (1925-1994), a British novelist and literary critic, established a reputation as a penetrating observer of the English social scene in the 1950's.


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Wainwright, Jonathan Mayhew (1883-1953), was an American general whose courage made him a hero of World War II (1939-1945).


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Wainewright, Thomas Griffiths (1794-1847) was a writer and artist in early colonial days in Australia.


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Wairarapa is a district in the southeastern part of the North Island of New Zealand.


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Wairau Tragedy was an incident between European settlers and the Maori in the Nelson district of the South Island of New Zealand.


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Waitakeres are hilly ranges northwest of Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Waitaki is a river in the southeastern part of the South Island of New Zealand.


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Waitangi, Treaty of, was an agreement that was made between the Maori of New Zealand and the British government in 1840.


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Waitangi Day is celebrated as a holiday in New Zealand on February 6.


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Waite, Peter (1834-1922), a farmer, businessman, and benefactor, bought an interest in several sheep stations in South Australia with Thomas Elder.


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Waite Institute is an agricultural research institute in South Australia.


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Waitemata Harbour is the main harbour of Auckland, on the North Island of New Zealand.


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Waitomo Caves are limestone caves near Te Kuiti, in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Waka Nene, Tamati (1780-1871), was a Maori chief who was friendly towards the Europeans.


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Wake is the custom of watching over a dead person before burial.


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Wake Island is a United States possession in the west-central Pacific Ocean.


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Wakefield (pop. 306,300) is a metropolitan district in West Yorkshire, England, known for its coal-mining industry.


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Wakefield, Lord (1898-1983), William Wavell Wakefield, was a famous British sportsman and was also a member of Parliament.


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Wakefield, Edward Gibbon (1796-1862), was a British colonial reformer and the pioneer of planned settlement in New Zealand.


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Walata was a leading trading city in West Africa from the late 1000's to the 1500's.


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Walcott, Derek (1930-...), is a West Indian-born poet and playwright.


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Waldenses are members of a Christian religious group.


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Waldheim, Kurt (1918-...), is an Austrian diplomat who served as the fourth secretary-general of the United Nations (UN) from 1972 to 1982.


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Wales is one of the four countries that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, often shortened to the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain.


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Walesa, Lech (1943-...), was president of Poland from 1990 to 1995.


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Waley, Arthur (1889-1966), was a British poet, translator, and authority on Chinese and Japanese literature.


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Wali Sanga were nine Muslim saints who introduced Islam into Java, Indonesia, in the 1400's.


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Walker, David (1785-1830), was a black American abolitionist who wrote a famous antislavery pamphlet, An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World (1829).


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Walker, John (1952-...), a New Zealand athlete, created a new world record in 1975 when he ran a mile (1.6 kilometres) in 3 minutes 49.4 seconds.


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Walker, Kath (1920-...), a poet and activist for Australian Aboriginal rights, was one of the first Aboriginal poets published in English.


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Walker, Peter (1932-...), a British Conservative Party politician, was secretary of state for Wales from 1987 until he left the government in May 1990.


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Walkie-talkie is a hand-held two-way radio that provides quick communication.


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Walking, as a competitive sport, is a race between two or more people, or against time.


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Wall Street is a short, narrow street in New York City.


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Wallaby is the name of a group of marsupials of Australia and New Guinea that belongs to the kangaroo family.


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Wallace, Alfred Russel (1823-1913), was a British naturalist and explorer.


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Wallace, Edgar (1875-1932), a British journalist and prolific novelist, gained great popularity for his crime novels, such as The Melody of Death.


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Wallace, Lew (1827-1905), was an American author, diplomat, lawyer, and military leader.


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Wallace, Sir William (1272?-1305), was a Scottish patriot who led a revolt against King Edward I of England.


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Wallach, Otto (1847-1931), a German chemist, worked out the nature of the complex mixtures found in ethereal oils of plants.


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Wallaroo, called a euro by inland Australians, is a large marsupial of the kangaroo family.


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Wallasey is a residential area and holiday resort on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England.


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Wallboard is a kind of board made of fibres of wood, cane, and other fibrous materials.


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Wallenberg, Raoul (1912-...?), a Swedish businessman and diplomat, helped save about 100,000 Hungarian Jews from being killed by the Nazis in 1944, during World War II.


