# First Line

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Marshall, Alfred (1842-1924), was a British academic and the most influential economist of his day.


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Marshall, David (1908-1995), a lawyer and politician, served as Singapore's first local chief minister in 1955 and 1956.


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Marshall, George Catlett (1880-1959), an American soldier and statesman, served as chief of staff of the United States Army during World War II (1939-1945).


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Marshall, James Vance (1887-1964), was the pen name of Donald Gordon Payne, Australian author of Walkabout.


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Marshall, Jock (1911-1967), was the joint author of a remarkable account of Australian landscape and society entitled Journey Among Men (1962).


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Marshall, Sir John (Jack) (1912-1988), of the New Zealand National Party, was prime minister of New Zealand in 1972.


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Marshall, Peter (1902-1949), was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who served as chaplain of the United States Senate from January 1947 until his death.


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Marshall Islands are a group of 34 low-lying coral atolls and islands in the central Pacific Ocean.


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Marshall Plan encouraged European nations to work together for economic recovery after World War II (1939-1945).


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Marsilius of Padua (1275?-1343?), an Italian political theorist, defended the claims of the Holy Roman Empire against those of the papacy.


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Marston, John (1576-1634), was an English playwright.


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Marsupial is a mammal whose young are born in an extremely immature state.


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Marsupial cat, also called native cat or dasyure, is a small, furry mammal that lives in forests of Australia and Tasmania.


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Martello towers were defensive towers built in 1804 along the south coast and southeast coast of England and the east coast of Ireland.


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Marten is a slim, fur-covered mammal that looks somewhat like a weasel.


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Martens, Conrad (1801-1878), an early Australian artist, is known for his luminous, limpid watercolours.


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Martha was a friend of Jesus, and the sister of Mary and Lazarus of Bethany.


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Marti, Jose Julian (1853-1895), was a Cuban patriot, author, and journalist.


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Martial (A.D. 40?-104?) was an ancient Roman writer.


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Martial arts is a general term for various types of fighting arts that originated in the Orient.


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Martial law is a temporary form of government under which a country's armed forces control an area of that country.


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Martin is the name of several birds of the swallow family.


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Martin V (1368-1431) was elected pope in 1417.


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Martin, Archer John Porter (1910-...), is a noted English biochemist.


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Martin, Glenn Luther (1886-1955), was an American aircraft designer and manufacturer.


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Martin, Joseph William, Jr. (1884-1968), was a United States politician.


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Martin du Gard, Roger (1881-1958), was a French novelist who received the 1937 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Martin-Harvey, Sir John (1863-1944), was a British actor-manager often called the last romantic because he represented an approach to the theatre that was dying out.


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Martin of Tours, Saint (316?-397), is the patron saint of France.


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Martineau, Harriet (1802-1876), was a British writer and social reformer who wrote widely on economic, philosophic, and social issues.


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Martinelli, Giovanni (1885-1969), sang as a leading tenor with the New York Metropolitan Opera Company in more than 50 operas.


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Martinique is an island dependency of France in the Caribbean Sea.


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Martins, Peter (1946-...), is a Danish-born dancer and choreographer (dance creator).


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Martyr is a person who defends a principle, even though it means sacrificing many things, perhaps even his or her life.


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Marvell, Andrew (1621-1678), was perhaps the finest of the English metaphysical poets of the mid-1600's.


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Marx, Karl (1818-1883), was a German philosopher, social scientist, and professional revolutionary.


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Marx brothers were three American brothers who became famous for their zany antics in films.


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Mary was the name of three queens of England.


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Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), was the only surviving child of King James V of Scotland.


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Mary Celeste, an American sailing ship, was found abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean in 1872.


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Mary Magdalene, a follower of Jesus, was called Magdalene because she was reputed to be from the village of Magdala.


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Mary of Bethany was the sister of Martha and Lazarus.


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Mary Rose was a ship in the navy of King Henry VIII of England that sank near Portsmouth in 1545.


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Maryborough (pop. 22,982) is a city in southeastern Queensland, Australia.


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Maryland (pop. 4,798,622) is an important industrial and shipping state of the United States.


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Masaccio (1401-1428), an Italian painter, was one of the first great masters of the Italian Renaissance.


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Masada was a historic Jewish fortress that stood on a huge rock in Judea (now southern Israel).


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Masai are an African people famous for their skill as warriors and their strongly independent ways.


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Masaryk was the family name of two Czech statesmen, father and son.


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Mascagni, Pietro (1863-1945), was an Italian opera composer.


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Masefield, John (1878-1967), was an English poet, novelist, critic, and playwright.


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Masekela, Hugh (1939-...), an internationally acclaimed South African trumpeter, won fame in Johannesburg as a member of the Jazz Epistles in 1960.


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Maser is a device that generates or amplifies microwaves.


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Maseru (pop. 109,382) is the capital of Lesotho.


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Mask is a covering that disguises or protects the face.


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Mason, A. E. W. (1865-1948), was an English novelist and dramatist.


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Mason and Dixon's Line is usually thought of as the line that divides the North and the South in the United States.


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Masonry, also called Freemasonry, is the name of one of the largest and oldest fraternal organizations in the world.


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Masque was an elaborate form of entertainment presented at European courts.


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Masquerade is the name of a party or dance at which fancy masks and costumes are worn.


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Mass is often defined as the amount of matter in an object.


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Mass is the name used by several Christian churches for the celebration of the sacrament of the Eucharist, or Lord's Supper.


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Mass production is the production of machinery and other articles in standard sizes in large numbers.


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Mass spectroscopy, also called mass spectrometry, is a method of separating ionized atoms or molecules according to their mass (m) and electric charge (z).


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Massachusetts is a state in northeastern United States.


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Massachusetts Bay Colony was one of the first settlements in New England, U.S.A..


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Massage is a method of manipulating the skin to produce healthy effects on the skin and underlying tissues.


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Massenet, Jules (1842-1912), was a French composer best known for his operas.


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Massey, William F. (1856-1925), became prime minister of New Zealand in 1912.


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Massine, Leonide (1896-1979), was a great Russian dancer and choreographer (dance composer).


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Massinger, Philip (1583-1640), an English playwright, is best known for his comedy A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1621 or 1622).


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Massys, Quentin (1465?-1530), was the leading painter in Antwerp, Belgium, in the early 1500's.


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Mastectomy is the surgical removal of a breast.


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Master of the queen's music is an honorary title given to a British musician.


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Master of the rolls, in the British judiciary, is a judge who sits in the court of Appeal.


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Masters, Edgar Lee (1868-1950), was an American author.


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Mastersinger was one of a group of German poetmusicians who treated literary art as a sort of craft or trade.


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Masterson, Bat (1853-1921), was a famous frontiersman and peace officer in the American West.


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Masterton (pop. 20,007) is a town in the southeastern part of the North Island of New Zealand.


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Mastic is a resin drawn from Pistacia lentiscus, a type of pistacio tree or small shrub native to the Mediterranean region.


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Mastication is the first process in the digestion of food.


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Mastiff, also called Old English Mastiff, is a breed of dog that was developed in the Middle East in ancient times.


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Mastodon was an animal much like the elephant.


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Mastoid is one of the five parts of the temporal bone of the skull.


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Mata Hari (1876-1917) was a Dutch dancer executed by the French on charges of being a German spy during World War I (1914-1918).


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Match is a slender piece of cardboard or wood with a tip made of a chemical mixture that burns easily.


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Mate, also called Paraguay tea, is a drink made from the dried leaves and shoots of a plant that grows in South America.


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Mate is the title of a merchant marine officer or naval petty officer.


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Materialism is a philosophical position that states that everything is material, or a state of matter.


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Materials are solid substances of which manufactured products are made.


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Mathematics is one of the most useful and fascinating divisions of human knowledge.


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Mather was the name of a family of intellectual and religious leaders--father, son, and grandson--in colonial America.


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Mathew, Theobald (1790-1856), an Irish Roman Catholic priest, founded a temperance movement to encourage people to abstain completely from intoxicating liquor.


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Mathews, Marlene (1934-...) was one of Australia's greatest female athletes.


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Mathias, William James (1934-1992), was a Welsh composer, conductor, and pianist.


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Matisse, Henri (1869-1954), a French painter, was one of the most influential artists of the 1900's.


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Matra, James Mario (1745?-1806), an American seaman, served as a midshipman on the ship Endeavour, commanded by the British explorer James Cook.


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Matter is the substance of which all things are made.


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Matterhorn is a famous mountain peak in the Pennine Alps.


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Matthew, Saint, was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.


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Matthews, Denis (1919-1988), an English pianist and composer, won acclaim for his sensitive interpretations of the works of J. S. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven.


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Matthews, Sir Stanley (1915-...), a British footballer, became one of the world's greatest soccer players.


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Matura, Mustapha (1939-...), a West Indian-born writer, won praise for his plays about black immigrants in Britain in the 1970's.


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Mau Mau was a secret movement that included Africans who wanted to end British colonial rule in Kenya.


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Maudling, Reginald (1917-1979), was the United Kingdom (UK) home secretary from 1970 to 1972.


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Maugham, W. Somerset (1874-1965), a fiction and drama writer, became one of the most popular British authors of the 1900's.


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Mauna Kea is a volcano on the American island of Hawaii.


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Mauna Loa, a volcanic mountain on the American island of Hawaii, rises 4,169 metres above sea level in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.


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Maundy money is distributed by the British sovereign to specially selected men and women on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday.


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Maundy Thursday also called Holy Thursday, is observed on the Thursday during Holy Week in the Christian calendar.


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Maurer, Ion Gheorghe (1902-...), served as prime minister of Romania from 1961 until he resigned in 1974.


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Mauriac, Francois (1885-1970), a French author, won the 1952 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Mauritania is a country in western Africa.


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Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean.


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Maurois, Andre (1885-1967), was the pen name of Emile Herzog, a French novelist and biographer.


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Maurya Empire was the first empire to provide a single government for almost all of India.


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Mauve is a delicate pale purple or violet dye.


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Maverick, Samuel Augustus (1803-1870), was a prominent American pioneer and statesman.


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Mawson, Sir Douglas (1882-1958), was an Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer.


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Maxim was the family name of three famous American-born inventors.


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Maximilian (1832-1867) ruled as Emperor of Mexico from 1864 to 1867.


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Maximilian I (1459-1519) reigned as Holy Roman Emperor from 1493 to 1519.


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Maxwell, James Clerk (1831-1879), a British scientist, was one of the greatest mathematicians and physicists of the 1800's.


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Maxwell, Robert (1923-1991) was a British publisher and politician.


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May is a month of early winter in the Southern Hemisphere.


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May, Peter (1929-1995), a Surrey and England cricketer, captained the English team in nine series of test matches between 1955 and 1961.


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May, Phil (1864-1903), a British caricaturist and poster artist, won fame in the 1890's for his vigorous cartoons depicting the life of the poorer classes of the East End of London.


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May apple is an American plant that belongs to the barberry family.


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May Day (May 1) is celebrated as a spring festival in many countries.


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Maya were an American Indian people who developed a magnificent civilization in Central America and south Mexico.


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Maybach, Wilhelm (1846-1929), a German engineer, pioneered in building motor cars.


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Mayer, Julius Robert von (1814-1878), was a German doctor and physicist.


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Mayer, Maria Goeppert (1906-1972), a German-born physicist, shared the 1963 Nobel Prize for physics with J. Hans Jensen of Germany and Eugene Paul Wigner of the United States.


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Mayer, Sir Robert (1879-1985), a music teacher and philanthropist, became famous for the Robert Mayer Concerts for Children.


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Mayflower was the ship that carried the Pilgrim Fathers to America, in 1620.


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Mayflower Compact was the first agreement for self-government ever put in force in America.


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Mayfly is a dainty insect with lacy wings and a slender, forked tail that trails behind it in flight.


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Mayhem, in law, was the offence of making a person less capable of self-defence by maiming the body or by destroying or injuring one of its parts.


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Mayhew, Henry (1812-1887), was an English writer and editor.


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Maynooth is a town in Kildare, in the Republic of Ireland.


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Mayo is the family name of three American surgeons who made the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, internationally famous.


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Mayo is the third largest county in area in the Republic of Ireland.


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Mayo, Daphne (1895-1982), an Australian sculptor, designed and made two bronze doors for the Mitchell Library in Sydney.


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Mayon is a volcano on the coast of Albay Gulf in southeastern Luzon, in the Philippines.


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Mayor is the title given to the head of a local government body.


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Maytag, Frederick Louis (1857-1937), was an American businessman.


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Mazarin, Jules Cardinal (1602-1661), was a French statesman, and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.


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Mazepa, Ivan Stepanovich (1632?-1709), also spelled Mazeppa, was a famous Cossack hetman, or chieftain.


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Mazowiecki, Tadeusz (1927-...), was prime minister of Poland from August 1989 to November 1990.


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Mazzini, Giuseppe (1805-1872), was an Italian patriot and republican leader who played an important part in uniting Italy in 1861.


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Mbabane (pop. 38,636) is the administrative capital of Swaziland, a country in southern Africa.


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Mbeki, Thabo (1942-...), became first executive deputy president of South Africa in 1994.


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McAdam, John Loudon (1756-1836), a British engineer, originated the macadam type of road surface.


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McAdoo, William Gibbs (1863-1941), was an American politician and industrialist.


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McAuley, James Phillip (1917-1976), a noted Australian poet and critic, was professor of English at the University of Tasmania from 1961 until his death in 1976.


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McBain, Ed (1926-...), is the pen name of Evan Hunter, a leading American writer of detective fiction.


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McBride, Lloyd (1916-1983), served as president of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), one of the largest labour unions in the United States, from 1977 to 1983.


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McBride, William (1927-...), an Australian doctor, achieved world prominence in 1961 when he discovered that the drug thalidomide could cause deformities in unborn children.


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McCabe, Stanley (1910-1968), an Australian cricketer, was one of Australia's finest batsmen.


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McCallum, John (1918-...), an Australian actor and theatre manager, was managing director of J.C. Williamson Theatres Ltd. from 1960 to 1966.


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McCarran, Patrick Anthony (1876-1954), served as a United States senator representing Nevada from 1933 to 1954.


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McCarthy, Dennis ( ?  -1820), arrived in Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania, Australia) in 1807 as a convict.


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McCarthy, Joseph Raymond (1908-1957), was a controversial United States Republican senator from Wisconsin.


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McCarthy, Mary (1912-1989), was an American author.


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McCarthyism is a term for the widespread accusations and investigations of suspected Communist activities in the United States during the 1950's.


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McCartney, Paul (1942-...), is a famous English singer, songwriter, and musician.


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McCaughey, Sir Samuel (1835-1919), a leading pastoralist (large scale animal farmer) was one of the pioneers of irrigation in Australia.


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McClellan, George Brinton (1826-1885), an American, served for a time as the general in chief of the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861-1865).


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McClure, Sir Robert John Le Mesurier (1807-1873), also spelled M'Clure, was a British explorer who led the first expedition to cross the Northwest Passage.


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McClure, Samuel Sidney (1857-1949), was an American editor and publisher.


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McCormack, John (1884-1945), was a famous Irish tenor.


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McCormick, Cyrus Hall (1809-1884), invented a reaping machine that revolutionized grain harvesting in the United States.


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McCoy, Elijah (1844?-1929), was a black American engineer and inventor who developed the automatic lubricator.


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McCrae, Hugh (1876-1958), was one of a group of Australian poets who attempted after World War I (1914-1918) to break away from the traditional themes dominating Australian poetry.


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McCrae, John (1872-1918), was a Canadian doctor, soldier, and poet.


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McCubbin, Frederick (1855-1917), an Australian painter, founded the Box Hill artists' camp near Melbourne with Tom Roberts and Louis Abrahams.


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McCullers, Carson (1917-1967), was an American novelist known for her stories of small-town life in the South.


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McCullough, Colleen (1937-...), an Australian author, wrote a best-selling novel, The Thorn Birds, published in 1977.


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McDonald, David John (1902-1979), was president of the United Steelworkers of America from 1952 to 1965.


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McDougall, William (1871-1938), a British psychologist, founded the purposive school of psychology.


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McEnroe, John (1959-...), is an American tennis player.


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McEwen, Sir John (1900-1980), was deputy prime minister of Australia and leader of the Country Party in the federal Parliament from 1958 to 1971.


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McGonagall, William (1825-1902), a Scottish poet, became notorious for his appalling poetry.


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McGuffey, William Holmes (1800-1873), was an American teacher and clergyman.


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McGuigan, James Charles Cardinal (1894-1974), was a Canadian cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.


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McIlwraith, Sir Thomas (1835-1900), was premier of Queensland, Australia, from 1879 to 1883, 1888 to 1890, and for a short period in 1893.


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McIndoe, Sir Archibald (1900-1960), a New Zealand plastic surgeon, became famous during World War II (1939-1945).


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McIntyre, James Francis Cardinal (1886-1979), served as the Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles, U.S.A., from 1948 until he resigned in 1970.


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McKay, Heather (1941-...), an Australian squash player, set a record by winning the British championship 17 times in succession.


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McKay, Hugh Victor (1865-1926), was an Australian who invented the Sunshine Harvester, a combine harvester that contributed greatly to the development of wheat production in Australia.


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McKell, Sir William (1891-1985), was governor general of Australia from 1947 to 1953.


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McKellen, Ian (1939-...), is a British actor, known for his powerful Shakespearean roles and solo recitals on varied themes.


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McKenna, Siobhan (1923-1986), an Irish actress, became widely known for her portrayal of St. Joan in George Bernard Shaw's play St. Joan.


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McKim, Charles Follen (1847-1909), was an American architect.


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McKinlay, John (1819-1872), explored parts of northern Queensland and the Northern Territory.


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McKinley, William (1843-1901), was president of the United States from 1897 until he was assassinated.


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McKinnon, Don (1939-...), is a New Zealand politician.


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McKuen, Rod (1933-...), is a popular American poet and composer.


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McLuhan, Marshall (1911-1980), was a Canadian professor and writer whose theories on mass communication have caused widespread debate.


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McMahon, Sir William (1908-1988), was prime minister of Australia for almost two years.


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McManus, Frank (1905-1983), an Australian politician was elected federal parliamentary leader of the Democratic Labor Party (DLP) in 1973.


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McMaster, Sir Frederick Duncan (1873-1954) was an Australian pastoralist (large scale animal farmer) and philanthropist.


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McMillan was the family name of two sisters who were social reformers.


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McMillan, Angus (1810-1865), a Scottish-born explorer, made journeys into inland areas of Victoria, Australia.


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McReynolds, James Clark (1862-1946), was one of the nine old men of the Supreme Court of the United States during the 1930's.


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Mead is an alcoholic drink made from honey.


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Mead, Margaret (1901-1978), was an American anthropologist known for her studies of how culture influences the development of personality.


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Meade, George Gordon (1815-1872), was a Union general in the American Civil War (1861-1865).


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Meadowlark is the common name of two similar species of North American birds that inhabit grassy fields, meadows, and prairies.


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Meads, Colin (1936-...), a New Zealand farmer from the King Country, became a legend in international Rugby Union.


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Mean, in statistics, is the sum of a series of numbers divided by the number of cases.


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Measles is a disease that causes a pink rash all over the body.


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Measurement is the process of finding out how many measuring units there are in something.


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Measuring worm is a green or brown caterpillar that crawls by looping its body.


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Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food.


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Meat extract is a paste with a highly concentrated meaty flavour.


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Meat processing is the business of slaughtering cattle, pigs, and sheep, and preparing the meat for transportation and sale.


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Meath (pop. 105,540) is a county in the province of Leinster in the Republic of Ireland.


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Mecca, or Makkah, (pop. 463,000) is the holiest city of Islam, the religion of the Muslims.


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Mechanics is the field of physics that studies the effects of forces on solids, liquids, and gases at rest or in motion.


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Mechanist philosophy states that physical phenomena must be explained in terms of laws of cause and effect that describe the motion of matter.


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Mecklenburg is a farming region and part of the German state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.


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Medan (pop. 1,715,670) is the most important city in Sumatra and the fourth largest city in Indonesia.


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Medawar, Sir Peter Brian (1915-1987), was an English zoologist who shared the 1960 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine with Sir Macfarlane Burnet.


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Medea was a princess of Colchis in Greek mythology who had magical powers.


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Medellin (pop. 1,468,089) is the second largest city of Colombia.


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Media was an ancient country in what is now Northern Iran.


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Median in statistics, is the middle value in a group of numbers arranged in numerical order.


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Medici was the name of a ruling family of Florence, Italy.


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Medicine is the science and art of healing.


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Medill, Joseph (1823-1899), a crusading American editor and publisher, made the Chicago Tribune one of the world's most successful newspapers.


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Medina (pop. 198,186) is a city in western Saudi Arabia.


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Medina (pop. 70,100) is one of the two local government districts on the Isle of Wight, England.


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Mediterranean fruit fly is an insect that destroys fruit, nuts, and vegetables.


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Mediterranean Sea has been one of the world's chief trade routes since ancient times.


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Medusa was one of the three Gorgons, the daughters of the sea god Phorcys in Greek mythology (see GORGONS).


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Medway is an English river that rises in three headstreams in Surrey and East Sussex, and flows through Kent.


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Meerkat is a small burrowing animal of Africa.


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Meekatharra (pop. 2,184), is a town that lies about 800 kilometres northeast of Perth in Western Australia.


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Meerschaum is a soft, whitish fibrous or flaky clay.


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Megalithic monuments are structures built of large stones by prehistoric people for burial or religious purposes.


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Megalopolis is a region made up of two or more metropolitan areas.


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Megaphone is a hollow, cone-shaped device used to make a voice sound louder.


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Meghalaya is a small state in northern India.


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Mehta, Zubin (1936-...), is a symphony orchestra conductor.


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Meir, Golda (1898-1978), served as prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974.


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Meirionnydd (pop. 33,400) is a local government district in Gwynedd, Wales.


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Meitner, Lise (1878-1968), was an Austrian-born physicist who played an essential role in the discovery of nuclear fission (the splitting of the nucleus of an atom).


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Mekeos are an Austronesian people who live inland on the middle part of the Angabunga River, about 150 kilometres northwest of Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea.


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Mekong River is the largest river on the Indochinese peninsula.


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Melaka is a state on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.


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Melaka, also spelled Malacca (pop. 87,494), is the capital of Melaka, a state of Malaysia.


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Melanchthon, Philipp (1497-1560), a German humanist and scholar, was Martin Luther's chief associate in starting and leading the Protestant Reformation.


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Melba, Dame Nellie (1861-1931), was a famous Australian coloratura soprano.


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Melbourne (pop. 3,022,157) is the capital of the state of Victoria, and Australia's second largest city.


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Melbourne, a 20,000-metric ton aircraft carrier, became the flagship of the Royal Australian Navy after its arrival in Australia in 1956.


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Melbourne, Viscount (1779-1848), William Lamb, was prime minister of the United Kingdom (UK) when Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837.


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Melbourne Cup is the most famous horse race in the Australian or New Zealand racing calendar.


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Melchior, Lauritz Lebrecht Hommel, (1890-1973), was a Danish operatic tenor.


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Meldrum, Max (1875-1955), was one of the dominant painters in Australia in the 1920's.


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Mellon, Andrew William (1855-1937), was an American financier.


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Mellophone is a curved brass instrument that resembles a French horn.


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Melon is the name of the fruit of several plants that belong to the gourd family.


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Melting point is the temperature at which a substance changes from a solid to a liquid.


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Melton (pop. 44,500) a local government district in Leicestershire, England, includes the ancient market town of Melton Mowbray, the Vale of Belvoir, and part of the North Leicestershire Wolds.


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Melville, Francis (1822-1857), was an Australian bushranger (escaped convict living in the bush).


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Melville, Herman (1819-1891), ranks among America's major authors.


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Melville Island lies off Australia's Northern Territory, directly north of Darwin.


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Melville Island is one of a group of Canadian islands in the Arctic Ocean, north of Canada's mainland.


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Membrane is a term used to describe layers of biological tissue that cover surfaces and separate spaces in organisms.


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Memling, Hans (1430?-1494), was a Flemish painter.


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Memminger, Christopher Gustavus (1803-1888), an American statesman, served as secretary of the treasury for the Confederacy from 1861 to 1864.


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Memorial may take the form of a statue, monument, building, or park.


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Memory is the ability to remember something that has been learned or experienced.


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Memory chip is a device that stores information in a computer.


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Memphis was the first capital of ancient Egypt.


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Memphis (pop. 610,337; met. area pop. 981,747) is the largest city in Tennessee, U.S.A. It lies on a bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the southwest corner of the state.


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Menai Strait is a narrow strait between the island of Anglesey in the Irish Sea and the mainland of North Wales (see GWYNEDD).


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Menander (342?-291?  B.C.) was a Greek playwright who wrote more than 100 comedies.


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Menchu, Rigoberta (1959-...), a Guatemalan Quiche Indian, won the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for her work to gain respect for the rights of Guatemala's American Indian peoples.


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Mencius (390?-305?  B.C.) was a major Chinese philosopher.


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Mencken, H. L. (1880-1956), was an American critic, editor, and journalist.


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Mendel, Gregor Johann (1822-1884), an Austrian botanist and monk, formulated the basic laws of heredity.


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Mendeleev, Dmitri Ivanovich (1834-1907), was a Russian chemist who developed a form of the periodic law, a basic principle in chemistry.


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Mendelevium is an artificially produced radioactive element.


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Mendelsohn, Eric (1887-1953), was a German architect noted for his bold geometric style.


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Mendelssohn, Felix (1809-1847), was a German composer, pianist, and conductor.


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Mendelssohn, Moses (1729-1786), was a Jewish philosopher and scholar, and one of the most learned men of his time.


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Mendip (pop. 95,300) is a local government district in the English county of Somerset, through which the Mendip Hills run.


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Mendip Hills are a range of hills in northeastern Somerset, England.


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Menelaus, a king of Sparta, was the husband of Helen of Troy.


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Menendez de Aviles, Pedro (1519-1574), a Spanish naval captain, founded St. Augustine, the first permanent European settlement in what would become the United States of America.


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Menge, Johann (1788-1852), a German-born geologist, mineralogist, explorer, early colonist, and linguist, pioneered many new routes in unexplored areas of South Australia.


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Mengele, Josef (1911-1979), a German doctor, personally selected over 400,000 prisoners to die in gas chambers at Auschwitz, a Nazi concentration camp during World War II (1939-1945).


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Menhaden is a fish that lives in the Atlantic Ocean off the Americas from southern Canada to Brazil.


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Menindee is a town on the Darling River in New South Wales, Australia, almost 115 kilometres southwest of Broken Hill.


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Meningitis is a disease that affects the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.


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Mennonites belong to a Protestant Christian group known for its emphasis on plain ways of dressing, living, and worshipping.


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Menopause is the time in a woman's life when her menstrual periods stop.


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Menotti, Gian Carlo (1911-...), an American composer, wrote some of the most popular operas of the mid-1900's.


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Mensheviks were members of a group in the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party.


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Menstruation is the loss of blood and cells that occurs about once a month in most women of childbearing age.


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Mental illness is any disease of the mind or brain that affects a person's thoughts, emotions, personality, or behaviour.


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Mental retardation is a condition of subnormal intellectual and social development.


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Menthol is a soft, white substance with a mint odour and a fresh, cool taste.


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Mentor was the elderly friend and adviser of Odysseus, the hero of the Odyssey, an ancient Greek epic.


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Menuhin, Sir Yehudi (1916-...), is an American-born violinist who had spectacular success as a child prodigy.


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Menzies, Sir Robert Gordon (1894-1978), served as prime minister of Australia for two periods--1939 to 1941 and 1949 to 1966.


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Mephistopheles is the Devil in a German legend about a magician named Faust.


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Mercantilism was an economic system followed by England, France, and other major trading nations from the 1500's to the late 1700's.


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Mercator, Gerardus (1512-1594), was a Flemish geographer who became the leading mapmaker of the 1500's.


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Mercenary is a person who serves the armed forces of a foreign country for money.


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Merchant navy, or merchant marine, is a fleet made up of a nation's commercial ships and the men and women who operate them.


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Mercia was one of the great kingdoms of England in the time of the Anglo-Saxons.


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Mercier, Desire Cardinal (1851-1926), was a Belgian archbishop and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church.


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Mercouri, Melina (1925-1994), was a Greek actress and politician.


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Mercurochrome is the trade name for a weak antiseptic that is used in a water solution.


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Mercury is a chemical element with symbol Hg.


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Mercury was the messenger of the gods and the god of roads and travel in Roman mythology.


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Mere was a war club used by the Maori of New Zealand.


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Meredith, George (1828-1909), was an English novelist and poet.


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Merensky, Hans (1871-1952), was a leading geologist and naturalist in South Africa.


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Merganser is the name of a group of ducks that eat fish.


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Mergenthaler, Ottmar (1854-1899), invented the Linotype typesetting machine.


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Merger is the combination of two or more separate companies into a single corporation.


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Meridian is a line drawn from the north to south pole on a globe of the earth.


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Merimee, Prosper (1803-1870), a French author, is best known for his novelettes (short novels).


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Mermaid was a mythical creature that lived in the sea.


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Mermaid Tavern was a famous Elizabethan inn.


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Merovingian was the name given to a line of Frankish kings who conquered Gaul and surrounding lands beginning in A.D. 486 and ruled until 751.


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Merriam, Clinton Hart (1855-1942), was an American physician and zoologist.


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Merriman, Sir Walter (1882-1972), an Australian stud sheep breeder, established and improved the quality of the fleeces of Merino sheep in Australia.


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Merry-go-round is a popular children's ride at amusement parks and theme parks.


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Mersey, River, is an important trade waterway in northwest England.


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Merseyside is a region in northwestern England.


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Merthyr Tydfil (pop. 59,300) is a town on the River Taff in South Wales.


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Merton (pop. 161,800) is a borough within the Greater London area.


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Merton, Robert King (1910-...), is an American sociologist.


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Merton, Thomas (1915-1968), an American Roman Catholic monk, was the most popular spiritual writer of his time.


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Mesa is an isolated hill or mountain that has a flat, tablelike top and steep sides.


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Mesa Verde National Park is a parkland area in the United States.


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Mesabi Range is a chain of hills in northeastern Minnesota, U.S.A. The range was once one of the great iron-ore mining regions of the world.


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Mescaline is a powerful drug that distorts what a person sees and hears and intensifies the emotions.


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Meshed (pop. 1,463,508) is one of Iran's largest cities and a leading religious centre.


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Mesmer, Franz Anton (1734-1815), an Austrian doctor, pioneered in the practice of hypnotism.


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Mesopotamia was an ancient region in which the world's earliest civilization developed.


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Mesosphere is a layer of the earth's atmosphere.


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Mesquite is a thorny, low shrub which grows in dry climates.


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Messel, Harry (1922-...), a Canadian nuclear physicist, was professor of physics at the University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, from 1952 to 1987.


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Messenger, Dally (1883-1959), one of the pioneers of Rugby League football in Australia, was known as The Master because of his skill at the game.


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Messenia is a department (political division) of Greece.


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Messiaen, Olivier (1908-1992), was a French composer.


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Messiah is a person who is thought of as a saviour or liberator by his or her followers.


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Messier, Charles (1730-1817), was a French astronomer.


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Messina (pop. 231,693) is the third largest city in Sicily, an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea.


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Messina, Strait of, is a stretch of water separating the island of Sicily from Italy.


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Mestizo is a Spanish word that comes from the Latin mixtus, meaning mixed.


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Mestrovic, Ivan (1883-1962), a Croatian sculptor, often used strong religious and patriotic themes in his work.


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Metabolism is the sum of the chemical processes by which cells produce the materials and energy necessary for life.


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Metal forms a large part of the earth on which we live.


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Metal detector is an instrument used to locate hidden or lost metal objects.


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Metal fatigue is the gradual weakening of metal after extensive use.


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Metallography is the study of the internal structure of metals and alloys.


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Metallurgy is the science of separating metals from their ores and preparing them for use.


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Metamorphic rock is rock that has been changed by heat or by heat and pressure.


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Metamorphism is the set of processes by which rocks are changed in form.


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Metamorphosis is a Greek word that means transformation.


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Metaphor, a figure of speech, is an expression taken from one field of experience and used to say something in another field.


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Metaphysical poets is the name given to certain English poets of the 1600's who were influenced by John Donne, the most important member of the group.


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Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the basic nature of reality.


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Metaxas, Joannes (1871-1941), was dictator of Greece from 1936 until his death in 1941.


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Metcalf, John (1717-1810), was one of the first to build properly designed roads in Britain.


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Metchnikoff, Elie (1845-1916), was a great Russian biologist.


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Meteor is a bright streak of light that appears briefly in the sky.


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Meteorology is the study of the earth's atmosphere and the variations in atmospheric conditions that produce weather.


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Methadone is a drug used in experimental programmes that are aimed at helping people overcome addiction to such narcotics as heroin, morphine, or opium.


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Methamphetamine is a powerful drug nicknamed "speed."  It quickly produces feelings of joy, strength, and alertness.


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Methane is an important industrial compound that makes up a large part of natural gas.


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Methanol is a type of alcohol used for many industrial purposes.


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Methodists belong to those Protestant denominations that trace their beginnings to John Wesley, a clergyman of the Church of England.


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Methuselah was the son of Enoch, the father of Lamech, and the grandfather of Noah in the Old Testament.


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Metonymy.  We often use words figuratively, rather than literally.


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Metre, spelled meter in the United States, is the base unit of length in the metric system.


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Metre, in poetry, is the number of feet in a line of verse.


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Metric system is a group of units used to make any kind of measurement, such as length, temperature, time, or weight.


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Metronome is an instrument that beats time for musicians.


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Metropolitan is the title of an archbishop of the Eastern Orthodox Churches.


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Metropolitan area is a densely populated region, consisting of a central city area and the developed areas that surround it.


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Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City is the largest art museum in the United States.


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Metternich (1773-1859) served as Austrian minister of foreign affairs from 1809 to 1848.


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Metz (pop. 114,232; met. area 190,000) is a French manufacturing centre located about 280 kilometres northeast of Paris.


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Meuse River rises in the Langres Plateau of eastern France, and flows north past Verdun through the Ardennes highlands.


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Mexicali (pop. 601,938) is the capital and one of the largest cities of the Mexican state of Baja California Norte.


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Mexican hairless is a dog that has no coat of hair.


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Mexican War (1846-1848) was fought between the United States and Mexico over disagreements that had been accumulating for two decades.


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Mexico is the northernmost country of Latin America.


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Mexico City is the capital of Mexico and one of the largest cities in the world.


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Meyer, Albert Gregory Cardinal (1903-1965), a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, became archbishop of Chicago in 1958.


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Meyer, Julius Lothar (1830-1895), a German chemist, showed the relation between the atomic weights and properties of the elements.


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Meyerbeer, Giacomo (1791-1864), was one of the most popular opera composers of his day.


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Meynell is the name of a family of English writers.


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Mfecane, also known as Difagane, was a period of upheaval leading to mass migrations among African chiefdoms of southern Africa between 1819 and 1838.


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Miami, Florida (pop. 358,548; met. area pop. 1,937,094) is a world-famous resort city in the United States.


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Mica is the name of a group of minerals that contain atoms of aluminium, oxygen, and silicon bonded together into flat sheets.


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Micah, Book of, is a book of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, named after a Hebrew prophet.


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Michael, Saint, is one of four archangels mentioned in both Jewish and Christian scriptures.


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Michaelmas is a festival held on September 29 in the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, and on November 8 in the Greek, Armenian, and Coptic churches.


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Michel, Robert Henry (1923-...), a Republican politician, served as minority leader of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 until 1995.


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Michelangelo (1475-1564) was one of the most famous artists in history.


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Michelet, Jules (1798-1874), a French historian, is best known for his 19-volume History of France.


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Michell, Keith (1928-...), an Australian-born actor, won critical acclaim for his portrayal of King Henry VIII in the British television series The Six Wives of Henry VIII in 1970.


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Michelson, Albert Abraham (1852-1931), was the first American citizen to win a Nobel Prize for science.


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Michener, James Albert (1907-1997), an American author, won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his collection of stories, Tales of the South Pacific (1947).


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Michigan is an important industrial state in the Great Lakes region of the United States.


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Microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms.


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Microcrystalline wax is widely used in making special types of paper for packaging.


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Microencapsulation is the process of enclosing a substance in a capsule so that the substance can be easily released.


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Microfilm is a kind of photographic film on which reduced images of printed and other materials are recorded.


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Micrometer is a mechanical device that measures small distances or angles.


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Micrometre, also called micron, is a metric unit of length.


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Micronesia, Federated States of, is a country in the North Pacific Ocean.


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Microphone is a device that changes sound into electric energy.


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Microprocessor is the device that does the actual computing in a computer.


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Microscope is an instrument that magnifies extremely small objects so they can be seen easily.


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Microtome is a device used to cut materials very thin so that they can be seen in cross section under a microscope.


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Microtomy originally meant microscopic cutting.


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Microwave oven is an appliance that heats food by penetrating it with short radio waves.


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Midas was a character in Greek mythology.


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Middle age refers to an arbitrary period in a person's life between adulthood and old age.


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Middle Ages were the period between ancient and modern times in western Europe.


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Middle America is a term geographers use for the area between the United States and South America.


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Middle class is a group of people between the upper class and the lower class in a society.


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Middle East is a large region that covers parts of northern Africa, southwestern Asia, and southeastern Europe.


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Middleback Ranges lie 41.5 kilometres west of Whyalla on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.


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Middlesbrough (pop. 141,700), is an industrial port and unitary authority with all the local government powers within its boundaries in northeastern England.


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Middlesex was a small, densely populated county of England that was abolished as an administrative area in 1965.


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Middleton, Rawdon Hume (1916-1942), an Australian airman, was awarded the Victoria Cross after his death in World War II (1939-1945).


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Middleton, Thomas (1570?-1627), was an English playwright whose work was popular both during his lifetime and during the later 1600's.


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Midge is any of a large family of small flies.


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Midlands, The, is a geographical region in the centre of England.


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Midlothian (pop. 77,969) is a local government area in southeastern Scotland.


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Midnight sun is a term used for the sun when it can be seen 24 hours a day in the earth's polar regions.


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Midway Island lies 2,090 kilometres northwest of Honolulu in the Pacific Ocean.


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Midwife is someone who looks after women during their pregnancy and postnatal period.


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Midwife toad is a small toad native to central and southwestern Europe.


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Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig (1886-1969), was one of the most influential architects of the 1900's.


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Mignonette is an attractive garden plant of Europe and North America.


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Migraine is a type of headache that causes a severe, throbbing pain, often on only one side of the head.


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Migration, in biology, is the movement of animals to a place that offers better living conditions.


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Mihajlovic, Draza (1893?-1946), was a Yugoslav resistance leader during World War II (1939-1945).


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Mikado was the ancient title of the emperor of Japan.


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Miki, Takeo (1907-1988), served as prime minister of Japan from December 1974 to December 1976.


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Mikoyan, Anastas, (1895-1978), was an important official of the Communist Party and the government of the Soviet Union.


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Milan (pop. 1,369,231) is the second largest city in Italy.


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Milan Cathedral in Milan, Italy, is the third largest church in Europe.


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Milan Decree was a fundamental step in Napoleon's Continental System, a blockade against Great Britain.


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Mildew is a fungus that attacks plants and some products made from plants and animals.


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Mildura (pop. 39,058) is a city in northwestern Victoria, Australia, located about 557 kilometres from Melbourne.


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Miles, Lord (1907-1991), was a British actor, author, and producer.


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Miles, John Campbell (1883-1965), an Australian prospector, discovered an outcrop of silver-lead ore in Queensland in 1923 and named it Mount Isa.


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Miletus was one of the largest cities of ancient Greece.


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Milford Sound, on the west coast of the South Island, New Zealand, is one of the country's best-known tourist attractions.


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Milhaud, Darius (1892-1974), was a French-born composer noted for his works for the stage.


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Military science is the study of scientific principles which control the conduct of war.


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Milk is the most nourishing of all foods and a favourite drink of people throughout the world.


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Milk snake is one species of North American king snake.


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Milking machine is a device that milks cows.


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Milkweed is the name of more than 100 kinds of plants that have tufts of silky hairs on the seeds and contain a milky juice.


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Milky Way is the galaxy that includes the sun, the earth, and the rest of our solar system.


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Mill was the family name of three famous British writers--father, son, and the son's wife.


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Millais, Sir John Everett (1829-1896), an English painter, helped found the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848.


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Millan, Bruce (1927-...), a Scottish politician, served as the Labour secretary of state for Scotland from 1976 to 1979.


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Millay, Edna St. Vincent (1892-1950), was an American poet.


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Millennium means any period of 1,000 years.


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Miller, Arthur (1915-...), is a leading American playwright.


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Miller, Glenn (1904-1944), was a popular American dance band leader, arranger, and trombonist.


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Miller, Henry (1891-1980), became one of the most controversial American authors of his time.


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Miller, Jonathan (1934-...), is a British actor, writer, and director.


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Miller, Keith (1919-...), one of Australia's finest all- round cricketers of the 1940's and 1950's, was an aggressive batsman and a hostile fast-bowler.


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Miller, Robin (1940-1975), an Australian nurse and pilot worked in Western Australia for the Royal Flying Doctor Service.


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Milles, Carl Wilhelm Emil (1875-1955), was a Swedish-American sculptor.


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Millet is any one of a group of grasses that produce small, edible seeds.


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Millet, Jean Francois (1814-1875), a French artist, was the most significant painter of peasant life of the 1800's.


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Millikan, Robert Andrews (1868-1953), an American physicist, was one of the most illustrious U.S. scientists.


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Millipede, also spelled millepede, is a wormlike, many-legged animal.


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Mills is the name of two Australian sealers and whalers.


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Mills, Freddie (1919-1965), a British professional boxer, was world light heavyweight champion from 1948 to 1950.


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Mills, Wilbur Daigh (1909-1992), was a United States Democratic congressman from Arkansas.


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Mills Cross Telescope is a fixed radio telescope at the Cornell-Sydney University Astronomy Centre at Hoskinstown, near Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.


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Milne, A. A. (1882-1956), an English author, became famous for his children's stories and poems.


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Milner, Viscount (1854-1925), a British diplomat, was a colonial administrator in southern Africa.


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Milos, or Melos, is a Greek island in the Aegean Sea.


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Milosevic, Slobodan (1941-...), was president of Serbia, one of the republics that make up Yugoslavia, from 1989 to 1997.


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Milstein, Nathan (1904-1992), was a well-known and beloved violinist.


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Miltiades (540?-488?  B.C.) was a famous general of ancient Athens.


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Milton, John (1608-1674), was an English poet and political writer.


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Milton Keynes (pop. 172,300), is a new town in southern England.


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Milwaukee (pop. 628,088) is the largest city in Wisconsin in the United States, and one of the country's major industrial centres.


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Mimicry is the condition in which one living organism closely resembles, or mimics, its surroundings or another animal or plant.


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Mimosa is the name of a group of trees, shrubs, and herbs which have featherlike leaves.


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Min min is the Aboriginal name for the Australian outback will-o'-the-wisp--a strange light that sometimes hovers over marshy ground.


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Minaret is a tall, usually slender, tower attached to the Muslim house of worship, called a mosque.


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Minch, The, is the broad strait in Scotland that separates the Isle of Lewis with Harris, of the Hebrides group, from the western mainland of Scotland.


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Mind.  Psychologists, psychiatrists, and philosophers have held many views on the nature of the mind.


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Mind reading is a term loosely applied to various forms of extrasensory perception (ESP), especially telepathy and clairvoyance.


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Mindanao is the second largest island of the Philippine Archipelago.


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Mindszenty, Joseph Cardinal (1892-1975), a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, was a religious leader in Hungary.


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Mine warfare is the use of explosive devices called mines to kill enemy troops and destroy their ships, tanks, and other equipment.


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Miner, Jack (1865-1944), was a Canadian bird conservationist.


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Mineral is the most common solid material found on the earth.


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Mineral oil is a clear, colourless, oily liquid with almost no taste or smell.


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Mineral sands in Australia.  Sand dunes of eastern and southwestern Australia contain large low-grade deposits of the heavy minerals rutile, ilmenite, zircon, and monazite.


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Mineral water, also called aerated water, is spring water with a high content of mineral matter or of gas.


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Minerva was one of the most important goddesses in ancient Roman mythology.


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Minesweeper is a ship or helicopter that clears away or destroys naval mines.


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Ming dynasty ruled China from A.D. 1368 to 1644, a period of Chinese rule between two foreign conquests.


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Miniature bull terrier is a small, muscular dog.


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Miniature pinscher is a toy dog of the terrier family.


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Miniature schnauzer is a breed of dog that originated in Germany in the 1800's.


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Minim is the smallest unit of fluid measure in the apothecaries' system of measurement.


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Minimata disease is the name of a type of mercury poisoning.


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Minimum wage is the smallest amount of money per hour that an employer may legally pay a worker.


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Mining is the process of taking mineral and other substances from the earth.


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Minister, in international relations, is a diplomatic agent who represents his or her country in a foreign land.


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Minister, in religion, is one who serves.


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Ministry, in government, is a body of executive officers who advise the head of a country or directly control a nation's affairs.


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Mink is a small mammal with a slender body and short legs.


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Minneapolis (pop. 368,383) is the largest city in the state of Minnesota, in the United States, and a major Midwestern centre of finance, industry, trade, and transportation.


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Minnesinger was one of a group of German love poets who flourished from the 1100's to the 1300's.


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Minnesota is the largest of the Midwestern States of the United States in area.


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Minnow is a common name for fish in the carp and minnow family.


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Minor is a person who is under legal age.


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Minorca, also spelled Menorca, is the second largest island of the Balearic Islands.


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Minority group is a group of people who differ in some ways from the principal group in a society.


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Minos was the king of Crete in Greek mythology.


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Minot, George Richards (1885-1950), an American doctor, was one of the world's greatest authorities on blood diseases.


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Minotaur, in Greek mythology, was a monster with the head of a bull and the body of a man.


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Minsk (pop. 1,442,000) is the capital of Belarus.


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Minstrel is a term most broadly used to refer to professional entertainers who flourished in Europe during the Middle Ages.


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Minstrel show was the first uniquely American form of show business.


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Mint is the name of a whole family of plants.


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Minto, Earl of (1845-1914), was a British colonial administrator who served as governor general of Canada from 1898 to 1904.


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Minto, John (1951-...), a New Zealand schoolteacher, was prominent in New Zealand as the national leader of HART (Halt All Racist Tours) from 1980 to 1985.


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Mintoff, Dom (1916-...), a leader of the Maltese Labour Party, was prime minister of Malta from 1955 to 1958, when Malta was a colony of the United Kingdom (UK).


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Minuet is a formal dance that was popular in European courts during the late 1600's and the 1700's.


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Minuit, Peter (1580-1638), was a Dutch colonial governor.


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Minute is a unit used to measure both time and angles.


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Minuteman was a volunteer organized into military companies and trained to bear arms in the years just before the American Revolution.


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Mira, a giant red star, was one of the first stars of variable brightness to be discovered.


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Mira Bai was a poetess who lived in Rajasthan, northern India, in the 1500's.


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Mirabeau, Comte de (1749-1791), was a French statesman, orator, and revolutionary leader.


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Miracle is an event that cannot be explained through the known laws of nature.


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Miracle play is a form of religious drama which was popular in the Middle Ages.


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Miranda, Francisco de (1750-1816), a Venezuelan patriot, fought in the American, French, and Spanish-American revolutions.


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Miro, Joan (1893-1983), was a Spanish painter who developed an imaginative and extremely personal style.


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Mirror is any smooth surface that reflects most of the light striking it.


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Miscarriage, also called spontaneous abortion, is the accidental or natural ending of a pregnancy before a fetus (developing baby) can live outside its mother's body.


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Mishima, Yukio (1925-1970), was the pseudonym (assumed name) of a Japanese novelist whose work celebrates the ancient Samurai warrior customs.


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Miskolc (pop. 211,660) is a city in Hungary.


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Missile boat is a small, fast warship that carries guided missiles for attacking enemy ships.


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Missionary is a person sent by a religious group to convert others to his or her faith.


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Mississippi is a state in the Southern United States.


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Mississippi River is one of the chief rivers of North America and the second-longest river in the United States.


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Mississippi Scheme was a wild financial project formulated in France in 1717.


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Missouri is an industrial and farming state in the Midwest region of the United States.


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Missouri River is the longest river in the United States.


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Mistletoe is a plant which grows as a parasite on the trunks and branches of various trees.


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Mistral is a swift, dry, cold northerly wind that blows down from the western Alps and the plateau of southern France and out over the Mediterranean.


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Mistral, Frederic (1830-1914), was a famous French poet who won the 1904 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Mistral, Gabriela (1889-1957), was the pen name of Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, a Chilean poet and educator.


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Mitanni was an ancient kingdom in northern Mesopotamia.


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Mitchell, Arthur (1934-...), was the first black American to dance with a major classical ballet company.


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Mitchell, Billy (1879-1936), an American army general, became one of the most controversial figures in American military history.


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Mitchell, David Scott (1836-1907), a wealthy Australian collector of books, paintings, and other Australian artefacts, bequeathed his collection, together with a substantial endowment, to the Public Library of New South Wales in 1907.


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Mitchell, Edgar Dean (1930-...), a United States astronaut, was the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 14 space flight.


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Mitchell, James (1946-...), an Irish Fine Gael politician, was the minister responsible for transport, post, and telecommunications from 1982 until 1987.


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Mitchell, Margaret (1900-1949), an American author, wrote Gone with the Wind (1936), one of the most popular novels of all time.


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Mitchell, Reginald Joseph (1895-1937), was a British aeronautical engineer who designed the Spitfire, Britain's leading fighter aircraft of World War II.


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Mitchell, Dame Roma (1913-...), in 1962, became the first Australian woman to be admitted as a queen's counsel.


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Mitchell, Sir Thomas Livingstone (1792-1855), a surveyor general of New South Wales, Australia, led four expeditions of exploration and carried out surveys of eastern Australia.


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Mitchell, Wesley Clair (1874-1948), was an American economist known for his studies of the rise and fall in business activity.


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Mitchell grass is a valuable Australian fodder grass named after the Scottish-born explorer Sir Thomas Mitchell.


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Mitchell Library, in Sydney, New South Wales, is a research collection of more than 200,000 printed books and many thousands of manuscripts, maps, drawings, prints, and photographs relating to Australia.


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Mitchison, Naomi (1897-...), a British writer, won fame for several novels set in ancient Greece and Egypt.


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Mite is the common name for a type of small animal related to ticks.


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Mitford is the surname of an aristocratic English family.


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Mithra was a god of the tribes of the Aryans who settled in ancient Persia.


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Mithridates VI (120?-63 B.C.) was king of Pontus, an area in what is now Turkey.


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Mitra, Ramon V. (1929-...), a Filipino political leader, became speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives in 1987.


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Mitral valve prolapse, sometimes called MVP, is a common heart valve disorder.


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Mitropoulos, Dimitri (1896-1960), was a Greek-born orchestra and opera conductor.


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Mitscher, Marc Andrew (1887-1947), an American naval officer, commanded Task Force 58 in the South Pacific during World War II (1939-1945).


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Mitterrand, Francois Maurice (1916-1996), served as president of France from 1981 to 1995.


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Mix, Tom (1880-1940), an American film actor, became one of America's most famous film cowboys.


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Mizoram is a state in the far northeast of India.


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Mmabatho is the capital of South Africa's North West Province.


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Moa is any one of about 13 species (kinds) of extinct birds that once lived on both North and South Island of New Zealand.


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Moabite stone is an ancient stone that bears some of the earliest writing in Hebrew-Phoenician characters.


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Mobile (pop. 196,278; met. area pop. 476,923), is the second largest city and only seaport in Alabama, U.S.A. Mobile is one of the busiest United States ports.


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Mobile is a type of sculpture that originated during the early 1900's.


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Mobile home is a movable, factory-built house.


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Mobile library is a shelf-lined buslike or vanlike motor vehicle stocked with books and other materials and used for providing lending library services to a local community.


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Mobius, August Ferdinand (1790-1868), was a German astronomer and mathematician.


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Mobius strip is a continuous loop with a half-twist in it.


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Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-1997) was president of the central African country of Zaire from 1965 to 1997.


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Moccasin is a soft, slipperlike shoe originally worn by North American Indians.


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Moche was a culture that flourished in the coastal desert of what is now northern Peru from the A.D. 100's to the 700's.


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Mock orange, sometimes called syringa, is a bush covered with clusters of small, single or double, white or creamy flowers.


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Mockingbird is an American bird famous for its ability to imitate the sounds of other birds.


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Mockridge, Russell (1928-1958) was an Australian cyclist.


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Mode, in statistics, is that value in any group that occurs most frequently.


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Model Parliament was the English parliament that met at Westminster in 1295.


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Modem is a device that enables computers to transmit and receive information via telephone.


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Modigliani, Amedeo (1884-1920), was an important Italian artist of the early 1900's.


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Modotti, Tina (1896-1942), was an Italian-born photographer and model.


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Moe (pop. 16,718), is a city in Victoria, Australia, located at the head of the La Trobe and Tanjil rivers.


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Moeraki boulders are a collection of stones lying on a beach on the coast of Otago in the South Island of New Zealand.


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Moffat, Robert (1795-1883), a Scottish missionary, devoted his life in South Africa to educating the Tswana people and converting them to Christianity.


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Moffatt, James (1870-1944), a Scottish Biblical scholar, translated the Bible into contemporary, colloquial English.


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Mogadishu (pop. 750,000) is the capital and largest city of the east African country of Somalia.


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Mohair is the name given to the hair of the Angora goat.


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Mohammad, Hanif (1934-...), a Pakistan cricketer, was perhaps the best of the four Mohammad brothers who played test cricket for Pakistan.


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Mohammad, Mushtaq (1943-...), a Pakistan cricketer, was the most versatile of the four Mohammad brothers who played test cricket for their country.


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Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1919-1980) was the shah (king) of Iran from 1941 to 1979.


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Mohammed Eunos bin Abdullah (1876-1934), became known as "the father of Malay journalism."  He helped to establish Utusan Melayu (Malay Courier) and made it into an influential paper.


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Mohiddin, Abdul Latiff (1938-...), is a renowned Malaysian artist and poet.


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Mohl, Hugo von (1805-1872), was a German botanist who helped develop the cell theory.


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Moi, Daniel Toroitich arap (1924-...), became president of Kenya in 1978.


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Moire pattern is a pattern of lines formed when two regularly spaced patterns overlap but are not aligned.


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Moiseiwitsch, Benno (1890-1963), was a talented Russian-born pianist.


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Mojave Desert is a vast desert wasteland in southeastern California, U.S.A., covering about 65,000 square kilometres.


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Molasses is a thick, sweet, sticky syrup.


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Moldova is a country in south-central Europe bordered by Romania on the west and by Ukraine on the other three sides.


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Mole is a small, thick-bodied mammal that lives underground.


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Mole is a unit used in chemistry to measure the amount of a substance.


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Mole Creek caves are a series of limestone caves in Tasmania, Australia.


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Mole cricket is a large cricket that burrows in the ground like a mole.


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Mole Valley (pop. 77,400) is a local government district in Surrey, England, administered from the old market town of Dorking.


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Molecular biology is the study of those molecules that direct molecular processes in cells.


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Molecule is one of the basic units of matter.


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Moliere (1622-1673) was the stage name of Jean Baptiste Poquelin, the greatest French writer of comedy.


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Molle, George James (1773-1823), was a British military officer and lieutenant governor of New South Wales, Australia.


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Molloy, Georgiana (1805-1843), was a botanist and a member of a pioneering family in Western Australia.


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Mollusc is a soft-bodied animal that has no bones.


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Molnar, Ferenc (1878-1952), became the most widely known Hungarian dramatist of his time.


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Molotov, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich (1890-1986), became widely known during two terms as foreign minister of the Soviet Union.


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Moltke, Helmuth Karl von (1800-1891), was a Prussian military genius.


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Molybdenum is a chemical element with symbol Mo.


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Molyneaux, James Henry (1920-...), an Irish politician, became leader of the Ulster Unionist Party in 1979.


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Mombasa (pop. 442,369) is the second largest city of Kenya, after Nairobi.


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Moment, in physics, is the product of a quantity multiplied by a particular distance from a fulcrum, or axis.


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Momentum, in physics, was called by Newton the quantity of motion of a moving body.


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Mommsen, Theodor (1918-1903), a German historian, won the 1902 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Monaco is one of the smallest countries in the world.


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Monaghan is a county in the north of the Republic of Ireland.


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Monarchy is a form of government in which one person who inherits, or is elected to, a throne is head of state for life.


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Monash, Sir John (1865-1931), was a leading Australian military commander in World War I (1914-1918).


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Monastery is a place where men live together ruled by religious vows.


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Monasticism is a special form of religious community life.


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Monazite is a heavy, yellow-brown mineral.


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Monck, Viscount (1819-1894), was the first governor general of the Dominion of Canada.


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Moncrieff, Gladys (1892-1976), was one of Australia's greatest musical comedy stars.


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Mond, Ludwig (1839-1909), a German-born British chemist, helped form the chemical firm now known as Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI).


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Mondrian, Piet (1872-1944), was a Dutch painter.


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Monds, Thomas Wilkes (1829-1916), an Australian miller, bought a watermill at Carrick, Tasmania, in 1867 and established a complete oatmeal plant in 1880.


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Monel metal is an important alloy of nickel and copper.


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Moneran is a group of primitive one-celled organisms.


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Monet, Claude (1840-1926), a French painter, was a leader of the impressionist movement.


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Money is anything that is generally accepted by people in exchange for the things they sell or the work they do.


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Money market fund is a mutual fund that invests only in short-term securities.


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Mongol Empire was the biggest land empire in history.


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Mongolia is a country that lies between China and Russia in east-central Asia.


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Mongoose is the name of several closely related small animals that live in Africa, India, southern Asia, and southern Europe.


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Monitor is the name of a group of about 30 kinds of lizards that live in the Solomon Islands, New Guinea, Australia, the East Indies, southern Asia, and Africa.


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Monitor and Merrimack were two ships that fought a famous naval battle in the American Civil War (1861-1865).


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Moniz, Antonio Caetano de Abreu Freire Egas (1874-1955), shared the 1949 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine.


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Monk is a man who has separated himself from ordinary ways of life to devote himself to his religion.


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Monk, George (1608-1670), was an English general and naval commander.


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Monk, Thelonious (1917-1982), was an American composer, pianist, and bandleader.


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Monkey is one of many kinds of small, lively mammals that are among the most intelligent animals.


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Monkey flower is the name given to a large group of herbs and small shrubs that have flowers with two lips, or two large petals growing one over the other.


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Monkey puzzle tree, or Chile pine, is a conifer which can grow up to 50 metres tall.


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Monklands (pop. 101,151), is a Scottish local government district in Strathclyde Region.


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Monmouth (pop. 75,000) is a local government district in Gwent, Wales.


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Monmouth, Duke of (1649-1685) was an Englishman who led an unsuccessful rebellion against King James II (see JAMES [James II]).


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Monmouthshire is a United Kingdom local government area in South Wales.


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Monnet, Jean (1888-1979), a French businessman and statesman, led the movement to unify Western Europe in the 1950's and 1960's.


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Monoclonal antibody is a specialized type of protein molecule produced in the laboratory.


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Monocotyledon is a type of flowering plant that has one cotyledon (leafy structure within the plant's seed).


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Monod, Jacques (1910-1976), a French biochemist, shared the 1965 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine with Francois Jacob and Andre Lwoff.


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Monomer is a small molecule that can combine with other monomers to form larger molecules called polymers.


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Monopolies and Mergers Commission investigates monopoly and merger conditions in British industry and the professions.


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Monopoly and competition are two kinds of business conditions.


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Monorail is a railway that has only one rail.


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Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a salt used in the preparation and processing of many foods.


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Monotype is a machine used to produce metal type for printing.


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Monroe, James (1758-1831), was president of the United States from 1817 to 1825.


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Monroe, Marilyn (1926-1962), was an American film actress.


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Monroe Doctrine was set forth by President James Monroe in a message he delivered to the Congress of the United States on Dec. 2, 1823.


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Monroney, A. S. Mike (1902-1980), was an American politician.


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Monrovia (pop. 421,058) is the capital and chief city of the west African country of Liberia.


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Mons (pop. 91,868) is in western Belgium.


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Monsarrat, Nicholas (1910-1979), was a British author.


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Monsignor is an honorary title given to certain clergymen of the Roman Catholic Church.


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Monsoon is a seasonal wind that blows over the northern part of the Indian Ocean, especially the Arabian Sea, and over most of the surrounding land areas.


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Monstera is the name of about 20 species of large woody vines from tropical America.


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Mont Blanc is the highest mountain in the Alps and one of the most famous peaks in Europe.


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Mont Pelee is an active volcano on the northern end of Martinique in the French West Indies.


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Mont-Saint-Michel is a large rock which juts from the waters of Mont-Saint-Michel Bay off the northwestern coast of France.


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Montaigne, Michel Eyquem de (1533-1592), a French writer, is considered by many the creator of the personal essay.


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Montana (pop. 803,655) is a state in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States.


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Montcalm, Marquis de (1712-1759), a French general, was killed in one of the last great battles of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) in America between the French and British.


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Monte Bello Islands are a group of small coral islands off the northwestern coast of Western Australia.


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Monte Carlo (pop. 11,599) is the tourist region of the principality of Monaco.


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Monte Cassino is an abbey in Italy, located between Rome and Naples.


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Monte Cristo is a small, barren Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea.


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Montego Bay (pop. 85,552) is the second-largest city in Jamaica.


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Montenegro is one of the two republics of Yugoslavia.


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Monterrey (pop. 1,069,238; met. area pop. 2,521,697) is one of Mexico's largest cities.


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Montesquieu (1689-1755) was a French philosopher.


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Montessori, Maria (1870-1952), was an Italian educator and doctor.


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Montessori method is an educational system designed to aid children in the development of intelligence and independence.


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Monteux, Pierre (1875-1964), was a leading French conductor of the 1900's.


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Monteverdi, Claudio (1567-1643), was an Italian composer.


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Montevideo (pop. 1,247,920), is the capital, largest city, and chief port of Uruguay.


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Montez, Lola (1818-1861) was an Irish actress and dancer.


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Montezuma was the name of two Aztec rulers of Mexico (see AZTEC).


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Montfort, Simon de (1208?-1265), an English statesman and soldier, contributed to the growth of parliamentary government in England.


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Montgolfier brothers were French papermakers who invented the hot-air balloon.


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Montgomery (pop. 187,106; met. area 292,517) is the state capital of Alabama and an agricultural centre of the southern United States.


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Montgomery, Bernard Law (1887-1976), was a British Army commander in World War II (1939-1945).


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Montgomeryshire (pop. 52,000) is a local government district in the north of Powys, Wales.


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Month.  The calendar year is divided into 12 parts, each of which is called a month.


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Montreal (pop. 1,017,666; met. area 3,127,242) competes with Toronto as Canada's largest city.


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Montrose, Marquess of (1612-1650), James Graham Montrose, was a leading Scottish supporter of the Royalist cause during the English Civil War in the middle and late 1640's.


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Monts, Sieur de (1560?-1630?), a French explorer and colonizer, founded a settlement in the region of Acadia in Canada.


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Montserrat is a dependency of the United Kingdom (UK) in the Caribbean Sea.


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Montserrat is a Benedictine monastery about 48 kilometres northwest of Barcelona, Spain.


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Monument is a structure, usually a building or statue, built in memory of a person or an event.


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Mood, or mode, is a grammatical term applied to verb forms that distinguish among certain kinds of meaning.


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Mood is a person's state of mind or outlook on life.


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Moody, Dwight Lyman (1837-1899), was an American evangelist.


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Moody, Harold (1882-1947), was a champion of equal rights, particularly in employment and housing, for people of African origin living in the United Kingdom (UK).


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Moon is the earth's nearest neighbour in space.


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Moon rat is the name of five species of insect-eating mammals from China and Southeast Asia.


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Mooney, Edward Francis Cardinal (1882-1958), was an American religious leader.


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Moonflower is an attractive tropical American flower in the morning-glory family.


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Moonie, in southwestern Queensland, was the first commercial oilfield in Australia.


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Moonlight, Captain (1842-1880), was the name adopted by Andrew George Scott, the only highly educated bushranger to operate in Australia.


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Moonstone is a whitish variety of the mineral called feldspar (see FELDSPAR).


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Moor is a large area of open uncultivated land.


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Moore, Anne Carroll (1871-1961), was an American librarian and editor of children's books.


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Moore, Bobby (1941-1993), an English soccer player, won fame as captain of the England side that won the 1966 World Cup when England beat West Germany 4-2 in the cup final at Wembley Stadium.


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Moore, Clement Clarke (1779-1863), an American scholar, is generally considered the author of the popular Christmas ballad "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas."  The ballad is also known as "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and by its first line, " 'T


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Moore, George Augustus (1852-1933), was an Irish author.


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Moore, George Edward (1873-1958), a British philosopher, influenced many contemporary philosophers in the United Kingdom.


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Moore, Gerald (1899-1987), was a British pianist who achieved fame through his brilliant skill as an accompanist.


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Moore, Henry (1898-1986), was an English sculptor.


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Moore, Sir John (1761-1809), was a British soldier.


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Moore, Marianne (1887-1972), ranks with Emily Dickinson among America's finest woman poets.


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Moore, Patrick (1923-...), spread the popularity of astronomy, particularly in Britain, through his regular television broadcasts.


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Moore, Thomas (1779-1852), an Irish poet, wrote the words for some of the best-loved songs in the English language.


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Moorehead, Alan (1910-1983), an Australian journalist and author, won fame as a war correspondent during World War II (1939-1945).


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Moorer, Thomas Hinman (1912-...), an admiral in the U.S. Navy, was Chief of Naval Operations from 1967, until President Richard Nixon named him chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1970.


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Moors.  In ancient history, the Romans called the people of northwestern Africa Mauri and the region they lived in Mauretania.


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Moose is the North American name for the largest member of the deer family.


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Moot is the old English term for a public meeting.


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Mora, Juan Rafael (1814-1860), served as president of Costa Rica from 1849 to 1859.


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Moraine is the earth and stones that a glacier carries along and deposits when the ice melts.


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Morale is the general attitude or outlook of an individual or a group toward a specific situation.


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Morality play is a form of drama that flourished in the 1400's.


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Moran, Lord (1882-1977), a British doctor, became famous as Sir Winston Churchill's doctor during World War II (1939-1945).


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Morant, Harry (1865-1902), was an English immigrant to Australia.


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Morant, Sir Robert Laurie (1863-1920), an English civil servant, drafted the important 1902 Education Act.


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Moratin, Leandro Fernandez de (1760-1828), was a writer, poet, and scholar.


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Moratorium is a legal postponement of the time for payment of debts or financial obligations.


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Moravia is a geographic region of the Czech Republic.


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Moravia, Alberto (1907-1990), an Italian author, was one of the greatest Italian novelists and short-story writers of the 1900's.


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Moravian Church is a Protestant denomination that was formed after the death of religious reformer John Hus in Bohemia.


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Moray (pop. 82,514) is a local government area on the southern side of the Moray Firth, in northeastern Scotland.


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Moray Firth is an inlet on the east coast of northern Scotland.


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Morazan, Francisco (1799-1842), a Central American soldier and statesman, was elected president of the United Provinces of Central America in 1830 and served for almost 10 years.


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Morceli, Noureddine (1970-...), is an Algerian middle distance runner.


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Mordant is a chemical that combines with dyes to prevent them from dissolving easily.


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Mordvinoff, Nicolas (1911-1973), a Russian born author, illustrator, and painter, won the Caldeott medal in 1952 for his illustrations in Finders Keepers, a children's book by William Lipkind.


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More, Saint Thomas (1477?-1535), was a great English author, statesman, and scholar.


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Moree (pop. 16,912) is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, located about 644 kilometres by road from Sydney.


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Moreell, Ben (1892-1978), an American naval officer, founded the U.S. Navy Construction Battalions (CBs), also called the Seabees.


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Mores are customs that reflect a society's ideas about right and wrong.


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Moreton Bay is a large inlet on the southeastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about 29 kilometres from Brisbane, to whose port on the Brisbane River it forms the gateway.


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Moreton Bay fig is a majestic tree that grows naturally in the rainforests of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia.


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Morgagni, Giovanni Battista (1682-1771), an Italian anatomist and pathologist, became known as "the father of pathologic anatomy."  He discovered and described many diseases of the heart and blood vessels.


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Morgan is the family name of three distinguished American bankers.


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Morgan, Charles Langbridge (1894-1958), was a British novelist, playwright, and critic.


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Morley, Christopher (1890-1957), was a popular American literary journalist.


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Morgan, Daniel (1833-1865), was an Australian bushranger.


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Morgan, Garrett Augustus (1877-1963), was an American inventor.


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Morgan, Sir Henry (1635?-1688), was the most famous English buccaneer (pirate).


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Morgan, Justin (1748-1798), was an American who owned and gave his name to a horse, the original stallion of the breed of Morgan horses.


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Morgan, Thomas Hunt (1866-1945), an American geneticist, won the 1933 Nobel prize for physiology or medicine for his work on heredity described in The Theory of the Gene (1926).


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Morganwg, Iolo (1746-1826), was the pseudonym of Edward Williams, a Welsh bard (poet and singer) and antiquarian.


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Morike, Eduard (1804-1875), was a German lyric poet.


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Moriori.  In the 1800's, anthropologists in New Zealand discovered evidence of a local culture that differed from Maori culture.


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Morison, Samuel Eliot (1887-1976), was an American historian, teacher of history, and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes.


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Morisot, Berthe (1841-1895), was a French painter and an important member of the impressionist movement.


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Morland, George (1763-1804), was an English painter who became best known for his rustic scenes.


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Morley, Thomas (1557 or 1558-1602), was an English composer of the Renaissance period.


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Mormon cricket is not really a cricket but belongs to the family of katydids and long-horned grasshoppers.


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Mormons is the name commonly given to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.


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Morning-glory is the name of a family made up mainly of climbing plants.


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Mornington Island, off the coast of northern Australia, lies in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, 432 kilometres north of Mount Isa.


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Morocco is a country in the northwestern corner of Africa.


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Moroni (pop. 26,000) is the capital and largest city of Comoros.


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Morpheus was a god of dreams in Greek mythology.


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Morphine is a drug used to relieve severe pain and to treat several other medical problems.


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Morphology is the branch of science that deals with the structure of animals, plants, and nonliving matter.


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Morris, Desmond (1928-...), is a British zoologist.


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Morris, Gouverneur (1752-1816), was an American statesman and diplomat.


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Morris, William (1834-1896), was an English poet, artist, and socialist reformer.


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Morrison, Herbert Stanley (1888-1965), Baron Morrison of Lambeth, was one of the leaders of the British Labour Party.


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Morrison, Toni (1931-...), a black American novelist, won the 1993 Nobel Prize for literature for her novels.


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Morrow, Honore Willsie, (1880?-1940), was an American historical novelist.


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Morse, Samuel Finley Breese (1791-1872), was a famous American inventor and painter.


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Morse code is a system of sending messages that uses short and long sounds combined in various ways to represent letters, numerals, and other characters.


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Mort, Thomas Sutcliffe (1816-1878), was one of Australia's greatest pioneer businessmen.


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Mortar is a short-range weapon that is used to reach nearby targets that are protected by hills or other obstacles.


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Mortgage is a loan agreement that enables a person or company to borrow money to buy a house or other property.


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Mortimer was the name of a noble English family prominent in English history from the 1100's to the early 1400's.


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Mortimer, Harry (1902-1992), became one of the most influential British musicians of his time in brass-band music.


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Morton, William Thomas Green (1819-1868), an American dentist, made the first public demonstration of ether in 1846.


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Morwell (pop. 17,763), is an industrial town in the La Trobe Valley in Victoria, Australia (see LA TROBE VALLEY).


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Mosaic is an art form in which small pieces of coloured glass, stone, or other material are set into mortar.


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Mosaic disease is the name of a group of plant diseases caused by certain viruses.


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Moscow is the capital of Russia and one of the largest cities in the world.


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Moscow Art Theatre became one of the most influential theatres of the 1900's.


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Moseley, Henry Gwyn-Jeffreys (1887-1915), was an English physicist noted for his research on X rays.


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Moselle River, a branch of the Rhine River, rises in the Vosges Mountains in eastern France.


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Moses was the principal leader and teacher of the Israelites and one of the most important characters in the Bible.


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Moses, Grandma (1860-1961), was an American primitive painter.


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Moshoeshoe (1786?-1870) was an African king who united the Sotho people in southern Africa.


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Mosley, Sir Oswald (1896-1980), formed the British Union of Fascists in the 1930's.


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Mosque is a building used for Muslim worship.


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Mosquito is an insect that spreads some of the worst diseases of people and animals.


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Mosquito Coast, also called Mosquitia, is a strip of land that lies along the east coast of Nicaragua and the northeast coast of Honduras in South America.


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Moss is any of a variety of small, green, nonflowering plants found throughout the world.


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Moss is the family name of a brother and sister who became leading British motorcar drivers.


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Mossbauer, Rudolf Ludwig (1929-...), a German physicist, shared the 1961 Nobel Prize in physics for research into gamma rays.


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Mosul, also called Al Mawsil (pop. 293,100), is Iraq's third largest city and an important commercial centre.


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Moszkowski, Moritz (1854-1925), was a Polish-German pianist and composer.


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Motel is an establishment that provides overnight lodging, chiefly for motorists.


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Moth is any of a wide variety of insects closely related to butterflies.


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Mother Goose is a name that has been associated with children's literature for hundreds of years.


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Mother-of-pearl.  Certain shellfish, such as pearl oysters, abalones, and freshwater mussels produce shells lined with a lustrous, rainbow-coloured material.


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Mothering Sunday, in England, is the fourth Sunday in Lent.


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Mother's Day is set apart every year in honour of motherhood.


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Motherwell (pop. 140,320) was a Scottish local government district in Strathclyde Region.


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Motherwell, Robert (1915-1991), an American painter, was a leading member of the abstract expressionist school.


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Motion occurs when an object changes its location in space.


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Motion sickness is a condition in which motion causes extreme nausea.


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Motivation commonly refers to anything that causes people to behave as they do.


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Motley, John Lothrop, (1814-1877), an American historian and diplomat, won recognition chiefly for his historical writings on the Netherlands.


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Motivation research tries to learn why people choose things they buy.


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Motmot is the name of a family of birds related to kingfishers.


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Motorboat racing is an exciting, competitive sport that tests the performance of motorboats and the skill of drivers.


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Motorcycle, also called motorbike, is a two- or three-wheeled vehicle powered by a petrol engine mounted midway between the front and rear wheels.


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Mott, John Raleigh (1865-1955), was an American-born international religious leader.


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Mott, Lucretia Coffin (1793-1880), was a leader of the antislavery movement and women's rights movements in the United States.


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Mott, Sir Nevill (1905-...), a British physicist, is a leading authority on the physical explanation of the properties of solids.


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Motuans are a group of about 10,000 people living in and around Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.


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Mould is a type of fungus that often grows on food.


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Moulting is the process by which an animal sheds worn hair, skin, scales, feathers, or fur and grows a new body covering.


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Mound bird, also known as a megapode, is the name of a dozen species of game birds found from the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean, eastwards to the Philippines and Australia.


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Mound builders were early North American Indians who built large monuments of earth.


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Mount Albert Edward is a peak in the Owen-Stanley Range in southeastern Papua New Guinea.


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Mount Apo is the highest peak in the Philippines.


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Mount Ararat is a mountain in eastern Turkey near Lake Van.


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Mount Augustus rises near the Lyons River, and northeast of Carnarvon in Western Australia.


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Mount Bartle Frere is the highest peak in Queensland, Australia.


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Mount Barrington, also called Barrington Tops, is a large plateau on the edge of Mount Royal Range in New South Wales, Australia.


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Mount Bogong is the highest peak in Victoria, Australia.


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Mount Bruce is a peak near the Hamersley Ranges in Western Australia.


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Mount Buffalo is an Australian tourist resort and ski centre in the Buffalo Plateau within the Victorian Alps.


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Mount Buller is a resort for snow skiing in Victoria, Australia.


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Mount Carmel extends 21 kilometres in northwestern Israel from the Esdraelon Valley to the south coast of the Bay of Haifa.


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Mount Cook is the highest peak in New Zealand.


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Mount Egmont is a volcanic mountain near the western coast of the North Island of New Zealand.


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Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe, rises to 5,642 metres in the Caucasus Mountains.


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Mount Erebus is the most active volcano on the continent of Antarctica.


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Mount Etna is one of the most famous volcanoes in the world.


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Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world.


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Mount Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan (3,776 metres).


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Mount Gambier (pop. 21,156), is the fourth largest city in South Australia.


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Mount Hagen (pop. 13,642), is one of the largest towns in the central part of Papua New Guinea.


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Mount Isa (pop. 23,348) is a city in northwestern Queensland, Australia, about 966 kilometres west of Townsville.


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Mount Kanchenjunga, also called Kinchinjunga, is the third highest mountain in the world.


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Mount Kenya is an extinct volcanic cone in central Kenya, East Africa, 110 kilometres from Nairobi.


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Mount Kosciusko is the highest peak in Australia.


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Mount Lamington is a volcano in Papua New Guinea that erupted in 1951.


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Mount Lofty Ranges are a series of hills extending from Peterborough to Cape Jervis, in South Australia.


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Mount Logan is the highest peak in Canada and the second highest peak in North America.


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Mount Lyell is an important copper deposit in the ranges of central western Tasmania, Australia, about 6 kilometres northeast of Queenstown.


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Mount Macedon is a scenic resort and residential area about 69 kilometres northwest of Melbourne, Australia.


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Mount Makalu is the fourth highest mountain in the world.


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Mount Maunganui (pop. 12,375), a town on the northeastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand, stands at the main entrance to Tauranga Harbour.


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Mount McKinley, in Alaska, U.S.A., is sometimes called the top of the continent because it has the highest peak in North America.


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Mount Morgan (pop. 3,093), is a town located in the Dee Mountain Range in northeastern Queensland, Australia, about 37 kilometres from Rockhampton.


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Mount Nebo was the peak in the Mount Pisgah range from which Moses saw the Promised Land.


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Mount Newman is one of the main iron ore mining areas in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.


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Mount Ngauruhoe is an active volcano in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Mount of Olives is a low range of hills about 0.8 kilometre east of Jerusalem.


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Mount Ossa is the highest peak in the Australian island state of Tasmania.


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Mount Pinatubo is an active volcano in the Zambales Mountains, in the west central region of the Philippine island of Luzon.


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Mount Pisgah is a small mountain range in central Jordan.


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Mount Rainier, in Mount Rainier National Park, is the highest mountain in the state of Washington, U.S.A. Gassy fumes still rise from its great volcanic cone, but its deeply cut slopes show that the volcano was largely formed long ago.


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Mount Ruapehu is the highest mountain in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a huge carving on a granite cliff called Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota, U.S.A. Mount Rushmore National Memorial shows the faces of four American presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,


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Mount Saint Helens is a volcano in the Cascade Mountains, 153 kilometres south of Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. The volcano has erupted several times since 1980.


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Mount Stromlo Observatory is the largest optical observatory in Australia.


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Mount Tom Price lies in the Hamersley Ranges, now known as Karijini in Western Australia.


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Mount Tongariro is a mountain in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Mount Townsend is Australia's second highest mountain.


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Mount Vernon was the home of the first president of the United States, George Washington.


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Mount Victoria is a peak at the eastern end of the Owen-Stanley Range in Papua New Guinea.


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Mount Wellington is one of the chief tourist attractions in Tasmania, Australia.


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Mount Wilhelm is the highest peak in Papua New Guinea.


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Mount Wilson Observatory is an astronomical observatory in southwestern California, U.S.A. It stands on Mount Wilson, 1,740 metres above sea level, about 16 kilometres northeast of Pasadena.


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Mount Woodroffe is a bare, rugged peak in the Musgrave Ranges in South Australia.


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Mount Zeil is a peak in the MacDonnell Ranges in the Northern Territory of Australia.


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Mountain is a landform that stands much higher than its surroundings.


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Mountain ash is the name for a group of trees and shrubs that grow in the Northern Hemisphere.


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Mountain avens is a small, hardy plant that grows wild in the northern and arctic regions.


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Mountain beaver, also called sewellel, is a rodent that lives along the Pacific coast of North America and in nearby mountains.


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Mountain laurel is an evergreen plant that grows naturally in eastern North America.


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Mountain lion is a large wild animal of the cat family.


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Mountain pass is a passageway over a mountain barrier.


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Mountaineering is the sport of climbing mountains to reach their peaks.


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Mountbatten, Louis (1900-1979), a member of the royal family of the United Kingdom, was a distinguished military leader and the last viceroy (ruler) of the British colony of India.


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Mountevans, Lord (1881-1957), was a British explorer and admiral.


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Mountford, Charles Pearcy (1890-1976), was an Australian writer and anthropologist.


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Moura is a coalfield in Queensland, Australia, located 9.7 kilometres from Moura township and 169 kilometres southwest of Gladstone.


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Mourne Mountains are a beautiful range of mountains in the southern part of Down, Northern Ireland.


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Mourning dove is an American bird with a sad, cooing call.


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Mouse is a small animal with soft fur, a pointed snout, round black eyes, rounded ears, and a thin tail.


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Mouse Tower (in German, Der Mauseturm) is a tower on a small island in the Rhine River near Bingen, Germany.


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Mouth is the part of the body that is adapted for taking in food.


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Moyle (pop. 14,635) is a local government district in Northern Ireland, administered from the town of Ballycastle.


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Moyola, Lord (1923-...), was prime minister of Northern Ireland from 1969 to 1971.


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Mozambique is a country on the southeast coast of Africa.


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Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791), an Austrian composer, is considered one of the greatest and most creative musical geniuses of all time.


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Mphahiele, Es'kia (1919-...), a South African writer, became best known for his autobiography Down Second Avenue (1959).


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Mpumalanga is a province in the northeastern part of South Africa, bordering Mozambique and Swaziland.


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Mubarak, Hosni (1928-...), became president of Egypt in October 1981.


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Mucilage is a thick, sticky substance usually made by dissolving gum in water, or other liquid.


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Muck, Karl (1859-1940), a German conductor, was principal conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1906 and 1907, and again from 1912 to 1918.


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Muckrakers were a group of writers in the early 1900's who exposed social and political evils in the United States.


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Mucus is a thick, clear, slimy fluid found in the nose, mouth, and other organs and passages that open to the outside of the body.


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Mudpuppy is a salamander that lives in streams, lakes, and rivers mainly in central United States.


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Muench, Aloisius J. Cardinal (1889-1962), became a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States in 1959.


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Mugabe, Robert Gabriel (1924-...), became head of the government of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) in 1980.


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Mughal Empire ruled most of India in the 1500's and 1600's.


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Muhammad (570?-632) was a great religious leader of Arabia, and the founder of Islam.


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Muhammad II (1432-1481), also known as Mehmed II or Mehmet II, was the seventh sultan (ruler) of the Ottoman Empire.


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Muhammad, Elijah (1897-1975), was the head of the Black Muslim movement in the United States, a black organization that combines religious beliefs with strong social protest.


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Muhammad Ali (1769-1849) ruled Egypt from 1805 to 1848.


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Muhlenberg is the family name of four outstanding American religious leaders.


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Muir, Edwin (1887-1959), was a British poet, critic, and translator.


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Muir, John (1838-1914), an American explorer, naturalist, and writer, campaigned for the conservation of land, water, and forests in the United States.


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Mujibur Rahman (1920-1975) became the first prime minister of Bangladesh in January 1972.


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Mulatto is a person of mixed white and black descent.


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Mulberry is an ornamental tree which has juicy, fleshy fruit.


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Mulch is any material that is spread over soil so that air can get through, but so that water in the soil cannot evaporate.


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Muldoon, Sir Robert David (1921-1992), served as prime minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984.


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Mule is a domesticated, hybrid animal that results from crossing a mare (female horse) and a jack (male donkey).


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Mule deer is a beautiful deer that has large, furry ears similar to those of a mule.


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Mulga is the Aboriginal name for a small, grey-green, spreading wattle that grows over vast areas of inland Australia.


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Mull is an attractive, hilly island off the western coast of Scotland.


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Mullein is the name of over 350 species of woolly biennial plants, belonging to the figwort family.


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Muller, Hermann Joseph (1890-1967), was an American geneticist.


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Muller, Max (1823-1900), a German-born scholar, took a special interest in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit.


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Muller, Paul Hermann (1899-1965), a Swiss chemist, won the 1948 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for discovering the insect-killing properties of DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane).


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Mullet.  Two different families of fish are called mullet.


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Mulliken, Robert Sanderson (1896-1986), an American chemist, won the 1966 Nobel Prize for chemistry.


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Mulock, Sir William (1844-1944), was a leader in Canadian law, politics, and education for more than 60 years.


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Mulroney, Brian (1939-...), was prime minister of Canada from 1984 to 1993.


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Multiculturalism is a political or social philosophy that promotes cultural diversity (variety).


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Multimedia is a computer-controlled combination of text, graphics, sound, photographs, film, and other types of media.


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Multimedia encyclopedia is a collection of reference articles whose text, photographs, and diagrams are supplemented by videos, animations, interactive features, sound clips, and other content.


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Multinational corporation is a business organization that is based in one country and has branches, subsidiaries, and plants in many countries.


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Multiple birth is the birth of more than one infant from the same pregnancy.


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Multiple sclerosis, often called MS, is a disease of the nervous system.


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Multiplication is a short way of adding or counting equal numbers.


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Mumford, Lewis (1895-1990), was an American social critic, philosopher, and historian.


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Mummers are groups of actors who perform traditional plays.


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Mummy is an embalmed body that has been preserved for thousands of years.


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Mumps is a contagious disease that causes painful swelling below and in front of the ears.


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Munch, Edvard (1863-1944), was a Norwegian artist.


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Munchausen, Baron, was the name given to the narrator and central figure in an anonymous booklet of tall tales, Baron Munchausen's Narrative of His Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia.


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Mundelein, George William Cardinal (1872-1939), an American cardinal and archbishop, became the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Chicago in 1915, and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in 1924.


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Mundine, Tony (1951-...), an Australian Aboriginal boxer, won the Australian middleweight title in 1970, the Commonwealth middleweight title in 1972, and the Australian heavyweight title in 1972.


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Mundt, Karl Earl (1900-1974), a Republican, was a United States (U.S.) senator from 1949 to 1973.


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Munich (pop. 1,229,026) is Germany's third largest city.


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Munich Agreement, approved in September 1938 in Munich, Germany, was the acceptance by Great Britain and France of Germany's demand for certain territory in Czechoslovakia.


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Munnings, Sir Alfred (1878-1959), a British artist, was famed for his paintings of horses and sporting scenes.


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Munro, Hector Hugh (1870-1916), was a British writer who wrote under the pen name Saki.


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Munrow, David (1942-1976), was a brilliant British musician, composer, and lecturer on the history of music.


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Munster is the largest of Ireland's four provinces.


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Muon is a type of elementary particle that closely resembles an electron but has a greater mass.


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Mural is a picture or design that decorates a wall.


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Murasaki Shikibu (A.D. 975?-1031?), also called Lady Murasaki, is the most famous writer of early Japanese literature.


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Murat, Joachim (1771?-1815), the most famous French cavalry commander under Napoleon I, ruled Naples as King Joachim I from 1808 to 1814.


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Murchison is a district in Western Australia drained by the Murchison River.


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Murder.  When one person intentionally kills another without legal justification or excuse, the crime is called murder.


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Murdoch, Dame Iris (1919-...), is a British novelist known for her philosophical novels.


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Murdoch, Rupert (1931-...), is an Australian-born publisher who owns many newspapers and magazines in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries.


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Murdoch, Sir Walter (1874-1970), was professor of English at the University of Western Australia from 1912 to 1939 and chancellor from 1943 to 1948.


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Murdock, William (1754-1839), was a Scottish inventor who made several important improvements in steam engines and discovered how to produce gas from coal.


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Murillo, Bartolome Esteban (1618-1682), was a Spanish painter of the 1600's.


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Murmansk (pop. 412,000) is Russia's chief port on the Arctic Ocean.


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Murphy, Audie (1924-1971), won fame as the most decorated United States soldier of World War II (1939-1945).


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Murphy, Emily Gowan (1868-1933), was a Canadian social reformer and author.


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Murphy, John Benjamin (1857-1916), was an American surgeon.


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Murray, Lord (1922-...), a British trade-unionist, was general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) from 1973 until 1984.


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Murray, Gilbert (1866-1957), an Australian classical scholar, gained fame for his translations of Greek plays.


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Murray, Sir Hubert (1861-1940), an Australian administrator, was lieutenant governor of Papua New Guinea from 1908 to 1940.


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Murray, James (1719?-1794), was a British soldier who became the first British governor of Quebec, Canada.


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Murray, Sir James (1837-1915), a Scottish philologist (student of language), was for 35 years editor of the Oxford English Dictionary.


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Murray, Sir John (1841-1914), was a Scottish-Canadian naturalist and oceanographer.


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Murray, Leslie Allan (1938-...), an Australian poet, compiled the Oxford Book of Australian Verse in 1986.


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Murray Bridge (pop. 15,884) is a town in South Australia.


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Murray cod is Australia's largest freshwater fish.


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Murray Greys are Australia's oldest and best-known domestic breed of beef cattle.


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Murray River and its tributaries form Australia's major river system.


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Murre, or common murre, is the name of a sea bird in the auk family, related to the guillemot.


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Murrow, Edward R. (1908-1965), was an American radio and television broadcaster.


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Murrumbidgee is the third largest river in Australia's Murray-Darling river system.


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Murwillumbah (pop. 7,678), is a town on the Tweed River, on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia.


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Musa Hitam, Tan Sri (1934-...), was deputy prime minister and minister of home affairs of Malaysia from 1981 to 1986.


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Muscat (pop. 30,000; met. area pop. 250,000), is the capital of Oman.


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Muscle is the tough, elastic tissue that makes body parts move.


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Muscle sense, also called conscious proprioception, is one of two senses that tells a person what position parts of the body are in.


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Muscular dystrophy is a name for a group of serious muscle diseases.


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Muses were nine goddesses of the arts and sciences in Greek and Roman mythology.


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Museum is an institution where artistic and educational materials are exhibited to the public.


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Museum of Modern Art in New York City is one of the world's foremost museums devoted to the collection and exhibition of modern art.


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Museveni, Yoweri (1944-...), a Ugandan politician and military leader, became president of Uganda in 1986.


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Mushet, Robert Forester (1811-1891), was an English metallurgist.


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Mushroom is any of a variety of fleshy, umbrella-shaped fungi.


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Music is sound arranged into pleasing or interesting patterns.


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Music hall is a form of entertainment that was at the height of its popularity in the late 1800's and early 1900's in Britain.


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Musical box is an instrument that plays tunes automatically.


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Musical comedy is a type of play that tells a story through a combination of spoken dialogue, songs, and dances.


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Musil, Robert (1880-1942) was an Austrian author best known for his long novel The Man Without Qualities.


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Musk is an ingredient in many expensive perfumes.


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Musk deer are three species of small compact deer found in mountain forests in central and eastern Asia.


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Musk ox is a large, shaggy mammal that lives in the Far North.


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Muskellunge is the largest fish of the pike family.


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Musket was the firearm that infantry soldiers used before the perfection of the rifle.


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Muskmelon is a cultivated variety of melon.


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Muskrat is an animal that lives near streams, ponds, and rivers.


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Muslims also spelled Moslems, are people who practise the religion of Islam, preached by Muhammad in the A.D. 600's.


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Muslin is a closely woven white or unbleached cloth made from corded cotton yarn.


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Musquito (^? ^-1825) was an Australian Aborigine from New South Wales.


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Mussel is a water animal with a soft body inside a hard shell.


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Musset, Alfred de (1810-1857), was a French dramatist and poet.


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Mussolini, Benito (1883-1945), founded fascism and ruled Italy for almost 21 years, most of that time as dictator.


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Mussorgsky, Modest (1839-1881), was one of the greatest Russian composers in history.


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Mustang is the name of certain horses that roamed over parts of the American West.


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Mustapha bin Datu Harun (1918-...), a Malay politician, was chief minister of the Malaysian state of Sabah from 1967 to 1975.


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Mustard is the name of a family of leafy, annual plants that grow in temperate regions.


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Mustering, the process of rounding up sheep and cattle, is an important activity on stations (large farms) in Australia and New Zealand.


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Mutation is a change in the hereditary material of an organism's cells.


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Mutiny is any unlawful attempt by military personnel to seize or set aside military authority.


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Meiji, Emperor (1852-1912) reigned in Japan from 1867 to 1912.


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Mutton is meat obtained from sheep that are more than a year old and, in most cases, weigh more than 45 kilograms.


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Mutton bird is the name of a few species of shearwater that are eaten for food (see SHEARWATER).


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Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, is a disorder that affects many adults.


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Myall Creek murders took place at Myall Creek station, near Inverell, New South Wales, Australia, in 1838.


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Myasthenia gravis is a noncontagious disease characterized by weakness of the skeletal muscles.


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Mycenae was a city in ancient Greece, located 10 kilometres north of Argos in the southern peninsula.


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Mycotoxin is any one of a number of poisonous chemicals produced by fungi.


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Myelitis, is inflammation of the spinal cord or bone marrow.


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Myer Music Bowl is a large, modern, open-air auditorium in Melbourne, Australia.


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Mynah is the name of several kinds of birds in the starling family.


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Myocarditis is inflammation of the muscle tissue that forms the heart's wall.


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Myopia, also called shortsightedness, is a visual defect that causes blurred distance vision.


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Myrdal, Alva Reimer (1902-1986), a Swedish diplomat and sociologist, gained fame for promoting nuclear disarmament and world peace.


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Myrdal, Gunnar (1898-1987), was a Swedish sociologist and economist.


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Myrrh is a fragrant resin extracted from certain trees and shrubs.


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Myrtle is an attractive evergreen shrub or small tree.


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Mysteries, in religion, are secret ceremonies.


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Mystery play, a form of Biblical drama, was popular in England from the 1370's until about 1600.


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Mysticism is the belief that God or spiritual truths can be known through individual insight, rather than by reasoning or study.


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Mythology.  People have always tried to understand why certain things happen.


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Myxomatosis is a virus disease that was introduced into Australia by the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) to help control the population of European rabbits.


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Mzilikazi (c. 1795-1868) was the founder of the Ndebele nation of present day Zimbabwe.


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N is the 14th letter in the English alphabet.


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Nabokov, Vladimir (1899-1977), was a Russian-born author.


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Nader, Ralph (1934-...), an American lawyer, became famous for fighting business and government practices that he felt endangered public health and safety.


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Nadir is the point in space directly below where one stands.


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Nagaland is a state in northeastern India.


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Nagasaki (pop. 444,599) is the Japanese city with which Westerners have had the longest contact.


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Nageli, Karl Wilhelm (1817-1891), was a Swiss botanist and philosopher who studied the growth of roots, stems, and pollen grains.


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Nagle, Kel (1920-...), an Australian professional golfer, won the Canada Cup for Australia with Peter Thomson in 1954 and 1959.


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Nagoya (pop. 2,154,793) is one of the largest cities in Japan.


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Nagpur (pop. 1,215,425) is an Indian city in the state of Maharashtra.


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Naguib, Muhammad (1901-1984), was a leader in the Egyptian revolution of 1952 that forced King Faruk to abdicate.


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Nahum, Book of, is a book of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, named after an Israelite prophet.


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Nahyan, Zayed bin Sultan al- (1916-...), became president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 1971.


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Naidu, Sarojini (1879-1949), was a leader of the Indian women's movement.


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Nail is a tough plate that covers the upper surface at the end of each finger and toe.


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Nail is the most widely used fastener for attaching one piece of wood to another.


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Naipaul, Shiva (1945-1985), a West Indian-born novelist, wrote about the loss of Hindu culture among Trinidadians of Indian descent.


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Naipaul, V. S. (1932-...), a West Indian writer, became widely acclaimed for his novels set in the Caribbean and Africa, and for travel books.


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Nairn (pop. 10,680) is a local government district in Highland Region, Scotland.


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Nairobi (pop. 1,162,189) is the capital of Kenya and the most important commercial centre in eastern Africa.


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Naismith, James (1861-1939), a Canadian teacher who invented the game of basketball in 1891 (see BASKETBALL).


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Namaqualand is a dry area along South Africa's western coast.


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Namatjira, Albert (1902-1959), was an Australian Aboriginal painter.


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Nambour (pop. 9,579), is a town on the Bruce Highway in southeastern Queensland, Australia, 106 kilometres north of Brisbane.


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Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the world, lies along southern Africa's west coast, mainly within Namibia.


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Namibia is a country in southwestern Africa.


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Namier, Sir Lewis (1888-1960), was one of the most influential historians of his day.


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Namoi is a river in northern New South Wales, Australia.


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Nanak (1469-1539), was the first guru (teacher) of the Indian religious sect known as the Sikhs.


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Nancy (pop. 96,317; met. area pop. 306,982) lies 282 kilometres east of Paris.


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Nangwarry is a sawmilling town 410 kilometres southeast of Adelaide, South Australia.


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Nanjing (pop. 2,610,594), also spelled Nan-ching or Nanking, is an important centre of industry, transportation, and government in east-central China.


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Nansen, Fridtjof (1861-1930), was a famous Norwegian polar explorer.


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Nantes (pop. 252,029; met. area pop. 492,255) is a port city in western France, near the mouth of the Loire River.


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Nantes, Edict of, was the first official recognition of religious toleration by a great European country.


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Naoroji, Dadabhai (1825-1917), was a prominent early leader of the Indian nationalist movement.


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Napalm is a powder used to thicken petrol for use in war.


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Naphtha is any liquid composed only of hydrogen and carbon atoms that boil below 200 C. Naptha obtained during the refining of petroleum is blended to make petrol.


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Napier (pop. 52,468) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Napier, John (1550-1617), Laird of Merchiston, was a Scottish mathematician.


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Naples (pop. 1,067,365) is the third largest city of Italy.


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Naples, Bay of, is an inlet of the Tyrrhenian Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea.


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Napoleon I (1769-1821), also known as Napoleon Bonaparte, crowned himself emperor of France.


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Napoleon II (1811-1832), Duke of Reichstadt, was the son of Napoleon I and Marie Louise of Austria.


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Napoleon III (1808-1873), ruled as Emperor of France from 1852 to 1870, and was closely associated with major European political changes.


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Naracoorte Caves are a series of 60 limestone caves about 390 kilometres southeast of Adelaide, Australia.


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Narasimhavarman I (630?-668?), also known as Mamalla, was king of the Pallava dynasty of southern India.


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Narayan, R. K. (1906-...), is an Indian novelist and short-story writer who writes in English.


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Narayanan, Shri K. R. (1920-...), was elected president of India in 1997.


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Narcissus, in Greek mythology, was a handsome youth who was courted by many lovers for his beauty.


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Narcissus is the name of a large group of early spring flowers with lovely blossoms.


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Narcolepsy is a disease that causes excessive sleepiness.


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Narcotic is a substance that has a strong depressant effect upon the human nervous system.


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Narrabri (pop. 14,659), is a town on the Liverpool Plains of New South Wales, Australia, built along a branch of the Namoi River.


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Narvaez, Panfilo de (1478?-1528), was a Spanish soldier, explorer, and Indian fighter.


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Narwhal is an unusual whale of the Arctic.


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Nash, Beau (1674-1762), was a celebrated English dandy, known for his magnificent clothes and elegant manners.


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Nash, Charles William (1864-1948), was a pioneer in the United States motorcar industry.


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Nash, James (1834-1913), a prospector, discovered the goldfields at Gympie, Queensland, Australia, in 1867.


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Nash, John (1752-1835), was an English architect and landscape gardener.


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Nash, Ogden (1902-1971), was a famous American writer of humorous and satirical poetry.


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Nash, Paul (1889-1946), was an English painter known for his landscapes and battle scenes.


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Nash, Thomas (1567-1601?), was an English writer of the Elizabethan period whose works reflect his rowdy nature.


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Nash, Sir Walter (1882-1968), was prime minister of New Zealand from 1957 to 1960.


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Nashville (pop. 510,784; met. area pop. 985,026) is the capital and second largest city of Tennessee, U.S.A. Nashville is often called the Athens of the South because of its many educational institutions and its buildings in the Greek classical style


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Nasmyth, James (1808-1890), a Scottish engineer, invented the steam hammer.


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Nassau (pop. 135,437) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas.


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Nasser, Gamal Abdel (1918-1970), an Egyptian army officer, led the revolt that overthrew King Faruk in 1952 and established Egypt as a republic.


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Nast, Thomas (1840-1902), was an American political cartoonist.


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Nasturtium is the common name of a group of perennial plants native to tropical America.


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Natal was a province in South Africa from 1910 to 1994.


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Nathan, Isaac (1790-1864), was one of Australia's first composers.


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Nathan, Robert (1894-1985), was an American novelist and poet.


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Nation is a large group of people united by a common language, ancestry, history, or culture.


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Nation, Carry Amelia Moore (1846-1911), became well known for her violent efforts to stop the sale of alcohol in the United States from the 1880's up to her death.


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National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a United States government agency that conducts and coordinates research of flight within and beyond the earth's atmosphere.


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National anthem is the official patriotic song of a nation.


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National debt, sometimes known as public debt, is the amount of money which a government has borrowed to finance its spending.


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National Galleries of Scotland.  There are three national galleries in Edinburgh, Scotland.


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National gallery is a nationally owned gallery that houses a nation's finest art collections.


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National Gallery of Ireland is in Dublin.


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National Geographic Society is the world's largest nonprofit-making scientific and educational organization.


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National Health Service (NHS) is the United Kingdom's (UK's) healthcare system, which provides state-funded medical services to all residents.


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National heritage refers to all those things that a country considers to be part of its identity and traditional cultural wealth.


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National income is the total of all income earned in a country during a specific period, usually a year.


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National insurance is a state scheme in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Republic of Ireland that provides financial support for any family whose earnings are interrupted through unemployment, sickness, widowhood, or retirement.


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National lottery is a game of chance run by a country's government.


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National Optical Astronomy Observatories are a group of three United States research centres for astronomy.


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National park is an area set aside by a nation's government to protect natural beauty, wildlife, or other remarkable features.


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National Party is the political party that governed South Africa from 1948 to 1994.


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National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) is an organization that operates radio telescopes in the United States (U.S.A.) at Socorro, New Mexico; Kitt Peak, Arizona; and Green Bank, West Virginia.


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National trusts are organizations set up to protect and preserve buildings, landscapes, monuments, and articles which are considered to have special artistic, scientific, or historical value.


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Nationalism is a people's sense of belonging together as a nation.


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Nationality, in law, is a person's status as a member of a certain country.


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Nationalization is the control and ownership of an industry on a national scale by the government of a country.


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Natural bridge is a bridge built by nature.


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Natural gas liquids are certain chemical compounds that can be obtained in liquid form from natural gas.


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Natural resources are those products and features of the earth that permit it to support life and satisfy people's needs.


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Natural selection is a process in nature by which the organisms best suited to their environment are the ones most likely to leave offspring.


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Naturalism, in literature, is the attempt to apply scientific theory and methods to imaginative writing.


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Nature Conservancy Council was a government-appointed body concerned with all aspects of nature conservation in the United Kingdom.


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Nature study means watching and learning about things in nature.


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Nature worship is a religious practice that has been followed by various cultures throughout history.


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Naude, Beyers (1915-...), is a South African Afrikaner minister and former active opponent of apartheid (segregation).


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Nauru is a small island country in the central Pacific Ocean.


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Nausea is a disagreeable sensation in the area of the stomach.


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Nautilus is a marine animal whose soft body is partly covered with a coiled shell.


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Naval mutinies of 1797 were protests in England by seamen against bad conditions.


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Naval stores.  In the days of wooden sailing ships, the term naval stores referred to tar and pitch.


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Navigation is the process of determining a vehicle's position and directing its movement.


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Navigation acts were several laws passed in the 1600's by the English Parliament.


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Navratilova, Martina (1956-...), became one of the world's top women tennis players.


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Navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces that consists of warships and support ships, their crews, and land bases and their personnel.


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Navy Jack is a flag of the United States Navy.


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Nawaz Sharif (1949-...), served as prime minister of Pakistan from 1990 to 1993.


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Nazarbayev, Nursultan (1940-...), was elected president of Kazakstan in December 1991.


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Nazareth (pop. 52,200) is a town in northern Israel.


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Nazimova, Alla (1879-1945), a Russian actress, became famous on the American stage and in films.


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Nazism was a political movement--and later a form of government--that developed in Germany during the 1920's.


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N'Djamena (pop. 511,700) is the capital and largest city of Chad.


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Neale, John Mason (1818-1866), an English hymn writer and historian, translated many ancient Greek and Latin hymn and anthem texts.


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Neanderthal man was a type of prehistoric human being who lived in parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa from about 100,000 to 35,000 years ago.


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Near East is a name given to a region that includes a part of Asia from the Mediterranean Sea to the eastern boundary of Iran, plus part of northeastern Africa.


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Neath Port Talbot is a United Kingdom local government area in South Wales.


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Nebraska (pop. 1,584,617) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States.


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Nebuchadnezzar was the name of two kings of Babylon.


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Nebula is a cloud of dust particles and gases in space.


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Nebular hypothesis is a theory about the origin of the solar system.


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Necker, Jacques (1732-1804), was a statesman in France under King Louis XVI. When he was appointed French finance minister in 1777, the nation had an unbalanced treasury.


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Necktie, or tie, is a band of material or a bow that is worn around the neck.


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Necrology is a record of deaths, especially one kept by a church.


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Necromancy is a term taken from two Greek words meaning corpse and divination.


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Necropolis is a Greek word which means city of the dead, that is, a cemetery.


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Necrosis is the death of a group of body cells and tissues due to some disease or external cause.


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Nectar is a sugary liquid produced by many flowers.


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Nectar was the drink of the gods in Greek mythology.


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Nectarine is a variety of peach with smooth skin.


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Needle is a simple-looking tool, with a fine point at one end and a tiny eye at the other.


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Needlepoint is a form of embroidery in which stitches are sewn through spaces or squares of an open-mesh fabric called the canvas.


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Neel, Louis Boyd (1905-1981), founded and conducted the Boyd Neel Orchestra, one of Europe's leading string orchestras.


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Nefertiti was an ancient Egyptian queen, the wife of Akhenaton, a pharaoh (king) who ruled from 1367 to 1350 B.C. Akhenaton was the first pharaoh to preach monotheism (belief in one god).


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Negeri Sembilan, also spelled Negri Sembilan, is a state in Peninsular Malaysia.


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Negev is the triangular southern half of Israel.


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Negligence is the legal term for carelessness under the English legal system and systems based on it.


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Negotiable instrument refers to a type of legal exchange or document that is either a promise or an order to pay money.


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Negritos are peoples who live in small, isolated groups in Asia and northern Australia and who resemble Pygmies.


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


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Nehru is the name of a family that provided four generations of leaders for India.


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Neilson, John Shaw (1872-1942), is rated by critics as Australia's finest lyric poet.


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Nelson (pop. 47,391) is a city on the northern coast of the South Island of New Zealand.


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Nelson, Horatio (1758-1805), was Great Britain's greatest admiral and naval hero.


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Nelspruit (pop. 61,921) is an important town in the province of Mpumalanga, South Africa.


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Neman River is a waterway in eastern Europe.


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Nemean Games were one of the four ancient Greek national festivals.


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Nemesis, a minor goddess in Greek mythology, was a personification of the spirit of vengeance.


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Nene, also known as Hawaiian goose, is a rare bird of Hawaii.


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Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd.


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Neon is a chemical element that makes up about 1 part per 65,000 in the earth's atmosphere.


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Neoplatonism was a dominant school of philosophy from the A.D. 200's to the 500's.


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Neoptolemus was a Greek warrior during the Trojan War.


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Nepal is a country in south-central Asia.


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Nepean River is a river that rises in the Illawarra coastal range southeast of Bowral in New South Wales, Australia.


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Nephritis, formerly called Bright's disease, is a general term for several inflammatory diseases of the kidneys.


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Nepia, George (1905-1986), one of New Zealand's greatest Rugby Union players, was the first Maori to gain an international reputation in this sport.


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Nepotism is the practice of giving important political or business positions to members of one's family.


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Neptune was the god of the sea in Roman mythology.


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Neptune is one of the two planets that cannot be seen without a telescope.


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Neptunium is an artificially created element with chemical symbol Np.


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Nereids were 50 beautiful sea nymphs who attended the sea divinities Poseidon and Amphitrite.


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Nereus was a kindly old sea god in Greek mythology.


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Neri, Saint Philip (1515-1595), was the founder of the Oratorians, and a reformer of Rome during the Counter Reformation.


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Nerina, Nadia (1927-...), a ballerina, won acclaim in many parts of the world for the brilliance of her dancing.


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Nernst, Walther Hermann (1864-1941), a German physical chemist, won the 1920 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his formulation of the third law of thermodynamics (see THERMODYNAMICS).


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Nero (A.D. 37-68) was a Roman emperor who reigned from A.D. 54 until his death 14 years later.


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Neruda, Pablo (1904-1973), a Chilean poet, won the 1971 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Nerval, Gerard de (1808-1855), was a French poet.


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Nervi, Pier Luigi (1891-1979), was an Italian architect and engineer.


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Nervous breakdown is a term often used to refer to anything from fatigue caused by overwork to a severe mental illness.


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Nervous system is an internal communications network that enables an animal to adjust to changes in its environment.


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Nesbit, Edith (1858-1924), was an English novelist, poet, and writer of stories for children.


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Nest is a place an animal prepares for raising its young.


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Nestor was the hero son of Neleus and Chloris, rulers of Pylos, Messenia, in Greek mythology.


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Nestorian Christians are members of a religious sect that was prominent in the A.D. 400's.


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Netball is a game for single-sex competition, played mainly by women and girls.


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Netherlands is a small country on the North Sea in northwestern Europe.


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Netherlands Antilles, also called the Dutch Antilles or the Dutch West Indies, is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea.


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Nettle is the common name of a group of plants with stinging bristles.


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Netzahualcoyotl (pop. 1,256,115) is Mexico's third-largest city.


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Neumann, Saint John Nepomucene (1811-1860), was the first male United States citizen to be recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.


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Neuralgia is a severe pain that occurs along a nerve.


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Neuritis is an inflammation of a nerve caused by disease or injury.


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Neurofibromatosis, often abbreviated as NF, is an incurable hereditary disorder that affects the nervous system and the skin.


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Neurology is the field of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the nervous system and muscles.


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Neuropathology is the science that studies alterations produced by diseases of the central nervous system, nerves, or muscles.


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Neurosis is a term used in a number of ways in the field of mental health.


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Neutra, Richard Joseph (1892-1970), was an Austrian-born architect who worked in California, U.S.A. His best designs demonstrate his goal of creating buildings that meet biological and psychological needs, as well as artistic and technical considerat


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Neutrality is the official status of a government that does not take part in a war.


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Neutralization is a chemical reaction in which an acid and a base form a salt.


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Neutrino is any of several types of subatomic particles that have no electrical charge or measurable mass.


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Neutron star is the smallest and densest type of star known.


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Neva River is a link in three waterway systems in Russia.


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Nevada (pop. 1,206,152) is a state in the western United States.


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Nevelson, Louise (1900-1988), was an American sculptor.


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Never-never is a term used to describe the outback (the Australian interior).


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Neville, Emily Cheney (1919-...), is an American author.


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Neville, John (1925-...), achieved fame as an English Shakespearean actor.


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Nevin, Ethelbert Woodbridge (1862-1901), an American composer, was known for his songs and piano pieces.


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Nevins, Allan (1890-1971), an American historian and educator, twice was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for biography.


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New Age is a movement encompassing a huge diversity of beliefs, lifestyles, and practices.


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New Britain is the largest of the more than 300 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, which forms part of the nation of Papua New Guinea.


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New Brunswick (pop. 738,133) is one of the four Atlantic Provinces of Canada.


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New Caledonia is an overseas territory of France.


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New Deal was President Franklin D. Roosevelt's programme to pull the United States out of the Great Depression in the 1930's.


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New Delhi (pop. 301,297) is the capital of India.


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New England is a region in northern New South Wales, Australia.


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New England, Dominion of, was a group of English colonies in America united in 1686 by King James II of England.


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New England Confederation was organized in 1643.


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New Forest (pop. 157,000) is a local government district in Hampshire, England, which includes the New Forest itself.


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New Forest is a wooded district in south Hampshire, England.


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New France was the French colonial empire in North America.


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New Guinea is a large tropical island in the Pacific Ocean, north of Australia.


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New Hampshire (pop. 1,113,915) is a state in the northeastern United States.


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New Holland.  In 1642, Abel Tasman, a Dutch navigator, virtually circumnavigated the continent of Australia.


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New Ireland is the second largest island of the Bismarck Archipelago.


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New Jersey (pop. 7,748,634) is an important industrial state in the northeastern United States.


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New Left was a radical political and social movement of the 1960's and early 1970's in the United States.


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New mathematics is a mathematics teaching programme now used in many countries.


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New Mexico, (pop. 1,521,779) is a state in the southwestern United States.


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New Netherland was a region in America claimed by the Dutch in the early 1600's.


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New Norcia is a monastic town on the Moore River about 130 kilometres north of Perth, Australia.


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New Norfolk (pop. 10,009) is a town on the Derwent River about 34 kilometres from Hobart in Tasmania, Australia.


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New Orleans (pop. 496,938) is the largest city in Louisiana and one of the world's busiest ports.


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New Plymouth (pop. 48,519) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand.


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New South Wales is a state in southeastern Australia.


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New South Wales Corps was an infantry regiment recruited in Britain to keep order in New South Wales, Australia, in the 1700's.


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New states movements.  In Australia, the federal Constitution allows for the establishment of new states if the parliaments of the existing states agree.


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New Sweden was the only Swedish colony in America.


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New Testament is the second part of the Christian Bible.


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New Thought is a philosophical and religious movement that originated in the United States during the mid-1800's.


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New town is a town in the United Kingdom that has grown rapidly as a result of a government decision.


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New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year.


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New York, a state on the East Coast of the United States, is that country's leading centre of banking, communication, and finance.


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New York City (pop. 7,322,564) is the largest city in the United States in population (see CITY).


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New Zealand is an island country in the Southwest Pacific Ocean.


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New Zealand was a warship that was presented to the government of the United Kingdom in 1909 by the government of New Zealand as a symbol of loyalty.


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New Zealand, Government of.  New Zealand is a constitutional monarchy.


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New Zealand, History of.  New Zealand was so named by an unknown Dutch mapmaker, after the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman visited the region in 1642.


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New Zealand, Literature of.  The Maori arrived in New Zealand as immigrants from Polynesia more than a thousand years ago.


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Newark (pop. 275,221; met. area pop. 1,824,321), is the largest city in New Jersey, U.S.A. and one of the nation's leading centres of manufacturing and transportation.


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Newark and Sherwood (pop. 103,400) is a local government area in Nottinghamshire, England.


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Newbery, John (1713-1767), was an English publisher and bookseller.


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Newbery Medal is an annual award given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American children's literature published in the preceding year.


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Newberry, Walter Loomis (1804-1868), was an American businessman and philanthropist, who bequeathed (donated after his death) half of his personal wealth for the foundation of the Newberry Library in Chicago.


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Newbolt, Sir Henry (1862-1938), an English poet and author, is best known for his poem "Drake's Drum," included in his collection of ballads, Admirals All (1897).


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Newbury (pop. 136,400) was a rural local government area in Berkshire, England.


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Newcastle (pop. 293,368) lies on the estuary of the Hunter River, 160 kilometres north of Sydney, Australia.


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Newcastle, Duke of (1693-1768), was prime minister of Britain during most of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763).


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Newcastle-under-Lyme (pop. 117,400) is a local government area in Staffordshire, England administered from the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme.


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Newcastle upon Tyne (pop. 263,000) is a city in northeastern England.


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Newcomb, Simon (1835-1909), was an American astronomer.


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Newcombe, John (1944-...), an Australian tennis player, won the Wimbledon singles title in 1967, 1970, and 1971.


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Newcomen, Thomas (1663-1729), an English inventor, built the first commercially successful steam engine in 1712.


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Newfoundland (pop. 568,474) is Canada's newest province.


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Newfoundland dog is one of the largest and strongest breeds of dog.


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Newgate Prison, a London jail, was England's main criminal prison for over 700 years.


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Newham (pop. 200,200) is a borough in Greater London.


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Newman, John Henry Cardinal (1801-1890), became a convert to the Roman Catholic Church in 1845, and was made a cardinal in 1879.


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Newman, Paul (1925-...), an American actor, won fame for his action roles and convincing character studies in films.


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Newmarket is a town in Suffolk, England, famous as the centre of British horse racing and breeding and as the headquarters of the Jockey Club.


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Newport (pop. 129,900) is a local government area in Wales, centred on the town of Newport.


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Newry and Mourne (pop. 82,237) is a local government district in Northern Ireland, situated in the southeast of the province.


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News service is an organization that collects and distributes news.


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Newspaper is a publication devoted chiefly to presenting and commenting on the news.


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Newt is an amphibian, like the frog, toad, and caecilian.


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Newton, a unit in the metric system, is used to measure force.


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Newton, Sir Isaac (1642-1727), an English scientist, astronomer, and mathematician, invented a new kind of mathematics, discovered the secrets of light and colour, and showed how the universe is held together.


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Newton, William Ellis (1919-1943), an Australian airman, was awarded the Victoria Cross after his death in World War II (1939-1945).


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Newton-John, Olivia (1948-...), an Australian singer and film star, won Grammy Awards for her records in 1973, 1974, and 1982.


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Newton's rings are a series of alternating bright and dark concentric circles that can be seen when a slightly convex piece of glass is placed on top of a flat piece of glass.


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Newtownabbey (pop. 73,718) is a local government district in Northern Ireland, administered from the market town of Ballyclare.


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Next of kin is a legal phrase for the closest blood relatives of a person who has died without making a will.


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Ney, Michel (1769-1815), was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's great soldiers.


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Ngata, Sir Apirana Turupa (1874-1950), was a great political and cultural leader of New Zealand's Maori people during the early 1900's.


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Ngo Dinh Diem (1901-1963), was the first president of South Vietnam.


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Nguyen Van Thieu (1923-...), became president of South Vietnam in 1967, during the Vietnam War.


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Niagara Falls is one of the most spectacular natural wonders of North America.


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Niagara River is a short river that connects Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.


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Niamey (pop. 360,000) is the capital and largest city of Niger.


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Nibelungenlied is a German epic poem written about A.D. 1200.


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Nicaragua is the largest country of Central America in area.


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Nice (pop. 345,674; met. area pop. 475,507) is a resort city on the French Riviera and a Mediterranean port.


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Nicene Councils were two councils of the Christian church held in Nicaea (Nice), in what is now northwest Turkey.


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Nicholas I (1796-1855), was czar of Russia from 1825 until his death in 1855.


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Nicholas II (1010?-1061), was crowned pope in 1059.


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Nicholas II (1868-1918), the last czar of Russia, ruled from 1894 to 1917.


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Nicholas V (1397-1455), was elected pope in 1447.


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Nicholas, Saint (A.D. 300's), is one of the most popular saints of the Christian church.


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Nicholls, Sir Douglas (1906-1988), was the first Aborigine to be knighted and Australia's first Aboriginal state governor.


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Nichols, Mike (1931-...), is a famous American director known for his work both in films and on the stage.


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Nicholson, Ben (1894-1982), was an English artist noted for his abstract paintings.


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Nicholson, Sir Charles (1808-1903), a British doctor, helped establish Sydney University.


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Nicholson, Jack (1937-...), is an American film actor and director.


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Nickel is a white metallic chemical element used in alloys.


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Nickel silver is an alloy of copper, nickel, and zinc.


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Nicklaus, Jack (1940-...), an American golfer, ranks among the greatest players in the history of the sport.


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Nicklin, Sir Frank (1895-1978), a member of the Country Party, was premier of Queensland, Australia from 1957 to 1968.


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Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish court in Jerusalem.


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Nicolay, John George (1832-1901), an American newspaperman, served as President Abraham Lincoln's private secretary from 1860 to 1865.


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Nicolet, Jean (1598-1642), was an early French explorer in America.


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Nicosia (pop. 163,700) is the capital and largest city of Cyprus, an island republic in the Mediterranean Sea.


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Nicotine is a chemical compound found in small amounts in the leaves, roots, and seeds of the tobacco plant.


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Nictitating membrane is a thin membrane under the eyelid that can be pulled over the eyeball.


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Nielsen, Carl August (1865-1931), was one of Denmark's greatest composers.


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Niemeyer, Oscar (1907-...), is a Brazilian architect.


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Niepce, Joseph Nicephore (1765-1833), a French scientist, invented the first photographic technique, heliography.


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Nier, Alfred Otto Carl (1911-...), an American physicist, won distinction for his development of a mass spectrograph and his use of it in nuclear research.


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Nietzsche, Friedrich (1844-1900), was a German philosopher, poet, and classical scholar.


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Niflheim was a land of the dead in Norse mythology.


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Niger is a large, landlocked country in West Africa.


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Niger River is the third longest river in Africa.


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Nigeria, a country on Africa's west coast, has more people than any other African country.


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Night heron is one of several species of herons that get their name because they hunt mainly at night.


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Nighthawk is a bird that looks much like the whip-poorwill, to which it is related.


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Nightingale is a small, dull-coloured bird famed for its beautiful, sad song.


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Nightingale, Florence (1820-1910), was the founder of the nursing profession as we know it today.


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Nightjar is the name of about 70 species of birds that fly at night or dusk.


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Nightmare is a frightening dream or dreamlike experience that wakes a sleeper.


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Nightshade is the common name of the family of plants that have the scientific name Solanaceae.


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Nihilism is the name used for a variety of extreme, negative philosophical and political views.


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Nijinsky, Vaslav (1890?-1950), was the most famous male dancer of his time.


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Nikisch, Arthur (1855-1922), was a Hungarian conductor, violinist, and pianist.


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Nikolais, Alwin (1912-1993), was an American choreographer (composer of dances).


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Niland, D'arcy (1917-1967), an Australian author, wrote five novels and more than 500 short stories.


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Nile River is the longest river in the world.


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Nilsson, Birgit (1918-...), is a celebrated Swedish dramatic soprano.


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Nimitz, Chester William (1885-1966), served as commander in chief of the United States Pacific Fleet during World War II (1939-1945).


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Nimrod, in the Old Testament, was a mighty ruler and builder of cities.


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Nin, Anais (1903-1977), was a French-born American writer.


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Ninety Mile Beach is the name of two beaches in Australasia.


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Ninety Mile Desert is a name given to a limestone area of about 4,050 hectares in the southeast of South Australia and parts of Victoria.


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Nineveh was the last capital of the ancient Assyrian Empire.


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Ningbo (pop. 3,350,851), also spelled Ning-po, is an industrial centre and port in the Chinese province of Zhejiang.


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Niobe was a queen in Greek mythology who was famous for eternally mourning her dead children.


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Niobium, also called columbium, has the chemical symbol Nb.


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Nirvana, a Buddhist belief, is perfect peace and blessedness.


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Nisei is the Japanese name for the children of Japanese families that migrate to other countries.


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Nithsdale (pop. 56,616) is a local government district in Dumfries and Galloway Region, Scotland, in the valley of the River Nith.


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Nitrate is any kind of compound that contains the inorganic nitrate ion.


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Nitrite is a compound of the nitrite anion and some other element.


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Nitrogen is a chemical element that occurs in nature mainly as a gas.


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Nitrogen cycle is the circulation of nitrogen among the atmosphere, soil, water, and plants and animals of the earth.


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Nitroglycerin, also called nitroglycerol, is a powerful explosive.


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Nitrous oxide is a colourless, odourless gas that doctors and dentists use to make patients insensitive to pain.


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Niue is a self-governing island country in the South Pacific Ocean.


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Nix was the name of a water sprite in German folklore.


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Nixon, Richard (1913-1994), was president of the United States from 1969 to 1974.


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Nizhniy Novgorod (pop. 1,443,000) is an industrial centre in Russia.


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Nkrumah, Kwame (1909-1972), was president of the West African republic of Ghana from 1960 to 1966.


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Noah, according to the Bible and the Quran, was the only righteous, God-fearing man of his time.


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Nobel, Alfred Bernhard (1833-1896), a Swedish chemist, invented dynamite and founded the Nobel Prizes (see NOBEL PRIZES).


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Nobel Prizes are awarded each year to people, regardless of nationality, who have made valuable contributions to the "good of humanity."  In his will, the wealthy Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel directed that the income from his estate be used to fund


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Nobelium is an artificially created radioactive element.


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Nobility is a class of people who are considered to stand at the top of their society.


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Noble gas refers to any of a group of six chemical elements.


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Nocturnal animals are animals that are most active during the hours of darkness and least active in daylight.


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Noel-Baker, Lord (1889-1982), Baron Noel-Baker of Derby, won the 1959 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in promoting international disarmament.


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Noguchi, Isamu (1904-1988), was an American sculptor whose work represents a wide variety of styles.


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Nok was a West African civilization that flourished from about 500 B.C. until at least A.D. 200.


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Nolan, Sir Sidney (1917-1992), a distinguished Australian painter, was best known for his series of paintings of the bushranger Ned Kelly.


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Nomad is a person who moves from one place to another as a way of making a living.


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Nonaggression pact is a treaty by which two or more nations agree to settle mutual disputes by peaceful means and not to attack each other.


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Non-Aligned Movement is a group of developing nations whose members meet to form policies for dealing with the major industrial nations.


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Noonan, Michael J. (1935-...), was minister for the Republic of Ireland's Department of the Marine from 1989 to 1992.


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Nordenskjold, Nils Adolf Erik (1832-1901), Baron Nordenskjold, was a Swedish polar explorer, mineralogist, and map authority.


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Nordhoff and Hall were a team of American authors.


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Nore is a river in the Republic of Ireland.


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Norfolk in England is the county of the Broads, the long, reedy waterways and lakes visited by thousands of holiday-makers and sailing enthusiasts every year.


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Norfolk, Virginia (pop. 261,229; met. area pop. 1,396,107), is a leading United States port.


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Norfolk Island is an Australian territory in the southern Pacific Ocean, over 1,600 kilometres northeast of Sydney and over 1,000 kilometres northwest of Auckland, New Zealand.


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Norfolk terrier is a breed of dog that originated in the United Kingdom.


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Noriega, Manuel Antonio, (1934-...), was a military leader who controlled Panama from 1983 to 1989.


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Norman, Greg (1955-...), an Australian golfer known as The Great White Shark, won the British Open in 1986 and 1993.


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Norman, Lilith (1927-...), an Australian author of children's books, won praise for the frank realism of her novels.


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Norman architecture is a regional adaptation of Romanesque architecture.


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Norman Conquest is the name given to the conquest of England in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy.


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Normandy is a region in northwestern France.


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Normans were a group of Vikings, or Norsemen (Scandinavians), who first settled in northern France, then advanced into England, southern Italy, and Sicily.


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Norns were the three Fates of Scandinavian mythology.


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Norodom Sihanouk (1922-...), is the king of Cambodia.


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Norris, Frank (1870-1902), was an American novelist and journalist and a leader of the naturalism movement.


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North, Lord (1732-1792), Frederick, Earl of Guilford, was a British prime minister whose shortsighted treatment of the American Colonies helped bring on the American Revolution.


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North America, the third largest continent in area, extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to South America in the south.


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North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance consisting of 16 Western countries.


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North Carolina (pop. 6,657,630) is a state in the southern United States.


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North Cornwall (pop. 73,700), is a local government district in Cornwall, England, administered from Bodmin.


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North Dakota (pop. 641,364) is a state in the Midwestern region the United States.


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North Devon (pop. 85,100), is a rural local government district in Devon, England, extending from the Taw and Torridge estuary to Lynmouth.


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North Dorset (pop. 52,200), is a local government district in Dorset, England, containing the towns of Blandford Forum, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, and Sturminster Newton, and many attractive villages.


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North Down (pop. 66,759), is a residential local government district in Northern Ireland, administered from the resort of Bangor.


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North East Derbyshire (pop. 95,600), is a local government district in Derbyshire, England, administered from the neighbouring borough of Chesterfield.


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North-East Fife was a local government district in Fife Region, administered from Cupar.


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North Hertfordshire (pop. 108,600), is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England.


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North Kesteven (pop. 78,400), is a local government district in Lincolnshire, England, administered from the market town of Sleaford.


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North Norfolk (pop. 90,400), a local government district in Norfolk, England, includes the coastal resorts of Cromer, Sheringham, and Wells-next-the-Sea, and the market towns of North Walsham and Fakenham.


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North Pole is a term used for several invisible surface points located in the Arctic region.


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North Sea is a wide arm of the Atlantic Ocean that lies between the United Kingdom (UK) and the mainland of Europe.


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North Shropshire (pop. 52,400) is a local government district in Shropshire, England.


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North Star is a readily visible star that appears to be located almost directly above the North Pole.


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North Tyneside (pop. 188,800) is a local government district in Tyne and Wear, England, administered from the fishing port of North Shields.


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North Warwickshire (pop. 59,800), is a local government district in Warwickshire, England, administered from the market town of Atherstone.


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North West is one of South Africa's nine provinces.


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North West Company was a Canadian fur-trading company that became the main competition of the powerful Hudson's Bay Company during the late 1700's.


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North West Leicestershire (pop. 79,400) is a local government district in Leicestershire, England, administered from Coalville.


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North West Rebellion was a conflict that arose in 1885 between the metis (people of mixed white and Indian ancestry) and the Canadian government in what is now Saskatchewan.


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North Wiltshire (pop. 109,600), is a local government district in Wiltshire, England, administered from Chippenham.


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Northampton (pop. 178,200) is a town and local government district in Northamptonshire, England.


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Northamptonshire is a small English county of beautiful stone-built villages, historic mansions, stately homes, and churches with fine medieval spires.


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Northavon was a local government district north of Bristol and Kingswood.


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Northcliffe, Viscount (1865-1922), a famous British journalist and publisher, pioneered in the use of comics, special features, religious news, and tabloid newspapers.


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Norther is a cold winter wind that sweeps over the southern United States and the Gulf of Mexico, destroying crops and wrecking ships.


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Northern Cape is South Africa's largest province, covering just under 30 per cent of the total area of the country.


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Northern development in Australia includes all land north of the South Australian border except for the sugar coast of Queensland.


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Northern Ireland is the smallest of the four major political divisions that make up the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, often shortened to Britain or the United Kingdom (UK).


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Northern Mariana Islands, Commonwealth of the, is a chain of 16 islands in the Pacific Ocean.


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Northern Province is a province in the northernmost part of South Africa.


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Northern Territory occupies almost a sixth of the Australian continent.


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Northumberland is the most northerly county of England.


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Northumbria was the most northerly of the early English kingdoms, formed by the union of the kingdoms of Bernicia and Deira.


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Northwest Ordinance, passed by the United States Congress on July 13, 1787, was one of the most important laws ever adopted.


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Northwest Passage.  The explorers who followed Columbus soon found that North America was not a part of Asia, as they had believed at first.


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Northwest Territories is a vast region that covers about a third of Canada.


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Northwest Territory was a vast tract of land lying north of the Ohio River, west of Pennsylvania, and east of the Mississippi River in what is now the United States.


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Norway is a long, narrow country on the northwestern edge of the European continent.


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Norwegian elkhound is a hunting dog that originated in Norway, probably between 5000 and 4000 B.C. Hunters claim the elkhound can scent an elk 5 kilometres away.


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Norwich (pop. 121,000) is a city, a local government district, and the administrative centre of Norfolk, England.


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Norwich terrier is a breed of dog that was developed in England about 1880.


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Nose is the organ used for breathing and smelling.


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Nosebleed is a discharge of blood from the nose.


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Nostradamus (1503-1566), was the Latin name of Michel de Notredame, a French astrologer and doctor.


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Notary public is an officer authorized by law to certify certain documents, and to take oaths.


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Notation is any system of symbols and abbreviations that helps people work with a particular subject.


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Notornis is the scientific name for an extremely rare, flightless, New Zealand bird that is also called the takahe.


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Notre Dame, Cathedral of is a famous cathedral in Paris.


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Nott, John (1932-...), a Conservative Party politician, was United Kingdom secretary of state for defence from 1981 until 1983.


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Nottingham is an industrial city in central England.


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Nottinghamshire is a county in central England.


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Nouakchott (pop. 350,000) is the capital and largest city of the West African republic of Mauritania.


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Noun is a part of speech that identifies people, places, objects, actions, qualities, and ideas.


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Nova is an explosion that causes a star to become from 10,000 to 100,000 times as bright as the sun.


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Nova Scotia (pop. 899,942) is one of the four Atlantic Provinces of Canada.


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Novalis (1772-1801), was the pen name of Friedrich von Hardenberg, a German romantic poet.


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Novaya Zemlya is the Russian name for two islands in the Arctic Ocean that belong to Russia.


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Novel is a long fictional story written in prose.


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Novello, Ivor (1893-1951), became well known as the composer of one of the most popular songs of World War I (1914-1918), Keep the Home Fires Burning.


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November is the eleventh month of the year according to the Gregorian calendar, which is used in almost all the world today.


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Novgorod (pop. 232,000) is an important industrial centre and one of the oldest cities in Russia.


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Novi Sad (pop. 179,626) is a Serbian centre of manufacturing and transportation.


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Novosibirsk (pop. 1,443,000) is an important centre of manufacturing in Russia.


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Noyes, Alfred (1880-1958), was one of the most popular English poets of the early 1900's.


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NSPCC is a British organization that helps children and parents with problems affecting the family.


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Nu, U (1907-1995), was a Burmese politician and statesman.


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Nuclear energy, also called atomic energy, is the most powerful kind of energy known.


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Nuclear physics is the branch of physics that studies the properties, structure, and reactions of atomic nuclei.


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Nuclear reactor is a device that produces a vast amount of energy from a small amount of fuel.


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Nuclear weapon is any weapon that gets its destructive power from the transformation of matter in atoms into energy.


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Nuclear winter refers to the deadly worldwide environmental effects that could result from a major nuclear war.


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Nucleic acid is a complex molecule found in all cells.


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Nuer are a cattle-rearing people of east-central Africa.


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Nuevo Laredo (pop. 218,413), is a city on the eastern part of Mexico's border with the United States.


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Nuffield, Lord (1877-1963), William Richard Morris, pioneered motorcar manufacturing.


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Nulla nulla is an Australian Aboriginal word for club, probably derived from one of the Sydney district dialects.


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Nullarbor Plain is a dry limestone plateau in Western Australia and southwestern South Australia.


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Numa Pompilius, the second of the seven legendary kings of Rome, reigned from 715 to 673 B.C. He reportly, became king a year after Romulus died.


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Numbat is an Australian marsupial, the size of a large rat.


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Number, in grammar, is a feature of language that indicates how many people or objects are referred to.


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Number and numeral.  A number is an idea that is used to refer to amounts of things.


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Number theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of the natural numbers, 1, 2, 3, 4.


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Numbers, Book of, is the fourth book of the Bible.


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Numeration systems are ways of counting and of naming numbers.


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Numerology is the practice of using numbers to analyse character and foretell the future.


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Numidia was an area in northern Africa during ancient times.


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Nummulite is the name for a large number of marine one-celled fossil animals.


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Nun is a woman who belongs to a religious community and dedicates her life to carrying out its goals.


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Nuneaton and Bedworth (pop. 115,300) is a local government district in England that is an industrial area with traditional coal-mining and quarrying industries.


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Nunn, Trevor (1940-...), is a British theatre director.


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Nuremberg (pop. 465,255) is an industrial city in southern Germany.


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Nuremberg Trials were 13 trials held to judge leaders of Germany for their actions during World War II (1939-1945).


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Nureyev, Rudolf (1938-1993), was one of the greatest ballet dancers of the 1900's.


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Nurmi, Paavi Johannes (1897-1973), was a Finnish runner who won nine Olympic gold medals and set 29 world records over 16 separate distances.


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Nursery produces young plants for transplanting in fields, gardens, orchards, and landscaped areas.


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Nursery rhyme is a rhythmical poem intended to amuse young children.


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Nursery school is a school chiefly for children who are 3 or 4 years old.


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Nursing is a profession devoted to the care of sick people and also to the prevention of illness.


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Nursing home is a residential institution that provides medical or nonmedical care, chiefly for people who are 65 years old or older.


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Nusantara is a name for the islands that make up Indonesia.


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Nut is the popular name for many kinds of dry, edible seeds or fruits that grow in a woody shell.


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Nutcracker is a bird of the crow family.


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Nutmeg is a tropical tree that is grown commercially for the spice it provides.


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Nutria, also known as coypu, is a large rodent that lives in or near fresh water.


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Nutrition is the science that deals with food and how the body uses it.


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Nutting, Mary Adelaide (1858-1948), was a Canadian-born leader in the development of professional nursing in the United States.


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Nye, Bill (1850-1896), was a popular American humorist.


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Nye, Gerald Prentice (1892-1971), was an American politician and newspaperman.


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Nyerere, Julius Kambarage (1922-...), was president of Tanzania from 1964 until he retired in 1985.


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Nylon is the general term for a group of synthetic products.


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Nymph was a lovely maiden of mythology who guarded the different realms of nature.


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Nystagmus is an involuntary, rhythmical movement of the eyes.


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Nzinga a Nkuwa (?-1506), was the divine ruler of the Kongo kingdom in west-central Africa.


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Nzo, Alfred (1925-...), became South Africa's minister of foreign affairs in 1994.


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O is the 15th letter in the English alphabet.


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Oadby and Wigston (pop. 51,500) is a local government district and borough in Leicestershire, England, containing the former urban districts of Oadby and Wigston.


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Oak is any of a large variety of trees or shrubs that bear acorns.


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Oak Apple Day, by an Act of Parliament of 1664, was celebrated on May 29, the birthday of King Charles II. It was a day of thanksgiving for the king's restoration to the English throne.


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Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is one of the largest energy research and development centres in the United States.


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Oakland, (pop. 372,242) is one of the busiest shipping centres in California, U.S.A. Oakland lies on the eastern shore of the San Francisco Bay.


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Oakley, Annie (1860-1926), was a famous American sharpshooter (expert with a rifle) who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show for over 16 years.


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Oakum is loose fibre obtained by untwisting and picking at old, tarred hemp ropes.


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Oamaru (pop. 12,652), is the largest town and main port of northern Otago in the South Island of New Zealand.


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Oasis is a fertile area with vegetation in a desert where underground water comes close enough to the surface for wells and springs to exist.


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Oates, Joyce Carol (1938-...), is an American author.


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Oates, Lawrence Edward Grace (1880-1912), was a British army officer and a member of the British expedition to Antarctica led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott.


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Oates, Titus (1649-1705), was an English Protestant extremist who, in 1678, made up the story of a plan by Roman Catholics to assassinate King Charles II and destroy Protestantism.


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Oatmeal is a food product prepared from oats.


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Oaxaca, officially Oaxaca de Juarez (pop. 157,284), is the capital of Oaxaca, a state in southern Mexico.


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Ob River, is one of the chief rivers of Russia in Asia.


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Obadiah, Book of, is a book of the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, named after an Israelite prophet.


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Obelisk is a great, upright, four-sided stone pillar.


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Oberammergau (pop. 4,664) is a Bavarian village 72 kilometres southwest of Munich in southern Germany.


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Oboe is the smallest and highest-pitched of the double-reed woodwinds.


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Obote, Apollo Milton (1926-...), served as president of Uganda from 1966 until 1971 and from 1980 until 1985.


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O'Boyle, Patrick Aloysius Cardinal (1896-1987), an American, was made a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in 1967, by Pope Paul VI. Cardinal O'Boyle served as archbishop of Washington D.C., from 1947 until he resigned in 1973.


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Obregon, Alvaro (1880-1928), a Mexican soldier, statesman, and rancher, succeeded Venustiano Carranza as president of Mexico, in 1920 (see CARRANZA, VENUSTIANO).


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O'Brien, Conor Cruise (1917-...), an Irish diplomat and writer, became a member of Seanad Eireann in 1977 but resigned his seat in June 1979.


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O'Brien, Edna (1932-...), an Irish novelist, established her reputation with her first novel, The Country Girls, published in 1961.


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O'Brien, Flann (1912-1966), was a pen name of the Irish writer Brian O Nuallain.


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O'Brien, William Smith (1803-1864), represented Ireland in the British House of Commons.


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Obscenity and pornography are terms used to designate written, recorded, or pictorial material--including films--that many people consider indecent and thus find offensive.


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Observatory is a building or an institution where astronomers study the sun, planets, stars, and other objects in the universe.


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Obsidian is a natural glass formed when hot lava flows onto the surface of the earth and cools quickly.


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Obstetrics and gynaecology are related fields of female medical care.


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Ocarina is a small toy wind instrument of the whistle type.


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O'Casey, Sean (1880-1964), was perhaps the greatest Irish playwright of his time.


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Occultism is a term that refers to a wide range of beliefs and practices involving magic or forces outside the natural world.


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Occupancy is a legal method by which a person or nation acquires title to something that no one else owns.


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Occupational therapy is the use of practical activities to treat physical or mental disabilities.


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Ocean is the great body of water that covers more than 70 per cent of the earth's surface.


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Oceanus, in Greek mythology, was the river that was believed to encircle the world.


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Ocelot is a medium-sized animal of the cat family.


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Ocho Rios is a resort of natural beauty in Jamaica.


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Ochre is a kind of earth which is ground to a fine powder and used as a pigment with linseed oil or some other oil to form artist's paint.


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O'Connell, Daniel (1775-1847), an Irish statesman, helped lead the struggle of Roman Catholics to gain political rights in Britain.


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O'Connor, C. Y. (1843-1902), was the engineer responsible for the scheme to supply fresh water to the goldfields of Western Australia by pipeline from a catchment area and storage dam 557 kilometres away.


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O'Connor, Feargus (1794-1855), became a leader of the Chartist movement, a national campaign for social and political reform in the United Kingdom in the 1830's.


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O'Connor, Flannery (1925-1964), was an American author whose novels and stories are filled with terror and violence.


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O'Connor, Frank (1903-1966), was the pen name of Michael O'Donovan, an Irish author who gained fame for his short stories about life in Ireland.


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O'Connor, Thomas Power (1848-1929), was an Irish journalist and politician who was a vigorous champion of Irish nationalism.


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Ocotillo is a shrub that grows in the deserts of Mexico and southwestern United States.


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Octagon is a plane figure with eight sides.


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Octahedron is any solid figure that has eight faces.


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Octane is any of 18 chemical compounds that consist of 8 carbon atoms and 18 hydrogen atoms.


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Octane number is a number that tells how well a motor fuel resists "knocking."  "Knocking" occurs when the last of the fuel in an engine cylinder burns too soon or too fast.


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Octavia (69?-11 B.C.), was the older half-sister of the Roman ruler Octavian, who became the emperor Augustus in 27 B.C. Octavia married Octavian's co-ruler Mark Antony in 40 B.C. The marriage sealed a peace pact that ended a civil war between Octavi


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Octillion.  In the United Kingdom, an octillion is 1 followed by 48 zeros.


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October is the 10th month of the year according to the Gregorian calendar, which is used in almost all the world today.


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Octopus is a sea animal with a rounded body, large eyes, and eight long arms.


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O Dalaigh, Cearbhall (1911-1978), was president of the Republic of Ireland from 1974 to 1976.


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Ode is a poem of moderate length that usually expresses exalted praise.


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Oder River is an important waterway in central Europe.


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Odessa (pop. 1,106,000) is a seaport city in Ukraine.


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Odets, Clifford (1906-1963), an American dramatist, is best known for his plays of social conflict written during the 1930's.


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Odin was the chief god in Norse mythology.


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Odoacer (A.D. 434?-493), was the Germanic leader who overthrew the last emperor of Rome in the West, ending the West Roman Empire.


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O'Donnell, Hugh Roe (1571?-1602), took a leading part in the Irish resistance to English rule in the late 1500's.


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O'Dowd, Bernard (1866-1953), an Australian poet, was widely acclaimed in his time.


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Odyssey, an epic poem, is perhaps the most influential and most popular work in ancient Greek literature.


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Oedema is the swelling of body tissues caused by build-up of fluid in the spaces between cells.


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Oedipus was a king of Thebes in Greek mythology.


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Oedipus complex, a concept used in psychoanalysis, is a child's unconscious desire for the exclusive love of the parent of the opposite sex.


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Oersted is a unit used mainly to express the intensity of strength of a magnetic field caused by an electric current in a wire.


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Oersted, Hans Christian (1777-1851), a Danish physicist and chemist, laid the foundation for the science of electromagnetism (see ELECTROMAGNETISM).


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Oesophagus, also called gullet, is the muscular canal that carries food from the lower part of the pharynx to the stomach.


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Oestrogen is any of a group of chemically similar hormones that cause the growth and development of female sexual characteristics in human beings and other animals.


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Oestrous cycle is the process that prepares the females of most species of mammals for mating and bearing young.


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O'Faolain, Sean (1900-1991), became known as a leading Irish author.


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Offaly is a county in the province of Leinster in the Republic of Ireland.


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Offa's Dyke is an ancient earthwork between England and Wales.


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Offenbach, Jacques (1819-1880), a French composer, created the French style of operetta.


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Offset is a printing process in which the printing is done first on the rubber surface of a rotating cylinder.


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O Fiaich, Tomas Cardinal (1923-1990), became Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland in 1977.


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O'Flaherty, Liam (1896-1984), was an Irish writer of novels and short stories.


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Ogdon, John (1937-1989), an English concert pianist, won international fame while in his early twenties.


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Oglethorpe, James Edward (1696-1785), an Englishman, was the founder of the American colony of Georgia.


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Ogwr (pop. 130,500) was a local government district in Mid Glamorgan, Wales, administered from the fast-developing industrial town of Bridgend.


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O'Hara, John (1905-1970), was an American novelist and short-story writer.


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O'Hara, John Francis Cardinal (1888-1960), archbishop of Philadelphia, U.S.A., became a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church in 1958.


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Oh, Sadaharu (1940-...), became a famous Japanese baseball player.


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Ohia is a mountain apple tree that grows in Hawaii.


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O'Higgins, Bernardo (1778-1842), was the chief liberator of Chile and its first leader after independence.


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Ohio, a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, is one of the country's leading industrial states.


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Ohio River is the second most heavily used commercial river in the United States.


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Ohm is the unit used to measure resistance to the passage of an electric current.


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Ohm, Georg Simon (1787-1854), a German physicist, in 1827 discovered the mathematical law of electric currents called Ohm's law (see OHM'S LAW).


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Ohm's law is a mathematical formula that expresses the relationship between the electromotive force, electric current, and resistance in a circuit.


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Oil.  Any greasy substance that does not dissolve in water but can be dissolved in ether is classified as an oil.


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Oil shale is a soft, fine-grained sedimentary rock from which oil and natural gas are obtained.


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Oilbird is a cave-dwelling bird found in northern South America.


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Oilcloth is a heavy, waterproof cloth used to cover tables and walls that must often be washed.


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Oireachtas is the national Parliament of the Republic of Ireland.


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Oistrakh, David (1908-1974), was a leading Ukrainian violinist.


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Ojos del Salado is the second highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere.


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Okapi is a rare animal that lives in dense forests around the Congo River basin in Africa.


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Okavango, also called Cubango, is a river system in southern Africa.


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O'Keeffe, Georgia (1887-1986), was an American painter who found most of her inspiration in nature.


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O'Keefe, Johnny (1935-1978) was the first Australian rock'n'roll star to be given equal billing with international performers.


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O'Kelly, Sean Thomas (1882-1966), an Irish patriot and statesman, was president of the Republic of Ireland from 1945 to 1959.


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O'Kennedy, Michael (1936-...), an Irish Fianna Fail politician, was the Republic of Ireland's minister for labour from 1991 to 1992.


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Okhotsk, Sea of, is a large arm of the north Pacific Ocean on the eastern boundary of Russia.


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Okinawa is the largest and most important island of the Ryukyu Islands, a chain of islands in the North Pacific Ocean.


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Oklahoma is a major fuel and food producing state in the southwestern part of the United States.


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Oklahoma City (pop. 444,719; met. area pop. 958,839) is the capital and largest city of Oklahoma.


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Okra, also known as "lady's fingers", is a plant cultivated for its immature pods, which are used in stews, to thicken and flavour soup, and as a vegetable.


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Okri, Ben (1959-...), is a Nigerian novelist.


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Olav V (1903-1991), became king of Norway in 1957 when his father, King Haakon VII, died.


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Old age cannot be defined exactly because it does not have the same meaning in all societies.


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Old Bailey is the common name for the Central Criminal Court in London.


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Old Catholic churches are a group of Christian churches that split away from the Roman Catholic Church.


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Old English sheepdog is best known for its long hair, "bobbed" tail, and odd, shuffling walk.


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Old Mill is a tourist attraction in Perth, Australia.


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Old Sarum is a large, cone-shaped hill about 90 metres high and surrounded with earthworks.


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Old Sydney Town is a re-creation of the early buildings of Sydney as they looked in 1810.


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Old Testament is the Christian name for the Jewish Bible.


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Old Vic is a theatre near Waterloo Station in London.


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Old World is a general term applied to the Eastern Hemisphere.


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Oldenburg, Claes (1929-...), is an American sculptor who became a leader of the pop art movement during the early 1960's.


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Oldham (pop. 211,400) is a town in Greater Manchester, England.


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Olds, Ransom Eli (1864-1950), was an American pioneer inventor and manufacturer of motorcars.


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Oleander is an ornamental flowering shrub which is valued as a house plant.


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O'Leary, Michael (1936-...), an Irish politician, led the Labour Party of Ireland from June 1981 to October 1982.


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Olgas are a group of large, rounded rock outcrops, located 32 kilometres west of Ayers Rock in the Northern Territory of Australia.


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Oligarchy is any type of government in which power is held by relatively few people.


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Oliphant, Sir Mark (1901-...) , Australian physicist, was governor of South Australia from 1971 to 1976.


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Olive is the fruit of a tree that grows in subtropical regions.


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Olive oil is a fragrant, edible oil made from olives.


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Olivier, Laurence (1907-1989), became one of the leading English actors of the 1900's.


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Olivine is any of a group of common rock-forming minerals that consist of silicon, oxygen, magnesium, and iron.


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Olmsted, Frederick Law (1822-1903), was an American landscape architect, city planner, and writer on social issues.


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Olney, Richard (1835-1917), an American politician, held two Cabinet posts under president Grover Cleveland.


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Olsen, John, (1928-...), one of Australia's leading painters, became known for one major work.


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Olson, Charles (1910-1970), was one of the most influential American poets of his time.


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Olympia is a valley about 18 kilometres from Pirgos, Greece.


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Olympiad.  In the Greek system of telling time, an Olympiad was the period of four years that elapsed between two successive celebrations of the Olympian, or Olympic, Games.


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Olympias (375?-316 B.C.), was the wife of Philip II of Macedonia, and the mother of Alexander the Great.


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Olympic Games are the most important international athletic competition in the world.


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Olympic Mountains are part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, in the United States of America.


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Olympus is the highest mountain in Greece.


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Omagh (pop. 45,568) is a local government district in Northern Ireland, centred on the town of Omagh, about 100 kilometres west of Belfast.


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Omaha (pop. 335,795; met. area pop. 535,634) is the largest city in Nebraska.


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O'Malley, Desmond (1939-...), was the founder and first leader of the Progressive Democrats, a political party in the Republic of Ireland.


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O'Malley, Grace, was an Irish queen of the 1500's.


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O'Malley, King (1854-1953), a member of the Australian Labor Party, served in the House of Representatives from 1906 to 1917.


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Oman is a small country in the southeast corner of the Arabian Peninsula.


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Oman, Sir Charles (1860-1946), was a British historian noted for his military histories.


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Omar ibn al-Khattab (586?-644), was the second caliph (successor to Muhammad as leader of the Muslim community) after the death of the Prophet Muhammad in 632.


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Omar Khayyam (1048-1131), was a Persian poet, astronomer, and mathematician.


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Ombudsman refers in the United Kingdom to a public official more correctly called the parliamentary commissioner for administration.


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Omdurman (pop. 526,827) is the largest city in Sudan.


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Omen is supposedly a sign of future good or bad luck.


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Omm Kalthum (1910-1975), an Egyptian singer, became known as "the mother of Middle Eastern music."


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Omnivore is an animal that eats both animals and plants.


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Omsk (pop. 1,159,000) is an important manufacturing centre of Russia.


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On-line service is a business that provides access to the Internet (the global computer network), and offers a wide range of original content not available on the Internet.


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Onager is a fast-running relative of the donkey.


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Onassis, Aristotle Socrates (1906-1975), a Greek shipowner and business executive, became one of the world's wealthiest individuals.


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Oncology is the study of the development, treatment, and prevention of cancer.


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O'Neale, Peggy (1796-1879), was a central figure in one of the greatest society disputes in the history of Washington, D.C.


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O'Neill, Lord (1914-1990), Baron O'Neill of the Maine, was prime minister of Northern Ireland from 1963 to 1969.


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O'Neill, Eugene Gladstone (1888-1953), is considered America's greatest playwright.


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O'Neill, Owen Roe (1590?-1649), was an Irish patriot and soldier.


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Onion is a vegetable that has a strong odour and flavour.


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Onn bin Ja'afar, Dato (1895-1962), was the most outstanding political and administrative figure in Malaya before the country gained its independence from British rule in 1957.


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Onslow, Arthur (1691-1768), was speaker of the British House of Commons from 1728 to 1761 (see PARLIAMENT).


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Ontario (pop 10,084,885) is a Canadian province.


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Onyx is a term used loosely to apply to a banded carbonate rock and also to agate, a fine-grained variety of quartz (see AGATE).


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Oodnadatta (pop. 163) is a town in South Australia.


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Ooze is a name for the mud found on the bottom of the ocean in deep waters.


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Opal is a gemstone that contains a rainbow of colours.


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Oparin, Alexander Ivanovich (1894-1980), was a Soviet biochemist.


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Open shop is a business that employs both union and nonunion workers.


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Open University is the name of several national organizations that offer degree, diploma, vocational, professional, and other adult education courses to adults who study at home or at work.


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Opera is a drama in which the characters sing, rather than speak, all or most of their lines.


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Operating system is a program that controls all the functions of a computer.


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Operetta is a type of musical theatre that was popular from the mid-1800's to the 1920's.


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Ophir, a former gold-mining township, is of historical interest as the site of one of Australia's first gold rushes.


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Ophthalmia is a name for severe diseases affecting the eye membranes.


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Ophthalmology is the field of medicine involving the diagnosis and treatment of eye diseases.


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Ophthalmoscope is an optical instrument for examining the interior of the eye.


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Opiate is any drug made from or containing opium.


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Opie, John (1761-1807), was an English painter of portraits and historical scenes.


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Opium is a drug that serves as the source of several medicines, including codeine and morphine.


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Opo was a friendly, playful dolphin that lived in the sea near Opononi, a township on the northwest coast of New Zealand, from December 1955 until its death in March 1956.


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Opossum is any member of a family of furry mammals that live in the Western Hemisphere.


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Oppenheimer is the family name of two business leaders who played an important part in the development of mining in South Africa in the 1900's.


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Oppenheimer, J. Robert (1904-1967), an American physicist, became known as the father of the atomic bomb.


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Opperman, Sir Hubert (1904-...), was Australia's champion road cyclist from 1924 to 1929.


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Opposition is a term that describes the relative position of two celestial bodies when the earth comes closest to being directly between them.


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Optical character recognition (OCR), is a function by which special software converts printed text into a format that can be edited with a word-processing programme.


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Optical disc is a flat, round platter on which sounds, pictures, or text are recorded.


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Optical illusion.  As we look down a long, straight road, we see that it seems to grow narrower in the distance.


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Optics is the branch of physics and engineering that is concerned with the properties of light.


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Optometry is a profession devoted to the care of vision.


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Oracle, in the ancient Greek world, was a shrine where people consulted special priests or priestesses.


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Oran (pop. 663,504) is a Mediterranean Sea port in Algeria.


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Orange is a popular citrus fruit enjoyed by people throughout the world.


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Orange (pop. 32,846) is a city in New South Wales, Australia.


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Orange River is the longest river in South Africa.


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Orangemen are members of the Orange Society, an organisation based in Northern Ireland which supports Protestant Christianity and civil and religious freedom.


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Orangutan is a large, rare ape that lives in the rain forests of Sumatra and Borneo.


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Oratorio is a dramatic musical composition for singers.


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Orbit is the path of a natural or artificial object that moves under the influence of a central force.


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Orchestra is a group of musicians who play together on various instruments.


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Orchestra bells imitate the effect of real bells of cast bronze.


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Orchid is any of an extremely large family of plants, many of which bear beautiful flowers.


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Orczy, Baroness (1865-1947), was a Hungarian-born author known chiefly for her adventure-filled novels and detective stories.


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Ord River, in Western Australia, rises near Halls Creek and flows northward for 480 kilometres into Cambridge Gulf, near Wyndham.


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Order is a unit of scientific classification.


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Order in Council.  Decrees issued by the British Crown when matters of great importance confront the nation are called Orders in Council.


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Ordnance is a military term used for weapons and ammunition.


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Ordnance Survey (OS) is the official mapping organization of Great Britain.


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Ore is a coin used in Denmark and Norway.


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Ore is a mineral or a rock that contains enough of a metal to make it worth mining.


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Oregon, a Pacific Coast state of the United States, is known for its vast forests of evergreen trees.


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Oregon grape is the state flower of Oregon, U.S.A. This wild plant, also called the Oregon hollygrape, grows from western Oregon through Washington into British Columbia, Canada.


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Oregon Territory was created after the settlement in 1846 of a boundary dispute in what is now the United States between America and Great Britain.


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Oregon Trail was the longest of the great overland routes used in the westward expansion of the United States.


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O'Reilly, Bernard (1903-1975), an Australian writer and a well-known bushman, became famous for his books Green Mountains (1940) and Cullenbenbong (1944).


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O'Reilly, Bill (1905-1992), known as Tiger Bill, was one of the finest bowlers in Australian cricket history.


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O'Reilly, Tony (1936-...), became president and chief executive officer of the United States food manufacturer H. J. Heinz Company in 1979.


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Orellana, Francisco de (1511?-1546), a Spanish explorer, headed the first expedition by Europeans to navigate the entire length of the Amazon River in South America.


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Orestes, in Greek mythology, was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, the rulers of Mycenae, or Argos.


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Orff, Carl (1895-1982), was a German composer and music educator.


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Organic chemistry is the study of compounds that contain carbon atoms.


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Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an association of 29 nations in Western Europe, North America, and the Pacific area.


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Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is an international association of countries that work to increase their security.


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Organization of African Unity (OAU) is an association of African nations.


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Organization of American States (OAS) is an association of 35 American countries.


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Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is an international organization of Muslim countries based in Jidda, Saudi Arabia.


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Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an association of 12 nations that depend heavily on oil exports for their incomes.


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O'Riada, Sean (1931-1971), was an Irish musician and composer.


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Orient is another name for the Asian countries and islands, or the East.


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Orienteering is a sport in which competitors travel on foot from point to point, using maps and compasses.


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Origami is the art of folding paper into decorative objects.


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Orinoco River is a South American river.


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Oriole is the name of two different groups of woodland birds that have bright plumage, mainly yellow and black or red and black.


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Orion, the Hunter, is a brilliant constellation that includes two of the brightest stars in the sky.


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Orion was a handsome and energetic hunter in Greek mythology.


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Orissa is a state on the northeastern coast of India.


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Orizaba, Pico de, is the highest mountain in Mexico and the third highest in North America.


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Orkney is a group of 67 islands and many islets lying off the northern coast of Scotland.


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Orlando, Florida (pop. 164,693), is a popular winter resort and tourist centre in the United States.


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Orlando, Vittorio Emanuele (1860-1952), served as prime minister of Italy from 1917 to 1919.


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Orleans was the name of two branches of the royal French family, the houses of Valois-Orleans and Bourbon-Orleans (see BOURBON; VALOIS).


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Orleans (pop. 107,965; met. area pop. 243,153) is an important commercial centre in north-central France.


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Ormandy, Eugene (1899-1985), became one of the world's best-known conductors during his long career in the United States as director of the Philadelphia Orchestra.


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Ornithology is the scientific study of birds.


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Ornithopter is a machine designed to fly by flapping its wings like a bird.


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Orozco, Jose Clemente (1883-1949), was a Mexican painter.


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Orpen, Sir William (1878-1931), was an Irish painter.


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Orpheus was a musician in Greek and Roman mythology.


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Orr, Bobby (1948-...), became famous as one of the greatest defencemen in the history of the U.S's.


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Orrisroot is the dried, sweet-smelling rhizome (underground stem) of certain irises.


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Ortega, Daniel (1945-...), was head of Nicaragua's government from 1979 until 1990.


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Ortega y Gasset, Jose (1883-1955), was a Spanish philosopher and essayist.


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Orthodontics is the branch of dentistry that prevents and corrects irregular positions of the teeth.


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Orthopaedics is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the bones and muscles and their associated tissues.


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Orwell, George, was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair (1903-1950), an English novelist and social critic.


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Oryx is the name of three species of antelope that live in desert regions.


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Osage orange is a small- to medium-sized tree planted across the United States for hedges, ornamental purposes, and shade.


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Osaka (pop. 2,636,260) is the third largest city in Japan.


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Osborne, John (1929-1994), an English dramatist, became famous with his first important play, Look Back in Anger (1956).


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Oscan was a language used by one of the earliest known peoples of Italy.


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Oscilloscope is an electronic instrument that displays changing electrical signals.


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O'Shane, Pat (1941-...), an Australian lawyer, became Australia's first Aboriginal judge in 1996.


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Osier is the name of certain shrubs and small trees in the willow family.


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Osiris was an Egyptian fertility god who became the chief god of the underworld.


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Osler, Sir William (1849-1919), was a Canadian doctor and one of the greatest medical educators.


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Oslo (pop. 449,220) is the capital and largest city of Norway.


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Osmena, Sergio (1878-1961), a Filipino statesman, was president of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946.


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Osmium is a hard metallic element, symbol Os.


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Osmosis is the movement of liquid from one solution into another through a membrane that separates them.


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Osprey, also called fish hawk, is a fish-eating bird.


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Ostend (pop. 69,129) is a Belgian city on the North Sea, about 125 kilometres northwest of Brussels.


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Osteology is the science concerned with the structure and function of bones.


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Osteomyelitis is an inflammation of bone and bone marrow, the jellylike material in the core of bones.


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Osteopathic medicine is a system of medical care based on the belief that all body systems are interrelated.


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Osteosclerosis means hardening, thickening, and increased density of bone.


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Ostrava (pop. 331,448) is one of the largest cities in the Czech Republic.


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Ostwald, Wilhelm (1853-1932), a German chemist, writer, and teacher, won the 1909 Nobel Prize for chemistry.


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Oswald, Lee Harvey (1939-1963), was accused of assassinating John F. Kennedy, president of the United States, on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.


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Oswestry (pop. 33,600) is a local government district in the northwest part of Shropshire, England.


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Otis, Elisha Graves (1811-1861), was an American inventor who built the first lift with an automatic safety device.


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O'Toole, Patrick (1938-...), a Fine Gael politician, was the Republic of Ireland's minister for defence and for the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking regions) from 1986 until 1987.


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O'Toole, Peter (1932-...), a stage and screen actor, achieved one of his greatest successes as Hamlet in the National Theatre's opening production in 1963.


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O'Toole, Saint Laurence (1130?-1180), was archbishop of Dublin, Ireland.


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Otoscope is an instrument that doctors use to examine the eardrum.


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Ottawa, Ontario, is the capital of Canada.


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Otter hound is a breed of dog that was developed in Great Britain for the sport of hunting otters.


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Otto was the name of three German kings and emperors, father, son, and grandson.


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Otto I (1815-1867), a Bavarian prince, became the first king of Greece after it was liberated from Turkey in 1830 (see GREECE [History]).


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Ottoman Empire was the most powerful empire in the world during the 1500's and 1600's.


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Otway, Thomas (1652-1685), was an English Restoration dramatist.


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Ouagadougou (pop. 442,223) is the capital and largest city of the West African republic of Burkina Faso.


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Oudtshoorn (pop. 33,480) is a tourist resort in the Western Cape province of South Africa.


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Ouija board is a device used to supposedly ask questions of the spirits of the dead and receive answers from them.


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Ounce is a measure of weight and of volume.


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Ouse is the name of four major rivers in England.


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Oursler, Fulton (1893-1952), was an American writer and editor.


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Outboard motor is a petrol or electric motor attached to the stern of a boat.


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Outcault, Richard Felton (1863-1928), was an American cartoonist.


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Outline is a short summary of the main topics or principal ideas of a written work or a speech.


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Outrigger is either of two kinds of boats or two kinds of boat devices.


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Outward Bound Trust runs a group of schools in Britain designed to strengthen the character of young people through adventure.


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Ovary is either of a pair of female sex organs that store and release eggs.


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Ovens River is located in northeastern Victoria, Australia.


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Ovenbird refers to two types of American birds that build domed nests.


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Overland telegraph runs across Australia for 3,568 kilometres from Adelaide to Darwin, where it joins telegraphic links with Asia and Europe.


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Overlanders is an Australian term for men who drive sheep or cattle long distances through undeveloped country.


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Overture is an instrumental composition that introduces a longer musical work, especially an opera.


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Ovett, Steve (1955-...), one of Britain's greatest track athletes, won fame for his record-breaking successes and his rivalry with another British athlete, Sebastian Coe.


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Ovid (43 B.C.-A.D. 17?) was a great Roman poet.


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Oviparous animal is an animal that reproduces by means of fertilized eggs that develop outside of the mother's body.


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Owen is the family name of two social theorists, father and son.


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Owen, David (1938-...), is a British politician who led the Social Democratic Party (SDP) from 1983 to 1987.


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Owen, Goronwy (1728-1769?), was a Welsh poet and clergyman.


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Owen, Wilfred (1893-1918), was a British World War I poet.


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Owen Gun was an Australian-designed and manufactured submachine gun.


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Owens, Jesse (1913-1980), was an American athletics star.


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Owl is a type of bird that usually lives alone and hunts for food at night.


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Ox.  Oxen include domestic cattle, water buffalo, bison, musk oxen, brahman, yak, banteng, and other members of the bovine family.


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Oxalic acid is a strong organic acid found in many vegetables and other plants.


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Oxalis is the name of a large group of plants that grow chiefly in South Africa and South America.


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Oxbow lake is a crescent-shaped lake that forms when a river channel is cut off from the main stream.


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Oxenstierna, Axel Gustafsson (1583-1654), a Swedish statesman, was friend and adviser to King Gustavus Adolphus.


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Oxford (pop. 109,000) is a local government district in Oxfordshire, England.


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Oxford Movement is the name given to a revival in the Church of England, the official state church in England, which began in 1833 at Oxford.


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Oxford University is the oldest university in Great Britain and one of the world's most famous institutions of higher learning.


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Oxfordshire is an agricultural county with unspoilt scenery, beautiful villages, and historic houses that attract many tourists.


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Oxidation is a chemical reaction in which a substance loses electrons.


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Oxide is a chemical compound of oxygen with some other element.


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Oxley, John (1785?-1828), was a surveyor general of New South Wales, Australia.


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Oxygen is a life-supporting gas and a chemical element.


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Oyster is a type of shellfish found in oceans and coastal inlets in regions with mild to tropical climates.


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Oystercatcher is the name of several species of wading birds that live on seacoasts in most parts of the world.


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Oz, Amos (1939-...), is an Israeli novelist from the first generation of Israeli-born Jewish writers.


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Ozalid process is a method of producing copies of documents.


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Ozawa, Seiji (1935-...), is one of the outstanding orchestra conductors of his time.


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Ozone is a form of oxygen that is present in the earth's atmosphere in small amounts.


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P is the 16th letter of the English alphabet.


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Paarl (pop. 73,415), a town in the Western Cape Province, is the third oldest colonial settlement in South Africa.


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Paca is a large rodent found in the tropics of North and South America.


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Pachmann, Vladimir de (1848-1933), was a Russian pianist.


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Pachomius, Saint (290?-346), a Christian monk from Egypt, founded the first Christian religious communities called monasteries.


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Pachyderm is one of the pachydermata, a zoological classification that has been abandoned.


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Pacific Islands, also called Oceania, is the name given to a group of many thousands of islands scattered across the Pacific Ocean.


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Pacific Ocean is the largest body of water in the world.


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Pacific Rim is a term widely used to describe countries that border the Pacific Ocean.


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Pacifism is a belief that rejects the use of violence.


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Pacino, Al (1940-...), is an Italian-American film actor.


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Packaging is the preparation of goods for distribution and sale in bottles, boxes, tin cans, and other containers.


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Packer is the name of two Australian publishers.


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Paddle steamer is a steamship driven by paddle wheels.


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Paddlefish is the name of two species of primitive freshwater fish, with sharklike fins and an elongated snout.


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Paderewski, Ignace Jan (1860-1941), was a Polish pianist, composer, and statesman.


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Padua (pop. 231,337) stands on the Bacchiglione River, 35 kilometres southwest of Venice.


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Paediatrics is the branch of medicine concerned with the care of children.


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Pagan is a volcanic island in the Pacific Ocean.


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Paganini, Niccolo (1782-1840), an Italian musician and composer, became one of the greatest violinists of all time.


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Page, Sir Earle (1880-1961), an Australian politician, was leader of the Country Party from 1920 to 1939.


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Page, Walter Hines (1855-1918), was an American editor and diplomat.


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Page, William Tyler (1868-1942), produced The American's Creed as his winning submission in a nationwide contest for writing a national creed.


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Pagoda is a type of tower commonly associated with Buddhist temples.


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Pahang is an eastern state of Peninsular Malaysia which developed an offshore oil and gas industry in the 1980's.


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Paignton is a popular seaside resort and a fishing port in Devon, England.


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Paine, Thomas (1737-1809), was a famous English-born American pamphleteer, agitator, and writer on politics and religion.


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Paint is a substance that provides colour and protection for surfaces.


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Painted Desert is a brilliantly coloured plateau region that extends for about 320 kilometres along the Little Colorado River in north-central Arizona, U.S.A.


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Painted lady is the name of two species of butterflies, so named because of their attractive wing patterns.


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Painter refers to the artist who paints pictures, and also to the skilled worker in the building trades.


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Painter's colic, which is sometimes called lead colic, is a severe pain in the abdomen due to lead poisoning.


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Painting is one of the oldest and most important arts.


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Paisley is a city in western Scotland located about 11 kilometres west of Glasgow.


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Paisley, Ian (1926-...), is a Northern Ireland Presbyterian minister known for his hardline support of Northern Ireland's status as a province of the United Kingdom (see UNIONIST PARTIES).


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Pakistan is a Muslim nation in southern Asia.


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Palaeography is the study of ancient and medieval handwriting.


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Palaeontology is the scientific study of animals, plants, and other organisms that lived in prehistoric times--that is, more than 5,500 years ago.


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Palanquin, a device like a litter, was used for many years by Chinese and Japanese, much as Westerners use taxis.


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Palatinate was the name of two small countries of the old German Empire.


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Palau Islands (pop. 18,000) is a small island nation in the western Pacific Ocean.


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Palermo (pop. 699,691) is the capital and chief seaport of Sicily, an Italian island.


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Palestine, a small, historic land at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, is one of the world's most historic places.


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Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) is the political body that represents the Arab people of Palestine.


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Palestrina, Giovanni (1525?-1594), was one of the greatest composers of the Italian Renaissance.


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Paley, William (1743-1805), was an English theologian and philosopher.


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Palindrome is a word, sentence, or verse that is spelled the same from right to left as from left to right.


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Palladio, Andrea (1508-1580), was an architect of the Italian Renaissance.


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Palladium is a chemical element with symbol Pd.


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Palm is a group of trees, vines, and shrubs that typically grow in warm and wet climates, especially in the tropics.


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Palm Island is a cluster of islands 64 kilometres north of Townsville, and 32 kilometres east of Ingham, in North Queensland, Australia.


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Palm oil, made from the fruit of the oil palm tree, is one of the most widely used vegetable oils in the world.


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Palm Springs (pop. 40,181) is a resort city in southern California, U.S.A., that is surrounded by desert and mountains.


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Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter and marks the beginning of Holy Week in the Christian calendar.


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Palmer is a river in northern Queensland, Australia.


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Palmer, Arnold (1929-...), an American golfer, became one of the greatest and most popular players in the history of the sport.


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Palmer, Geoffrey (1942-...), a Labour politician, served as prime minister of New Zealand from August 1989 to September 1990.


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Palmer, Samuel (1805-1881), an English landscape painter and etcher, is best known for his mystical and imaginative pastoral scenes in watercolour.


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Palmer, Vance (1885-1959), an Australian author, excelled in character sketches and studies of ordinary people in his short stories and novels.


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Palmerston, Viscount (1784-1865), an English statesman, served with distinction as a British foreign secretary and prime minister.


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Palmerston North (pop. 67,405) is a city in the North Island of New Zealand.


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Palmetto is the name given to 14 species (kinds) of fan-leaved palm trees.


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Palmistry is the practice of foretelling the future by examining the lines and marks on the palm of the human hand.


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Palmyra was an ancient Syrian city, about midway between the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the Euphrates River.


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Palmyra palm is a tree that grows throughout India and nearby islands and in other hot countries.


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Palomar Observatory is an astronomical observatory in southwestern California, U.S.A. It is best known for its Hale telescope, which is one of the world's largest optical telescopes.


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Paloverde is a thorny little tree that grows in the dry regions of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.


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Palsy means the same as paralysis, the loss of movement or sensation (see PARALYSIS).


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Pamirs is a huge region, where the Himalaya, Hindu Kush, Kunlun, and Tian Shan mountains meet.


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Pampa is a Spanish word that means plain.


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Pampas grass is the name of some 20 species of grasses that form large clumps with tall silvery, flowering plumes.


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Pamphlet is a short published work of topical interest.


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Pan was the god of woods and pastures in Greek mythology.


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Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) is a political party that represents the interests of black South Africans.


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Pan-American conferences bring together representatives from countries of North, Central, and South America.


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Pan American Games are a series of athletic contests, patterned after the Olympic Games and sponsored by the Pan American Sports Organization, made up of 38 Western Hemisphere nations.


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Pan American Highway is a system of major roads that extends from the United States-Mexican border to southern Chile.


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Pan American Union was the former name of the permanent body of the Organization of American States (OAS).


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Panama is a small country in Central America that has worldwide importance as a transportation centre.


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Panama Canal is a waterway that cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and links the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean.


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Panama Canal Zone was a strip of land across the Isthmus of Panama that was governed by the United States from 1903 to 1979.


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Panama City (pop. 389,172) is the capital and largest city of Panama, a country in Central America.


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Pancake Day is the name given to Shrove Tuesday in Britain.


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Pancasila are the five principles of the Indonesian state philosophy.


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Pancreas is a body organ found in human beings and all animals with backbones.


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Pancreatin is an extract of tissue from the pancreas gland, containing digestive enzymes.


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Panda is the name of two kinds of Asian animals.


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Pandit, Vijayalakshmi (1900-1990), one of India's most famous women, was distinguished for her work in government and for her interest in the women's movement.


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Pandora, in Greek mythology, was the first woman.


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Pangolin is the name of several species of animals that resemble anteaters and armadillos.


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Panini was a grammarian of the ancient, Indian language of Sanskrit.


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Panipat, Battles of, took place around Panipat, which is now an Indian town and district in the state of Haryana.


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Pankhurst, Emmeline Goulden (1858-1928), led the fight for women's voting rights in England.


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Panmunjom is the site of the truce talks that ended the Korean War in 1953.


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Pansy is a commonly cultivated type of violet.


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Pantheism is the belief that the essence of God is in all things.


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Pantheon is a well-preserved ancient temple in the centre of Rome.


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Panther is a name used loosely for certain members of the cat family.


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Pantograph is the name of a mechanical drawing instrument which copies, traces, or cuts in duplicate a design, map outline, or drawing.


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Pantomime, in the British Isles, is a traditional Christmas entertainment.


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Papadopoulos, George (1919-...), headed the government of Greece from 1967 to 1973.


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Papal States was the name given to territory once ruled by the pope of the Roman Catholic Church.


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Papaya is a tropical fruit that has edible flesh and seeds.


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Papen, Franz von (1879-1969), was a German politician who helped make Adolf Hitler head of the German government in 1933.


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Paper is one of the world's most important industrial products.


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Paper bag is one of our most useful items.


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Paperbarks are large Australasian trees that have loose bark that looks like paper hanging from their trunks and branches.


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Paperwork refers to the use of decorative papers.


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Papier-mache is a mixture of paper and glue used in crafts and the fine arts.


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Papua New Guinea is an independent country located in the Pacific Ocean, north of Australia.


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Parable is a brief story, proverb, or saying that expresses a moral.


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Parabola is one of the curves most used in science.


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Paracelsus, Philippus Aureolus (1493?-1541) was a Swiss doctor who introduced the use of drugs made from minerals.


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Paracetamol is a commonly used drug that relieves pain and reduces fever.


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Parachute is a device used to slow the fall of a person or object from an aircraft or any other great height.


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Parade is a public march or procession honouring a particular occasion.


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Paraffin is an important petroleum product, used chiefly as fuel.


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Paraffin wax is a white, partly clear, waxy solid that has no odour or taste.


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Paragraph is a section of a written work that consists of one or more sentences constructed and arranged to function as a unit.


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Paraguay, a small landlocked country located near the centre of South America, is surrounded by three countries--Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil.


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Paraguay River is a 2,549-kilometre river that flows southward through Paraguay, South America, cutting the country in two.


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Paraguayan settlements.  In 1893, William Lane, an Australian social reformer of the labour movement, led a group of members of the New Australia Cooperative Settlement Association to establish a settlement in Paraguay, in South America.


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Parakeet is a small member of the parrot family.


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Parallax is the difference in direction of an object when seen from two positions that are not in a direct line with each other and the object.


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Paralysis is the loss of the ability to move.


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Paramaribo (pop. 180,000) is the capital, largest city, and chief port of Suriname, a country in northeastern South America.


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Paramecium is a tiny one-celled organism that can hardly be seen without the microscope.


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Paramedic is a trained medical worker who takes the place of a doctor in certain situations.


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Parameswara (?-1414?) was a Sumatran prince who founded the Melakan Sultanate in Malaya.


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Parana (pop. 276,160) is a river port city in east-central Argentina.


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Parana River is the second longest river in South America, with a length of about 4,000 kilometres.


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Parani, Daing (?-1724), was the most famous leader of the Bugis, a warlike people from Sulawesi, Indonesia.


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Parapsychology is the scientific study of certain alleged phenomena that do not exist according to current scientific assumptions.


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Parasite is an organism that feeds and lives on another living organism, called a host.


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Parathyroid gland consists of four tiny glands that function as one gland.


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Parchment is an animal skin that has been prepared as a surface for writing.


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Pare, Ambroise (1510?-1590), was a Frenchman who became one of the greatest surgeons in the history of medicine.


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Parenthesis is a word, phrase, or sentence added to another sentence for the purpose of extra explanation, information, or comment.


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Parer, Damien (1912-1944), was an Australian photographer.


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Pareto, Vilfredo (1848-1923), was an Italian sociologist and economist known chiefly for his theories on political behaviour.


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Paricutin is the most recent volcano to form in the Western Hemisphere.


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Paris, in Greek mythology, was a son of Priam, king of Troy.


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Paris is the capital and largest city of France.


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Paris, Comte de (1838-1894), a claimant to the French throne, became heir apparent on the death of his father in 1842.


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Paris, Matthew (1200?-1259), was an English monk and historian.


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Paris, University of, is a government-supported university system in Paris and its suburbs.


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Paris conferences.  Many international conferences have met in Paris, France.


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Parish is the smallest administrative unit of the Church of England.


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Parity, in physics, concerns the symmetry between an event and its reflection in a mirror.


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Park.  Most parks are pieces of land set aside for the public to enjoy.


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Park, Mungo (1771-1806), a Scottish surgeon and explorer, was the first European to trace the course of the Niger River in western Africa.


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Park, Ruth (1923-...), an Australian author, won the Miles Franklin award for her novel Swords and Crowns and Rings in 1977.


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Park Chung Hee (1917-1979) served as president of South Korea from 1963 to 1979.


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Parker, Lord (1900-1972), Hubert Lister Parker, became lord chief justice of England in 1958.


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Parker, Charlie (1920-1955), an American alto saxophonist and composer, ranks among the most influential musicians in jazz history.


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Parker, Dorothy (1893-1967), was an American poet and short-story writer.


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Parkes (pop. 13,901) is a town in central western New South Wales, Australia, about 370 kilometres west of Sydney.


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Parkes, Sir Henry (1815-1896), served as premier of New South Wales, Australia, on five occasions, between 1872 and 1891.


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Parkinson, Cecil (1931-...), a British Conservative Party politician, became minister of transport in 1989.


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Parkinson's disease is a disorder of the brain that reduces muscle control.


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Parkinson's law is a humorous criticism of the administration of business or government.


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Parkman, Francis (1823-1893), one of the United States' greatest historians, wrote vivid accounts of the role of the Indians in North American history.


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Parks, Rosa Lee (1913-...), is a black woman who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S.A. Her refusal, which occurred in 1955, helped bring about the civil rights movement in the United States.


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Parliament is the national lawmaking body of Australia, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom (UK), and other democratic countries.


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Parliament, European, is the directly elected Parliament of the European Union (EU) (see EUROPEAN UNION; COMMON MARKET).


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Parliamentary procedure is a way to conduct a meeting in an orderly manner.


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Parma (pop. 176,750) is a city in northern Italy.


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Parma wallaby is a small, rare relative of the kangaroo.


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Parmenides was a Greek philosopher who lived about 500 B.C. He played an important part in developing pre-Socratic philosophy.


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Parnaiba River rises in the Tabatinga Mountains near the border of the state of Goias, Brazil.


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Parnassus is a mountain in Phocis in Greece.


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Parnell, Charles Stewart (1846-1891), an Irish Nationalist leader, almost obtained home rule (self-government) for Ireland by constitutional means (see HOME RULE).


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Parody is a comic imitation of a literary work.


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Parole is the early release of criminals from prison, in most cases as a reward for good behaviour.


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Parramatta (pop. 130,783) is one of Sydney's largest local government areas and the geographic and population centre of the Sydney metropolitan area.


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Parrington, Vernon Louis (1871-1929), was an American educator and historian.


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Parrish, Maxfield (1870-1966), an American painter and illustrator, portrayed a world of rich colour and poetic fancy.


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Parrot is the name of a large group of colourful birds found chiefly in warm, tropical regions.


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Parrotfish is the name of a group of about 75 species of fish that live around coral reefs in tropical and subtropical seas.


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Parry, Sir Hubert (1848-1918), a British composer, is best remembered for his choral music.


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Parry, Sir William (1790-1855), a British naval officer and Arctic explorer, led official expeditions in 1819, 1821, and 1824, in search of the Northwest Passage.


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Parsec is a traditional unit used in astronomy to measure the distance between stars.


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Parsees, also spelled Parsis, are members of the Zoroastrian community located mainly in the area of Bombay, India.


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Parsing is a form of recitation involving the analysis of each word in a sentence.


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Parsley is a biennial vegetable, usually considered as a herb.


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Parsnip is a biennial vegetable with many deeply and finely lobed leaves.


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Parsons, Sir Charles (1854-1931), a British engineer, invented the steam-turbine engine, and built the first turbine-powered steamship, Turbinia, in 1897.


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Parsons, Robert (1546-1610), led a Jesuit mission to England in 1580 with Edmund Campion (see CAMPION, EDMUND).


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Parthenon is an ancient Greek temple in the city of Athens.


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Parthia was an ancient kingdom southeast of the Caspian Sea, in Asia.


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Participle is a verb form used as an adjective without losing its character as a verb.


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Particle accelerator is a device that speeds up the movement of tiny bits of matter.


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Partisans work behind enemy lines in wartime to weaken an opponent's hold on the partisans' homeland, and to support the military operations of allies.


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Partnership is an association formed by two or more people to carry on a business.


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Parton, Dolly Rebecca (1946-...), an American country and pop music singer and songwriter, became a top entertainer in the 1970's.


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Partridge is a stocky, medium-sized game bird.


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Partridge, Eric (1894-1979), was an expert in the study of the English language.


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Parts of speech are the word categories of the English language.


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Pasay (pop. 366,623) is a city on Luzon Island, south of Manila in the Philippines.


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Pascal, a unit in the metric system, is used to measure pressure (force per unit of area).


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Pascal, Blaise (1623-1662), was a French physicist, mathematician, and philosopher.


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Pascal's law, also called Pascal's principle, describes the effect of applying pressure on a fluid in a closed container.


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Paschal II (?-1118) was elected pope in 1099.


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Pasmore, Victor (1908-...), is a British painter best known for his abstract compositions.


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Paspalums are types of grass that grow naturally in tropical places and temperate America.


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Pasqueflower is the name of small plants related to anemones, with large flowers that open early in the spring.


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Passenger pigeon is an extinct bird that was formerly abundant in eastern North America.


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Passion music is a vocal composition that dramatically tells the Gospel story of the suffering and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.


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Passion play is a dramatic performance that presents the death and resurrection of a god.


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Passionflower is a woody vine that has unusual blossoms.


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Passover is a Jewish festival that celebrates the flight of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery, probably in the 1200's B.C. The story of Passover is told in the Bible in Chapter 12 of the Book of Exodus.


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Passport is a travel document that identifies the holder as a citizen of the country by which it is issued.


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Pasta is a food made chiefly from flour and water.


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Pasternak, Boris (1890-1960), was a Russian poet and fiction writer.


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Pasteur, Louis (1822-1895), a French scientist, made major contributions to chemistry, medicine, and industry that have greatly benefited humanity.


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Pasteurization is a method of preserving food.


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Paston letters are the correspondence of the Paston family, landowners in Norfolk, England, during the 1400's.


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Pastore, John Orlando (1907-...), became the first person of Italian descent to win election as a state governor and then as a United States senator.


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Pastry is baked from a stiff, short dough that is composed basically of flour, salt, shortening, and water.


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Pasture is land from which cattle, horses, sheep, and other livestock and wildlife get their food by grazing.


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Patagonia is a region in southern South America.


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Patch, Alexander McCarrell, Jr. (1889-1945), was a U.S. general who commanded U.S. forces in the Pacific and in Europe during World War II (1939-1945).


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Patchouli is a strongly fragrant oil used in making perfumes.


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Patent is a document issued by a national government granting an inventor exclusive rights to an invention for a limited time.


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Pater, Walter Horatio (1839-1894), an English essayist and critic, influenced the artistic taste of many Englishmen in the late 1800's.


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Paterson, Banjo (1864-1941), was the pen name of Andrew Barton Paterson, an Australian poet, lawyer, and grazier.


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Paterson, William (1755-1810), a British soldier, became an administrator in Australia.


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Pathfinder force was formed within the British Royal Air Force in 1942, during World War II (1939-1945), under the command of the Australian airman Group Captain Donald Bennett.


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Pathology is the study of disease processes or any condition that limits the power, length, or enjoyment of life.


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Patience is the name of many card games that are played by one person.


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Patmore, Coventry (1823-1896), was an English poet.


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Patmos is a small volcanic island in the Aegean Sea, off the west coast of Turkey.


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Paton, Alan Stewart (1903-1988), was a South African writer best remembered for his novel Cry the Beloved Country (1948).


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Patri, Angelo (1877-1965), was an American academic who won fame for his writings on child training, and for his experiments in teaching.


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Patriarch was the father or ruler of a family or tribe in ancient times.


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Patricians were aristocrats of the early Roman Republic (509-264 B.C.).


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Patrick, Saint (about 389-461), is the patron saint of Ireland.


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Patriotism is the love and loyal support of one's country.


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Patron saints are saints chosen to protect the interests of a country, place, group, or activity, and to intercede for them in heaven (see SAINT).


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Patten, Christopher Francis (1944-...), became governor of Hong Kong in 1992.


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Patterson, P. J. (1935-...), became prime minister of Jamaica in March 1992.


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Patti, Adelina (1843-1919), was a Spanish coloratura soprano who won fame as one of the world's greatest operatic singers.


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Patton, George Smith, Jr. (1885-1945), was one of the most colourful American generals of World War II (1939-1945).


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Paul I (1901-1964) was king of Greece from 1947 to 1964.


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Paul III (1468-1549) was elected pope in 1534 and reigned during the transition in Rome from the Renaissance to the church renewal movement called the Counter Reformation.


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Paul IV (1476-1559) was elected pope in 1555.


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Paul VI (1897-1978) was elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 1963.


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Paul, Saint, was one of the most important leaders of early Christianity.


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Paul of the Cross, Saint (1694-1775), founded the Passionist Order, or the Congregation of the Discalced Clerks of the Most Holy Cross and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ.


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Pauli, Wolfgang (1900-1958), an Austrian theoretical physicist, won the 1945 Nobel Prize in physics for his proposal in 1925 of a rule explaining the behaviour of electrons in atoms.


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Pauling, Linus Carl (1901-1994), an American chemist, won two Nobel Prizes.


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Paulists are members of the first Roman Catholic order of priests to be founded in America.


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Pavarotti, Luciano (1935-...), an Italian lyric tenor, became one of the most popular opera stars of the 1900's.


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Pavlov, Ivan Petrovich (1849-1936), a Russian physiologist, won the 1904 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for his research on digestion.


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Pavlova is a meringue dessert topped with whipped cream.


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Pavlova, Anna (1881-1931), a Russian ballerina, became the most famous dancer of her generation.


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Pawnbroker is a person who lends small sums of money on watches, jewellery, musical instruments, and other belongings that are left with the pawnbroker as security.


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Pawpaw is a small tree or shrub native to North America.


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Paxton, Sir Joseph (1801-1865), a British architect and landscape gardener, designed the Crystal Palace.


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Payback is the name given to revenge killing practised in New Guinea.


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Payne, John Howard (1791-1852), was the first American playwright to achieve international fame.


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Payton, Walter (1954-...), a running back for the Chicago Bears American football team, became the leading rusher in National Football League (NFL) history.


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Paz, Octavio (1914-1998), a Mexican poet and essayist, won the 1990 Nobel Prize for literature.


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PDSA is the United Kingdom's largest animal charity, with two overseas branches in South Africa and Cairo.


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Pea is a plant grown chiefly for its round edible seeds, which are also called peas.


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Peabody, George (1795-1869), an American merchant and financier, became one of the foremost philanthropists of his time.


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Peace is the state of being calm, quiet, and free of disturbance.


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Peace Corps is an independent overseas volunteer programme of the United States government.


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Peace pipe, also called calumet, was a ceremonial tobacco pipe that North American Indians smoked as a sign of peace and friendship.


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Peach is a roundish, yellow to reddish, edible fruit.


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Peach moth is a small, mottled brown moth.


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Peacock, also called peafowl, is one of the showiest of all birds because of its great size and the beauty of its feathers.


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Peacock, Thomas Love (1785-1866), an English novelist and poet, wrote a number of satirical novels.


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Peak District is a hilly region at the southern end of the Pennine Hills, in England.


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Peak Hill, an old goldfield, lies 883 kilometres northeast of Perth in Western Australia.


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Peake, Archibald Henry (1859-1920), was premier of South Australia three times: 1909-1910; 1912-1915; and 1917-1920.


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Peale was a family of famous American artists.


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Peanut is a plant species grown mainly for its fruit.


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Pearce, Bobby (1905-1976), an Australian rower, became one of the greatest scullers of all time.


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Pearce, Philippa (1920-...), is an English writer of children's books.


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Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii, U.S.A., is the hub of United States naval power in the Pacific Ocean.


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Pearlfish is the name of about 25 species of small, elongated fish found in tropical and warm waters.


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Pearly kings and queens are leaders chosen by London costermongers (street traders), who represent the costermongers on ceremonial occasions.


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Pears, Sir Peter (1910-1986), was an English opera and concert singer of international repute.


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Pearse, Richard developed an early flying machine which some claimed made the first powered flight in New Zealand in 1902.


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Pearse, Patrick H. (1879-1916), was an Irish writer and nationalist.


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Pearson, Sir Cyril Arthur (1866-1921), was a British journalist and newspaper proprietor.


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Pearson, Karl (1857-1936), a British geneticist, helped develop the science of statistics.


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Pearson, Lester Bowles (1897-1972), Canadian prime minister and educator, was an international statesman.


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Peary, Robert Edwin (1856-1920), an American explorer, was one of the greatest Arctic travellers of all time.


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Peasants' War refers to the rebellion of German peasants against their lords in 1524 and 1525.


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Peat is partly decayed plant matter that has collected in wetland areas known as peat bogs or peatlands over long periods of time.


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Peat moss is a kind of moss from which peat is formed.


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Pecan, a tree native to North America, is valuable for its fruit, the pecan nut.


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Peccary is a hoofed animal that lives in forests and desert scrubs.


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Peck is a unit of dry measure that is equal to 8 quarts or a quarter of a bushel (0.0088 cubic metre).


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Pecos Bill is a cowboy hero in American folklore.


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Pecs (pop. 177,104), is an industrial centre in the coal- and uranium-mining region of southwest Hungary.


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Pectin is a substance found between the cell walls of many fruits.


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Pedagogy.  In ancient Greece and Rome, boys were accompanied to school by a slave called a pedagogue.


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Pedal wireless is a crystal-controlled radio transmitter powered by electricity from a pedal-driven generator.


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Pedicab is a type of three-wheeled vehicle used as a taxi.


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Pedigree is a record of the ancestors of an animal or plant.


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Pedometer is a small instrument that measures the distance a person walks.


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Pedro I (1798-1834) was the first emperor of independent Brazil.


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Pedro II (1825-1891) was emperor of Brazil from 1831 to 1889.


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Peel, John (1776-1854), a hunter from Cumbria, England, was immortalized in the song "D'ye Ken John Peel".


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Peel, Sir Robert (1788-1850), was a famous British statesman.


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Peel, Thomas (1795-1864), was the promoter of the first settlement on the Swan River, near the present site of Perth, Australia.


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Peel towers were medieval forts built near the border between England and Scotland.


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Peepul, or bo tree, is a large kind of fig tree native to India and Southeast Asia.


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Peer of the realm, in the United Kingdom, is a man or woman who possesses a peerage, such as an earldom or a barony.


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Peerce, Jan (1904-1984), became one of the most successful American opera and concert tenors of his day.


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Pegasus was an immortal winged horse in Greek mythology.


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Pei, I. M. (1917-...), is an American architect noted for his creative urban designs.


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Peirce, Charles Sanders (1839-1914), was an American philosopher.


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Peking man was a type of prehistoric human being who lived between about 500,000 and 250,000 years ago in what is now northern China.


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Pekingese, also spelled pekinese, is a small dog with long hair, a broad flat face, and a tail that curls over its back.


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Pele (1940-...), a Brazilian footballer, won fame as the greatest soccer player of his time and the most recognized athlete in world sports.


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Peleliu is a narrow raised reef island in the Western Pacific.


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Pelham, Henry (1695-1754), was Britain's prime minister and chancellor of the Exchequer from 1743 until his death.


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Pelican is a large bird that lives near water.


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Pelican flower is a flowering woody vine from Central America.


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Pelion is a mountain in Thessaly in Greece.


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Pella is a small town in northern Greece, lying almost 39 kilometres northwest of Salonika (Thessaloniki).


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Pellagra is a disease caused by a lack of niacin and other B-complex vitamins (see Vitamin [Vitamin B complex]).


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Pelopidas was a general and statesman in ancient Thebes during the 300's B.C. In 382 B.C., the Spartans seized Thebes, and Pelopidas fled.


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Peloponnesian War was fought by the ancient Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta from 431 to 404 B.C. According to Thucydides, a Greek historian who lived during the war, the Peloponnesian League, consisting of Sparta and its allies, attacked the A


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Peloponnesus is the ancient name of the southern peninsula of Greece.


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Pelota, also known as Jai alai, is a fast and dangerous game that resembles handball.


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Pelsaert, Francois, was a Dutch navigator who charted part of the western coast of the Australian continent in 1629.


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Pelvic inflammatory disease, often referred to as PID, is an infection of the female reproductive system.


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Pelvis is the framework of bones that supports the lower part of the abdomen.


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Pembroke Welsh corgi is a breed of dog that originated in the area of Pembroke, Wales, during the early 1100's.


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Pembrokeshire (pop. 113,600) is a local government area in southwest Wales.


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Pemmican was one of the first forms of concentrated food.


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Pen is an instrument used for writing or drawing with ink.


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Pen-based computer is a computer that accepts input from a stylus (inkless pen) used directly on the computer screen.


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Pen name is a name an author uses instead of his or her real name.


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Penal colony is a settlement outside a country where the country sends its prisoners.


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Penang, also called Pulau Pinang, is a small state on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.


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Pencil is the most widely used writing and drawing instrument in the world.


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Penderecki, Krzysztof (1933-...), is a Polish composer.


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Pendle (pop. 82,700) is a local government district in northeast Lancashire, England.


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Pendleton, George Hunt (1825-1889), a United States senator, sponsored the Pendleton Act, which created the American civil service system in 1883.


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Pendulum is an object that swings back and forth around a fixed point if it is pulled aside and let go.


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Penelope, in Greek mythology, was the wife of Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin), king of Ithaca.


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Peneplain is a once hilly or mountainous area that has been almost flattened by erosion.


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Penfield, Wilder Graves (1891-1976), was a Canadian neurologist who perfected a surgical cure for some forms of epilepsy.


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Penguin is a type of bird that has flippers instead of wings and spends most of its life in the sea.


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Penicillin is a powerful drug used to treat infections caused by bacteria.


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Peninsula is an area of land that is nearly surrounded by water.


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Penis is an external male reproductive organ.


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Penn, William (1644-1718), was a famous English Quaker who founded the American state of Pennsylvania.


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Pennell, Joseph (1857-1926), was an American printmaker.


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Penney, Lord (1909-1991), William George Penney, was responsible for designing and testing the first British atomic bomb.


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Pennine Hills are a series of uplands in northern England.


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Pennsylvania, an eastern state of the United States, is a leading manufacturing and industrial centre.


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Pennsylvania Dutch refers to the people who came to the American colony of Pennsylvania in the 1600's and 1700's from the German Rhineland, and their descendants.


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Penny is the name of various coins used in Great Britain, the United States, and other countries.


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Pennyroyal is the name of several herbs of the mint family.


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Pennyweight is a unit of measure in the troy system of weights.


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Penrith (pop. 149,682) is a city in New South Wales, Australia.


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Penrose, Jonathan (1933-...), has been British Chess Champion in 10 different years.


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Pension is a regular payment made to a person when he or she reaches a certain age, or retires from work.


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Penstemon is the name of a large group of showy wild and garden flowers.


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Pentagon is a polygon having five sides.


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Pentagon Building is one of the largest office buildings in the world.


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Pentas is any one of a group of about 60 species (kinds) of plants in the madder family.


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Pentateuch consists of the first five books of the Bible.


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Pentathlon, Modern is an athletic competition for men and women that tests skill in pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding, and running.


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Pentecost is the feast that marks the end of the 50-day Christian observance of Easter.


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Pentecostal churches are a group of Protestant churches that trace their origins to a religious revival that began in Topeka, Kansas, U.S.A., in 1901.


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Pentland Firth is a narrow sea passage in northern Scotland.


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Penwith (pop. 59,400), in Cornwall, is England's most westerly local government district.


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Penzance is a port and seaside resort in the far west of Cornwall, England, in Penwith local government district.


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Peonage is a system of forced labour in which the peon (labourer) is forced to work in payment of a debt.


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Peony is the common name of a group of over 30 species of plants with large, handsome flowers.


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Pepin the Short, (714?-768), also called Pepin III, was the first king of the Frankish Carolingian dynasty.


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Pepper is a shrubby perennial plant native to North and South America and grown primarily for its fruit.


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Peppermint is a perennial herb of the mint family.


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Peppertree gets its name from the strong-smelling berries that grow on it.


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Pepsin is a digestive enzyme found in the gastric juice of the stomach.


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Pepys, Samuel (1633-1703), was an English writer and government official.


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Perak is a state in Peninsular Malaysia.


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Perak, Tun (?-1498?), was bendahara (principal official) of the powerful Malay state of Melaka from about 1456 until his death.


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Percale is a closely woven cloth made from combed cotton yarn.


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Percentage refers to computing by hundredths.


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Perception is the process by which we receive and interpret information from the world around us.


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Perceval, Spencer (1762-1812), was the only British prime minister who met a violent death in office.


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Perch is the name given to a family of about 165 different freshwater fish that live in the cooler parts of the Northern Hemisphere.


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Percy, Charles Harting (1919-...), an Illinois Republican Party politician, was a United States senator from 1967 to 1985.


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Percy, Sir Henry (1364-1403), called Hotspur, was a powerful English nobleman, the son of the Earl of Northumberland.


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Perelman, S. J. (1904-1979), was an American writer known for his humorous satires and parodies on contemporary life.


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Perennial is a plant that lives for more than two years or growing seasons.


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Peres, Shimon (1923-...), served as prime minister of Israel from September 1984 to October 1986 and from November 1995 to June 1996.


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Perez de Cuellar, Javier (1920-...), is a diplomat from Peru who served as the fifth secretary-general of the United Nations (UN) from 1982 to 1991.


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Perfume is a substance made of natural or synthetic (artificially created) materials, or a combination of both.


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Pergamum was a great ancient city in western Asia Minor (now Turkey).


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Pergolesi, Giovanni Battista (1710-1736), was an Italian composer.


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Pericles (490?-429 B.C.) was a Greek statesman whose name was given to the greatest period in the history of ancient Athens.


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Peridot is a transparent gem that is almost always some shade of green because of its iron content.


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Perihelion is the position of a planet or comet when it is closest to the sun.


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Periodontitis is a disease of the gums and of the bone that supports the teeth in their sockets.


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Peripatetic philosophy was established by the Greek philosopher Aristotle in the 300's B.C. The word peripatetic may be traced to either of two Greek words, one meaning to walk and the other meaning a covered walk.


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Periscope is an optical instrument with which a person can make observations from a distance or around corners.


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Peritonitis is an inflammation of the peritoneum, the thin membrane that lines the abdominal cavity.


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Periwinkle is the name of about a dozen species of small, evergreen flowering shrubs and ground-cover plants.


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Periwinkle is the common name for several species of small snails of the seacoast.


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Perjury is a crime in which a person swears or affirms to tell the truth in a court of law or in an administrative or legislative proceeding, and then deliberately tells a lie.


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Perkin, Sir William Henry (1838-1907), a British chemist, founded the aniline dye industry.


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Perkins, Charles (1936-...), an Australian Aboriginal leader, was the first Aborigine to graduate from a university.


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Perkins, Lucy Fitch (1865-1937), was an American writer and illustrator who became well known for her series of 25 Twin books for children.


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Perlis is the smallest state in Malaysia.


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Perlman, Itzhak (1945-...), is a noted Israeli violinist.


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Permafrost is ground that remains frozen for two or more years.


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Permalloy is a nickel-iron alloy that is easy to magnetize.


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Permutations and combinations are names that mathematicians use for certain groups of objects or symbols.


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Peron, Eva Duarte de (1919-1952), was the second wife of President Juan Peron of Argentina.


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Peron, Francois (1755-1810), a French naturalist, wrote the first description of the Tasmanian Aborigines.


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Peron, Juan Domingo (1895-1974), was president of Argentina from 1946 to 1955, and became president again in 1973.


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Perpetual motion machine is a hypothetical device that can continuously produce work with no energy input, continuously convert energy completely into work, or continuously produce more energy than it consumes.


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Perrault, Charles (1628-1703), a French writer, is best known for a book of fairy tales he collected, Tales of Mother Goose.


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Perry is the family name of two brothers who became famous United States naval officers.


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Perry, Fred (1909-1995), was one of the United Kingdom's most outstanding tennis players.


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Perse, Saint-John (1887-1975), was the pen name of Alexis Leger, a French poet and diplomat.


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Persephone was a beautiful goddess in Greek and Roman mythology.


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Persepolis was a capital of ancient Persia.


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Perseus is a constellation of the northern sky.


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Perseus, in Greek mythology, was the son of the god Zeus and the mortal Danae.


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Pershing, John Joseph (1860-1948), commanded the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.) in Europe during World War I.


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Persia, Ancient, was a land that included parts of what are now Iran and Afghanistan.


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Persian Gulf is a kidney-shaped body of water in southwestern Asia between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.


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Persian Gulf War was fought in early 1991 between Iraq and a coalition of 39 countries organized mainly by the United States and the United Nations (UN).


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Persimmon is the name of more than 200 species of small trees that belong to the ebony family.


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Person, in grammar, is the feature of a language that shows the difference between the speaker, the person spoken to, and a person or thing spoken about.


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Personality is a term that has many general meanings.


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Personnel management is a field of management that involves using workers' skills effectively and making their jobs rewarding.


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Perspective is a technique used by artists to give a picture the illusion of depth and distance.


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Perspiration, also called sweat, consists of water and certain dissolved substances produced by glands in the skin.


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Perth (pop. 1,143,265) is the state capital and business centre of Western Australia.


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Perth, an Australian cruiser under the command of Captain H. M. L. Waller, took part in the Battle of the Java Sea on Feb. 27, 1942.


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Perthshire and Kinross (pop. 126,842) is a large local government area in central Scotland.


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Peru is the third largest country in South America.


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Peru Current is a cold, broad, yet shallow ocean current in the Pacific Ocean.


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Perutz, Max Ferdinand (1914-...), an Austrian-born, British molecular biologist, shared the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1962 with John Kendrew.


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Pescadores (pop. 100,288) is a group of 63 islands which cover a total area of 127 square kilometres in the Taiwan Strait between Taiwan and China.


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Peseta is the monetary unit of Spain and the Spanish dependencies, and of Andorra, a small country that lies between Spain and France in the Pyrenees mountains.


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Pestalozzi, Johann Heinrich (1746-1827), was a Swiss teacher who became a pioneer of modern education.


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Pesticide is a chemical used to control or eliminate pests.


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Pet is an animal kept for companionship and treated with affection.


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Petain, Henri Philippe (1856-1951), became a national hero of France because of his military leadership in World War I.


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Peter I (1844-1921), a Serbian king, ruled from 1903 to 1921.


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Peter I, the Great (1672-1725), a Russian ruler, is famous for having gained access to the sea for Russia and for "westernizing" Russian customs and institutions.


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Peter II (1923-1970) became king of Yugoslavia in 1934 at the age of 11 when his father, King Alexander, was assassinated.


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Peter, Epistles of, are the 21st and 22nd books of the New Testament of the Bible.


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Peter, Saint (?-A.D. 64?), was a leading apostle of Jesus Christ.


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Peter Pan is the boy hero in several fantasies written by the Scottish author Sir James Matthew Barrie.


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Peter the Hermit (1050?-1115?) was a French monk of Amiens who encouraged the First Crusade (see CRUSADES).


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Peterborough (pop. 148,800) is a city in Cambridgeshire, England.


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Peterkin, Julia Mood (1880-1961), an American author, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1929 for her novel Scarlet Sister Mary.


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Peterloo was the name given to an incident in 1819, when social unrest in England was producing a wide demand for parliamentary reform.


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Peters, Winston (1945-...), is the leader of the New Zealand First Party.


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Petipa, Marius (1818-1910), was a great French choreographer (dance composer).


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Petit, Roland (1924-...), is a French dancer and choreographer (dance composer).


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Petit basset griffon vendeen is a short-legged, rough-coated dog bred to hunt small game, especially hare and rabbit.


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Petit point is a delicate form of embroidery usually sewed on fine mesh canvas.


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Petitgrain oil is a yellowish oil made from the leaves, twigs, and fruit of the bitter orange tree.


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Petition is a written document signed by a large number of people demanding some form of action.


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Petition of Right was a document written in 1628 by the English Parliament and presented to King Charles I. It declared unconstitutional certain actions of the king, such as levying taxes without the consent of Parliament, housing soldiers in private


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PETN is short for pentaerythritol tetranitrate, an explosive more powerful than TNT. It is used as the core of detonating caps and fuses because it is capable of exploding in small devices.


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Petra was an ancient city south of the Dead Sea in what is now Jordan.


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Petrarch (1304-1374) was a great Italian poet and scholar.


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Petrel is one of a large group of ocean birds.


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Petrie is the name of a family of Australian pioneers.


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Petrie, Sir Flinders (1853-1942), an English archaeologist, served as professor of Egyptology at University College, London, from 1892 to 1933.


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Petrie, George (1789-1866), an Irish artist, antiquary, and musician, devoted much of his life to the study and recording of Irish antiquities.


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Petrified forest is made up of tree trunks that were buried in mud, sand, or volcanic ash ages ago and have turned to stone.


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Petrochemicals are chemicals made from petroleum or natural gas.


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Petrol is one of the most important fuels used for transportation.


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Petrol engine is an engine that uses petrol as a fuel.


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Petrolatum, also called petroleum jelly, is a colourless to yellow, jellylike substance made from petroleum.


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Petroleum is one of the most valuable natural resources in the world.


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Petroleum coke is a useful product obtained in refining crude oil.


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Petrology is a branch of geology that deals with the origin and composition of rocks.


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Petronius (?-A.D. 66) wrote the first Roman novel, the Satyricon.


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Petrov Affair, named after Vladimir Petrov (?-1991), aroused bitter controversy in Australia.


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Petty, Sir William (1623-1687), was an English political economist and a pioneer statistician.


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Petunia is any of a group of herbs native chiefly to Argentina and Brazil.


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Pevsner, Antoine (1886-1962), was a Russian-born painter and sculptor.


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Pevsner, Sir Nikolaus (1902-1983), a German-born author and scholar, became well known for his series of books, The Buildings of England, published between 1951 and 1974.


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Pewter is an alloy that consists mainly of tin.


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pH is a number used by scientists to indicate the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution.


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Phaedra, in Greek mythology, was the wife of Theseus, a great king of early Athens.


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Phaethon, in Greek mythology, was the son of the sun god Helios and the sea goddess Clymene.


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Phaistos is an archaeological site on the Mediterranean island of Crete.


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Phalarope is a small sandpiperlike bird that breeds in the Northern Hemisphere and winters in the Southern Hemisphere.


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Pham Van Dong, (1906-...), became premier of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam) in 1955.


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Phar Lap was a race horse bred in New Zealand.


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Pharaoh was a title of the later kings of ancient Egypt.


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Pharaoh hound is one of the oldest breeds of dogs.


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Pharisees were members of an ancient Jewish group that became an important political party in Palestine during the reign of Queen Alexandra (76-67 B.C.).


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Pharmacology is the study of the effects drugs have on living things.


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Pharmacopoeia, also spelled pharmacopeia, is a book containing tables of drugs.


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Pharmacy is the profession concerned with the preparation, distribution, and use of drugs and medicines.


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Pharsalus, Battle of, was fought between the armies of the Roman generals Julius Caesar and Pompey in 48 B.C. After his conquest of Gaul (58 to 51 B.C.), Caesar had become the most powerful military commander in the Roman world.


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Pharyngitis is an infectious disease that affects the membranes of the throat and tonsils.


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Pharynx is a cone-shaped tube that connects the nose and mouth with the voice box and oesophagus.


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Phase, in chemistry, is any distinct and uniform physical part of a mixture that is separated from the other parts of the mixture by definite boundaries.


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Pheasant is the name of several species of medium-to-large birds closely related to the domestic chicken.


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Phelps, William Lyon (1865-1943), an American educator and literary critic, helped shape American literary tastes of the time.


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Phenology is the study of when certain biological events that depend on climate take place.


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Phenolphthalein is a chemical compound used as an indicator of alkalinity or acidity, and as a laxative.


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Phenomenology is a philosophy that was developed by the German philosopher Edmund Husserl in the early 1900's.


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Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a hereditary disease that results in mental retardation unless treated during early infancy.


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Pheromone is a chemical substance released by many kinds of animals to communicate with other members of their species.


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Phidias (490?-420?  B.C.) was the greatest sculptor in ancient Greece.


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Philadelphia was the name given to several cities by the ancient Greeks.


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Philadelphia (pop. 1,585,577; met. area pop. 4,922,175) is the birthplace of the United States of America.


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Philanthropy is the promotion of the well-being of human beings by individuals and groups who contribute their services or dedicate their property and money.


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Philemon, Epistle to, is the 18th book of the New Testament of the Bible.


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Philemon and Baucis are the central characters in a minor legend of Ancient Greece.


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Philip was the name of several French kings.


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Philip was the name of several kings of Spain.


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Philip II (382-336 B.C.) was a great Macedonian king who became master of Greece.


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Philip, King (?-1676), became chief of the North American Wampanoag Indians in 1662.


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Philip, Prince (1921-...), is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.


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Philip of Bethsaida, Saint, was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.


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Philip the Evangelist was an early Christian.


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Philipe, Gerard (1922-1959), was a French stage and film actor.


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Philippians, Epistle to the, is the 11th book of the New Testament of the Bible.


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Philippines is an island country in the southwest Pacific Ocean.


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Philippines, Armed services of the.  The armed services of the Philippines includes an army of about 68,000 men and women, supported by 100,000 reserves.


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Philippines, Art of the.  The art of the Philippines reflects the varied traditions of its people.


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Philippines, Government of the.  The Philippines Constitution specifies that the country is a democratic and republican state and that civilian authority is, at all times, supreme over the military forces.


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Philippines, History of the, is the story of a nation of many different groups of people living on more than 7,000 islands.


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Philistines were an ancient people who settled along the coast of Canaan at about the same time that the Israelites were entering the land from the east.


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Phillip, Arthur (1738-1814), was the first governor of New South Wales, Australia.


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Phillip Island, a popular Australian tourist centre, lies at the entrance to Western Port Bay, about 122 kilometres by road from Melbourne.


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Phillips, Wendell (1811-1884), an American orator and reformer, became famous as an advocate of the abolition of slavery (see ABOLITION MOVEMENT).


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Philodendron is the name of many species and varieties of vinelike plants native to South America.


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Philosophes were a group of French philosophers during the Age of Reason, a historical period that extended from the late 1600's to the late 1700's.


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Philosophy is a study that seeks to understand the mysteries of existence and reality.


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Phlox is a common garden plant with brilliantly coloured blossoms.


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Phobia is a persistent, unduly strong fear of a certain object or situation.


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Phoebe a small, active bird, native to North and South America, belongs to the flycatcher family.


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Phoenicia was the name the ancient Greeks gave to the region that is now roughly the coastal areas of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.


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Phoenix (pop. 983,403; met. area pop. 2,112,101) is the capital and largest city of Arizona.


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Phoenix was a fabled bird in Greek mythology.


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Phon is a unit of the level of loudness of sound as perceived by a listener.


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Phonetics is the science of speech sounds and the symbols by which they are shown in writing and printing.


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Phonics is the association of letters or combinations of letters with their appropriate speech sounds.


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Phosphate is any one of a number of chemical compounds that contain phosphorus and oxygen in the phosphate group.


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Phosphor is a substance that absorbs certain types of energy and gives off part of that energy as visible light.


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Phosphorescence is the light certain substances give off when they absorb energy.


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Phosphoric acid is the most common acid of phosphorus.


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Phosphorus is a nonmetallic chemical element with the symbol P. It is found in every living cell and has many industrial uses.


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Phosphorus cycle is the circulation of phosphorus among the rocks, soil, water, and plants and animals of the earth.


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Photochemistry is a branch of chemistry that deals with the chemical reactions that result when the molecules of a substance absorb light.


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Photocomposition, also called phototypesetting, is any of several methods of setting (assembling) type on photographic paper or film.


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Photocopying is any of several techniques that use light-sensitive materials to copy documents or illustrations.


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Photoelectric effect is any effect that results in the transfer of energy from light to an electric current.


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Photoengraving and photolithography are processes used to make printing plates or cylinders for the three major methods of printing.


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Photogrammetry is the process of making measurements by means of photography.


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Photography is the process of making pictures by means of the action of light.


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Photomicrography is the technique of taking magnified photographs of small objects, usually through a microscope.


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Photomultiplier tube is an extremely sensitive electric detector of light.


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Photon is the elementary particle that makes up light and all other forms of electromagnetic radiation.


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Photoperiodism is the response of a plant or animal to the relative length of light and darkness to which it is exposed.


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Photosynthesis is a food-making process that occurs in green plants.


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Phrenology is the practice of analysing a person's character by examining the shape of the skull.


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Phrygia was an ancient country between the Mediterranean and Black Sea, in what is now central Turkey.


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Phuket is the largest island in Thailand.


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Phyfe, Duncan (1768-1854), was a well-known American cabinetmaker and furniture designer.


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Phylloxera is any one of a group of small plant lice.


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Physical change is a change of matter from one form to another without any change in its chemical structure, solubility, colour, taste, or odour.


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Physical chemistry is the study of the general rules and principles that govern the chemical properties of matter.


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Physical education is the part of the school curriculum that instructs students in body movements, sports and games, and other physical activities.


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Physical fitness is a combination of qualities that enable a person to perform well in vigorous physical activities.


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Physics is the science devoted to the study of matter and energy.


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Physiocrats were a group of French economists who lived during the mid-1700's.


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Physiology is the study of how plants and animals function.


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Physiotherapy is the use of physical means, such as light, heat, cold, and exercise, to treat disease or injury.


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Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter.


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Piaf, Edith (1915-1963), a French singer and cabaret performer, won fame for songs of disenchanted love such as "La Vie En Rose" and "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien."


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Piaget, Jean (1896-1980), a Swiss psychologist, won fame for his studies of the thought processes of children.


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Piano is a keyboard musical instrument in which sounds are made by strings struck by small padded hammers.


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Piatigorsky, Gregor (1903-1976), was a famous Russian-born cellist.


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Picasso, Pablo (1881-1973), was the most famous painter of the 1900's.


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Piccard is the name of a Swiss family of scientists who won fame in aeronautics and oceanography by designing and testing new high-altitude balloons and deep-sea diving vessels.


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Piccolo is the smallest of the woodwind instruments and the highest in pitch.


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Pichincha, a twin-cratered volcano, rises 4,784 metres in the Andes Mountains in north-central Ecuador.


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Pickerel is the name given to three small North American members of the pike family.


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Pickering, William (1840-1907), a British public servant, became the first protector of the Chinese in Singapore in 1877.


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Pickett, George Edward (1825-1875), was a Confederate general in the American Civil War.


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Pickford, Mary (1893-1979), was a star of silent films.


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Pickle is a fruit or vegetable preserved in vinegar and salt.


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Picts were an ancient people of northern Scotland.


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Picture postcards became popular as a cheap and rapid means of communication soon after 1900.


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Pidgin is the most important lingua franca (common language) of Papua New Guinea.


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Pidgin English is one of several bridge or minimum dialects, based on English, used in Asia and the South Seas between Westerners and Asians, and among peoples who have no common language.


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Piece of eight was a name for the Spanish peso, which corresponded to the American dollar.


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Piecework is a form of wage payment in which employees are paid a specified amount for each unit of satisfactory production.


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Pied Piper of Hamelin is a mythical character who was made famous by Robert Browning in a poem based on a legend.


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Piedmont is a territorial region of Italy in the upper valley of the Po River.


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Piepoudre, Court of, also spelt piepowder, was a medieval English court that settled disputes among pedlars and tradespeople at fairs and markets.


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Pierce, Franklin (1804-1869), was president of the United States from 1853 to 1857.


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Pierneef, Jacob Hendrik (1886-1957), was one of South Africa's most successful artists.


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Piero della Francesca (1420?-1492) was an Italian Renaissance painter.


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Pierrot, a character in French pantomime, was descended from the Italian character, Pedrolino.


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Pietermaritzburg (pop. 156,473; met. area pop. 211,473) is the capital city of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa.


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Pietersburg (pop. 25,500) is the capital city of Northern Province in South Africa.


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Piezoelectricity is an electric phenomenon that occurs in certain nonmetallic minerals, such as quartz, Rochelle salt, and tourmaline.


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Pig.  About a quarter of the meat eaten in the world comes from pigs.


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Pigeon is any bird in the pigeon and dove family.


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Pigeon racing is a sport that tests the speed at which homing pigeons can reach their home when released a given distance away from it.


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Piggott, Lester (1935-...), one of Britain's most successful jockeys, was noted for his exceptional timing of race finishes.


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Pigment is a finely powdered, coloured substance that gives its colour to another material.


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Pika is a small, furry animal that lives in Asia, Europe, and western North America.


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Pike is the common name of a family of freshwater fish noted for their greedy appetite and fighting quality.


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Pilate, Pontius, was a Roman governor of Judea from A.D. 26 to 36, at the time of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ.


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Pilbara is a region in the northwest of Australia.


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Pile is a column used to support buildings, bridges, and other structures.


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Pilgrim Fathers were the early English settlers of the New England colony in America.


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Pilgrimage of Grace was a rebellion in northern England in 1536.


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Pilgrimages are journeys to shrines or other holy places made for religious purposes.


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Pilgrims' Way is an old trackway in southern England, running from Winchester, in Hampshire, to Canterbury, in Kent.


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Pillay, Nariana (?-?), was Singapore's first successful Indian businessman.


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Pillory was an instrument once used to punish people for minor offences.


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Pillsbury, John Sargent (1828-1901), was an American industrialist and Republican politician.


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Pilot whale is one of the largest members of the dolphin family.


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Pilotfish is a kind of fish found near the surface in most tropical seas and the warmer temperate seas.


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Pilsudski, Jozef (1867-1935), a Polish patriot, led a movement to liberate Poland from Russia and helped unite his country.


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Piltdown man was a great hoax in the study of prehistoric people.


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Pimento is the popular name of a small evergreen tree of the myrtle family.


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Pimpernel is a small annual plant that grows wild in Europe and Asia.


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Pimple is a red, raised skin blemish that usually contains pus.


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Pindar (522?-443 B.C.) was the greatest lyric poet of ancient Greece.


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Pindling, Sir Lynden (1930-...), was prime minister of the Bahamas from 1967 to 1992.


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Pine is any of a large group of evergreen trees that have needlelike leaves and bear cones.


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Pine Gap is about 25 kilometres southwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory of Australia.


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Pine-tree shilling was a silver coin minted by American colonists in Boston, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, from 1667 to 1682.


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Pineal gland, also called pineal body, is a tiny organ in the brain of human beings and most other vertebrates (animals with a backbone).


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Pineapple is a tropical plant known for its juicy, fragrant fruit.


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Pinero, Sir Arthur Wing (1855-1934), ranks second to George Bernard Shaw as the most successful and productive English playwright of the period around 1900.


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Pink is any one of a group of flowering plants that botanists have named Dianthus, the Greek word for Jove's flower.


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Pink bollworm is an insect that attacks cotton plants in many parts of the world and can cause crop losses of up to 25 per cent.


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Pinkerton, Allan (1819-1884), an American detective, in 1850 established one of the first detective agencies in the United States.


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Pinkie, Battle of, took place in 1547 when the Duke of Somerset, Protector of England, led an army into Scotland to try to enforce a marriage between Mary, Queen of Scots, and the young Prince Edward (later Edward VI of England).


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Pinochle is a card game played with a special pack consisting of 48 cards.


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Pinon is the name of four varieties of small, scrubby pine trees that grow in the semiarid regions of the Southwestern United States.


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Pint is a unit of capacity in the British imperial and U.S. customary systems of weights and measures.


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Pintail is a freshwater duck with a long tail.


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Pinter, Harold (1930-...), is an English playwright.


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Pintubis, also spelled Bindubis, are Aboriginal people who live in the Great Sandy Desert of Western Australia.


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Pinworm, also called threadworm, is a small roundworm.


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Pinza, Ezio (1892-1957), an Italian bass singer, became famous for his deep, melodious voice and skillful acting.


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Pioneer life in Australia and New Zealand.  The early pioneers who settled in Australia and New Zealand before 1850 were mainly British farmers.


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Pipe is a musical instrument that is the ancestor of our present pipe organ and all other wind instruments.


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Pipe is a tube used to transport liquids and gases from one place to another.


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Pipe is a device used for smoking tobacco.


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Pipefish gets its name from its long snout, which looks like a tube or pipe.


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Pipeline is a system of pipes that transports certain substances over long distances.


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Piper, John (1903-1992), became one of the United Kingdom's leading artists.


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Pipis are shellfish that live just below the surface of sloping, sandy beaches.


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Pipit is a small songbird that mainly lives in grassland.


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Piraeus (pop. 179,967) is the third largest city in Greece.


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Pirandello, Luigi (1867-1936), an Italian author, won the 1934 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Piranesi, Giovanni Battista (1720-1778), was an Italian printmaker known for his etchings of ancient Roman architecture.


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Piranha is a sharp-toothed fish that lives in lakes and rivers throughout most of South America.


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Pirate is a person who attacks and robs ships.


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Pire, Dominique Georges, (1910-1969), a Belgian priest, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1958 for his work in aiding people who had to flee their homelands after World War II (1939-1945).


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Pirenne, Henri (1862-1935), was a Belgian historian.


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Pirie, Gordon (1931-...), was one of Britain's outstanding athletes during the 1950's.


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Pirogue is a special kind of dugout canoe, used for fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.


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Pisa (pop. 104,334) is an old city of Italy famed for its marble bell tower (see LEANING TOWER OF PISA).


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Pisa, Council of, met in 1409 in Pisa, Italy, to resolve the Great Schism, a split within the Western Christian church.


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Pisano, Giovanni (1248?-1314?), was an Italian sculptor and architect.


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Pisano, Nicola (1210?-1278?), was an Italian sculptor, as was his son, Giovanni.


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Pisces, the Fishes, is a constellation (group of stars) in the Northern Hemisphere, the twelfth sign of the zodiac.


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Pisistratus (?-527 B.C.) was a popular ruler of ancient Athens.


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Pissarro, Camille (1830-1903), was a French impressionist painter.


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Pistachio nut, sometimes called a green almond, is the small seed of the pistachio tree.


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Pit bull is a name commonly applied to any of several breeds or crossbreeds of dogs usually having some mixture of bulldog and terrier.


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Pitcairn Island is a small, isolated island in the South Pacific Ocean.


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Pitch is a black, gluelike substance that is left behind when coal tar or petroleum is distilled.


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Pitch is the characteristic of a sound determined by the frequency of vibration of the sound waves.


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Pitchblende is a variety of uraninite, a mineral that consists chiefly of uranium and oxygen.


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Pitcher plant is the name of some green plants that have pitcher-shaped leaves that form traps for insects.


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Pitjantjatjara are an Australian Aboriginal people.


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Pitlochry is a summer resort in the Scottish Highlands.


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Pitman, Sir Isaac (1813-1897), a British schoolmaster, invented phonetic shorthand, a system of rapid writing that uses 38 symbols to represent the sounds of vowels and consonants.


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Pitohui is the name of six species of songbirds found only in the forests of New Guinea.


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Pitt is the family name of two British statesmen.


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Pitta is the name of about 20 species (kinds) of brightly coloured ground birds of the tropics of Africa, Asia, and Australasia.


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Pitti Palace is the largest palace in Florence, Italy.


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Pittman, Key (1872-1940), an American politician, served in the U.S. Senate as a member of the Democratic party from 1913 until his death.


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Pittosporum is a genus (group) of small evergreen shrubs and trees.


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Pittsburgh (pop. 369,879; met. area pop. 2,054,705), Pennsylvania, U.S.A., is one of the great steelmaking centres of the world.


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Pituitary gland is one of the body's most important glands.


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Pius IV (1499-1565) was elected pope in 1559.


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Pius V, Saint (1504-1572), was elected pope in 1566.


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Pius VII (1742-1823) was elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 1800.


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Pius IX (1792-1878) was elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 1846.


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Pius X, Saint (1835-1914), was elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 1903.


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Pius XI (1857-1939) was elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 1922.


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Pius XII (1876-1958) was elected pope of the Roman Catholic Church in 1939.


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Pizarro, Francisco (1478?-1541), was a Spanish conqueror.


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Plaatje, Solomon Tshekisho (1875?-1932), was a black South African writer and political leader.


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Placebo is a substance that doctors sometimes use as a medicine, even though it contains no active ingredient.


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Placenta is a disc-shaped organ that develops in pregnant women.


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Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person's literary, artistic, or musical work as one's own.


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Plaice is a commercially important flatfish of European waters.


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Plain is a broad, nearly level stretch of land with no abrupt changes in elevation.


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Planck, Max Karl Ernst Ludwig (1858-1947), was a German theoretical physicist who concentrated on the study of thermodynamics.


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Plane table is an instrument used in surveying and mapmaking.


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Plane tree is one of several species of large trees with flaking bark, bristly spherical seedballs, and long-stalked palmate leaves.


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Planet is any of nine large objects that orbit the sun.


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Planetarium is a device that shows the changing positions of the sun, moon, stars, and planets by projecting lights on the inside of a dome.


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Plankton is the mass of tiny organisms that drifts at or near the surface of oceans, lakes, and other bodies of water.


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Plant.  Plants grow in almost every part of the world.


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Plantagenet was the family name of a line of kings that ruled England from 1154 to 1399.


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Plantain is the common name of a group of low-growing herbs, several of which are weeds.


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Plantation is a large land area where workers usually grow a single crop.


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Plasma, in physics, is a form of matter composed of electrically charged atomic particles.


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Plaster is a mortar coating that is applied to the inside wall surfaces and ceilings of buildings to make them more airtight and to provide a finished surface.


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Plaster of Paris is a white powder that, when mixed with water to form a paste, will turn hard in a few minutes.


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Plastic explosive is a puttylike explosive that can be hidden easily because it can be moulded into any shape.


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Plastic surgery is a field of medicine that specializes in the repair or reshaping of defects of the body.


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Plastics are man-made materials that can be shaped into almost any form.


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Plate tectonics is a theory that explains the origin of most of the major physical features of the earth's surface.


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Plateau is a raised section of land that covers a considerable area.


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Platform tennis is a variation of tennis which originated in 1928 in the United States.


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Plath, Sylvia (1932-1963), was an American poet and fiction writer.


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Platinum is a chemical element with symbol Pt.


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Plato (427?-347?  B.C.) was a philosopher and educator of ancient Greece.


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Platypus is one of only two mammals that reproduce by laying eggs.


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Plautus (254?-184 B.C.) was an important Roman writer of comedy.


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Play, in recreation, is any activity performed for amusement.


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Player, Gary (1935-...), a South African sportsman, became one of the world's leading golfers in the 1960's and early 1970's.


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Playford, Sir Thomas (1896-1981), was premier of South Australia from 1938 to 1965.


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Playground is an outdoor area set aside for play.


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Plea bargaining is a practice in which the defendant in a criminal case agrees to plead guilty instead of going to trial.


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Plebeians were commoners in the early Roman Republic.


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Plebiscite is a vote of the people on any question.


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Plecoptera is an order of insects that lay their eggs in water.


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Pledge of Allegiance is a solemn promise of loyalty to the United States.


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Pleistocene Epoch was a geologic time period in the earth's history.


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Plekhanov, Georgi Valentinovich (1856-1918), was a leading advocate and interpreter of Marxist ideas in Russia during the late 1800's and early 1900's.


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Plesiosaur was a prehistoric marine animal that lived about 200 million years ago.


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Pleura is a thin membrane that lines the thoracic cavity (chest cavity) and covers the lungs.


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Pleurisy is a general term for inflammation of the pleura, the membrane that lines the inside of the chest and covers the lungs (see PLEURA).


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Plexus, in anatomy, is a network of intertwining parts.


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Plimsoll, Samuel (1824-1898) was a British coal merchant and member of Parliament who won fame because of his interest in the welfare of sailors.


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Plimsoll mark, or Plimsoll line, is a load-line marking on the side of a ship's hull.


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Pliny is the family name of an uncle and a nephew who were Roman writers.


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Plique-a-jour is a delicate type of enamelling.


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Ploiesti (pop. 199,269; met. area pop. 254,592) is the centre of the Romanian oil industry.


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Plotinus (205?-270?), was the founder of a school of Greek philosophy known as Neoplatonism.


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Plotter is a printer used to draw large blueprints, schematic diagrams, and similar illustrations.


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Plough is a tool used to prepare soil for planting.


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Plovdiv (pop. 350,438) is Bulgaria's second largest city.


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Plover is the name for a group of small, stout shore birds.


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Plowright, Joan (1929-...), became a leading British actress in the late 1950's with fine performances in such plays as The Entertainer.


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Plug-in software consists of programs that increase a computer's ability to access files on the World Wide Web portion of the Internet (the global computer network).


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Plum is a popular fruit that is eaten fresh or used to make jams, jellies, and preserves.


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Plumage is the overall feather covering of a bird.


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Plumb line, also called plummet, is a string or line with a weight attached to one end.


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Plumbago, also called leadwort, is the name of about a dozen species of evergreen flowering shrubs and climbing plants.


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Plumbing is a system of pipes that carries water into and out of a building.


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Plunket, Lord (1864-1920), was governor of New Zealand from 1904 to 1910.


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Plunket System.  A system of child welfare and training for children's nurses developed in New Zealand.


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Plunkett, Sir Horace Curzon (1854-1932), was a pioneer of the cooperative farming movement in Ireland.


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Plunkett, Saint Oliver (1625-1681), was Roman Catholic archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland from 1669 until his death.


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Plutarch (A.D. 46?-A.D. 120?), a Greek biographer and essayist, became famous for his work, Parallel Lives of Illustrious Greeks and Romans.


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Pluto is usually the most distant planet from the sun.


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Pluto was the god of the dead in Roman mythology.


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Plutonium is a chemical element with the symbol Pu.


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Plymouth (pop. 238,800), is a seaport in Devon, on the southwest coast of England.


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Plymouth Brethren are members of a small Christian sect.


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Plywood is a building material usually made of an odd number of thin layers of wood glued together.


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Plzen (pop. 174,555) is an important city in Bohemia, a region in the Czech Republic.


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Pneumatic tool is a power implement operated by compressed air.


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Pneumatics is the branch of physics that studies the properties of gases, especially air.


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Pneumonia is a lung disease characterized by inflammation.


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Pneumothorax is air or gas in the space between the lungs and the chest wall.


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Po River is the largest waterway in Italy.


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Pocahontas (1595?-1617) was the daughter of the American Indian chief, Powhatan.


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Podgorica (pop. 117,875) is the capital and largest city of Montenegro, one of the two republics of Yugoslavia.


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Podgorny, Nikolai Viktorovich (1903-1983), served as president, or officially as chairman, of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, from 1965 to 1977.


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Podzol is a type of soil that is commonly found in coastal areas and cooler regions of Australia and New Zealand.


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Poe, Edgar Allan (1809-1849), was a great American poet, short-story writer, and literary critic.


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Poet laureate is the official poet of a state or nation, especially the United Kingdom.


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Poetry is an arrangement of words in patterns of sound and meaning.


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Pohnpei is the largest island of the eastern Caroline Islands.


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Poincare, (Jules)-Henri (1854-1912), a French mathematician and philosopher of science, solved a variety of problems in mathematics and physics.


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Poincare, Raymond (1860-1934), served four times as premier of France, and was president of France from 1913 to 1920.


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Poinciana, also known as the flamboyant tree, is one of the finest of all tropical flowering trees.


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Poinsettia is a plant that has tiny flowers surrounded by large, coloured bracts (special leaves).


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Pointer is a dog used to hunt pheasants and other game birds.


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Pointing the bone is a magic ritual used by Australian Aborigines with the intention of injuring or killing their enemies.


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Poison is any substance that kills living things or makes them ill.


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Poison ivy is a kind of harmful vine or shrub in the cashew family.


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Poison oak is a type of plant related to poison ivy and poison sumach.


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Poisonous plant is any plant that is injurious to human beings or to animals.


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Poitier, Sidney (1927-...), is an American film actor who became a symbol of the breakthrough of black performers in U.S. films.


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Poitiers, Battle of, is the name of three events.


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Poker is a card game in which players make bets on the cards they hold or hope to hold.


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Pokeweed is a tall, branching perennial herb with greenish-white flowers and a red stem.


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Poland is a large central European nation that borders on the Baltic Sea.


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Polar bear is a large, white bear of the North.


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Polarized light consists of light waves that have a simple, orderly arrangement.


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Polding, John (1794-1877), became the first Roman Catholic bishop of Australia in 1835, and was made archbishop of Sydney during a visit to Rome in 1847.


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Pole.  The earth is constantly rotating (spinning) on an imaginary line called an axis.


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Pole, Reginald (1500-1558), a Roman Catholic cardinal, became archbishop of Canterbury in 1556.


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Pole vault is a men's event in athletics.


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Polecat is a small mammal that belongs to the weasel family.


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Police are public employees who enforce the law and maintain order.


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Police laboratory is a laboratory where experts analyse, identify, and interpret evidence connected with a crime.


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Police state is any nation or other political unit in which the government allows its law enforcement agencies to maintain order through terror.


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Poliomyelitis, also called polio, is a serious infection caused by a virus.


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Polish is a preparation that may be used on wood, metal, and other surfaces to produce a glossy finish.


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Polish Corridor was a narrow strip of territory taken from Germany and granted to Poland after Germany's defeat in World War I (1914-1918).


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Politburo was the political bureau of the Central Committee that controlled the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1919 to 1991.


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Politi, Leo (1908-1996), was an American artist, and author/ illustrator of children's books.


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Political parties are organized groups of people who control, or seek to control, a government.


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Political science is the systematic study of political life.


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Polk, James Knox (1795-1849), was president of the United States from 1845 to 1849.


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Poll tax is a tax levied equally on all the citizens of a community.


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Pollaiuolo, Antonio Del (143?-1498), was an Italian sculptor and painter.


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Pollen consists of tiny grains that are produced in the male organs of flowering and cone-bearing plants.


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Pollock, also spelled pollack, is a food fish related to the cod.


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Pollock, Jackson (1912-1956), was an American artist who had an important influence on modern painting as a leading figure in the abstract expressionist movement.


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Polly Woodside was the last sailing ship to be operated in Australian waters.


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Polo is a ball game played on horseback on an outdoor or indoor field.


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Polo, Marco (1254-1324?), an Italian trader and traveller, became famous for his travels in central Asia and China.


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Polocrosse is an outdoor sport played on horseback.


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Polonaise is a dignified national dance of Poland which developed from the promenade.


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Polonium is a chemical element with symbol Po.


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Polyanthus is the name of several hybrid primroses (see HYBRID).


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Polybius (204?-122?  B.C.), was a Greek historian.


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Polycarp, Saint (A.D. 69?-155?), a disciple of John the Evangelist, became Bishop of Smyrna (now Izmir), Turkey.


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Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) is any of a group of synthetic compounds formed by substituting atoms of chlorine (chemical symbol, Cl) for atoms of hydrogen (H) in a compound called biphenyl.


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Polycrates (^? ^-522?  B.C.), ruled the Greek island of Samos from about 540 to 520 B.C. He made Samos a centre of the arts and built many public works, including an aqueduct and a temple to the goddess Hera.


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Polyester is any of a group of widely used plastics materials.


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Polyethylene is a major synthetic polymer, an essential ingredient of plastics.


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Polygamy can refer either to a system in which a man has more than one wife at a time, or, less commonly, to a system in which a woman has more than one husband at a time.


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Polygon is a plane figure bounded by line segments, called sides.


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Polyhedron is a solid figure bounded by four or more flat surfaces called faces.


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Polymer is a large, long, chainlike molecule formed by the chemical linking of many smaller molecules.


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Polymerization is a chemical process important in the production of plastics, artificial fibres, synthetic rubber, and paints.


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Polymorphism is the occurrence of three or more distinct types of adults in a species.


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Polystyrene is a glasslike, lightweight plastics material used in a variety of goods.


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Polytheism is the idea that the sacred appears in many gods rather than in one God.


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Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a strong, durable plastics material.


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Pomare, Sir Maui (1876-1930), was a Maori leader.


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Pomegranate is the fruit of a plant raised in warm climates.


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Pomerania was a former Prussian province in an area that is now divided between Germany and Poland.


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Pomeranian is the name of a breed of small dog.


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Pompadour, Marquise de (1721-1764), was a mistress of King Louis XV of France.


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Pompallier, Jean Baptiste Francois (1801-1871), a Roman Catholic missionary, established the Roman Catholic Church in New Zealand.


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Pompano is the name of several species of saltwater fish.


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Pompeii was an ancient city in Italy that disappeared after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79.


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Pompey the Great (106-48 B.C.) was an outstanding Roman general and statesman.


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Pompidou, Georges Jean Raymond (1911-1974), served as president of France from 1969 to 1974.


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Ponce de Leon, Juan (1474-1521), was a Spanish explorer.


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Pond is a small, quiet body of water that is usually shallow enough for sunlight to reach the bottom.


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Pond-skater is the name of several species of water insects that have piercing and sucking mouthparts.


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Pondicherry (pop. 789,416) is a union territory of southeastern India.


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Pondweed is a plant that grows in water, especially calm water.


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Ponomarev, Boris Nikolaevich (1905-...), was a leading official in the Communist Party of what was the Soviet Union.


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Ponta Delgada (pop. 21,813) is the most important city and port of the Portuguese Azores.


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Pontiac (1720?-1769), a chief of the Ottawa tribe, was an important American Indian leader during the 1760's.


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Pontifex was a member of the board of officials that supervised the religious activities of ancient Rome.


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Pontine Marshes is a swamp area in Italy that covers about 70,820 hectares south of Rome, between Cisterna and Terracina.


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Pontoon bridge is a bridge supported by pontoons (flat-bottomed boats), metal cylinders, or other portable floats.


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Pontoppidan, Henrik (1857-1943), a Danish novelist and short story writer, shared the 1917 Nobel Prize in literature.


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Pontus was an ancient area on the south shore of the Black Sea in Asia Minor.


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Pony club branches are organized to teach young people to ride and to know and care about horses and horsemanship.


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Pony express was a United States mail delivery service that operated between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California, in 1860 and 1861.


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Poodle is the name of a breed of intelligent, friendly dog.


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Poole (pop. 130,900), is a port and a unitary authority with all the local government powers within its boundaries.


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Poor laws were designed to give help and relief to poor people in Britain.


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Poor Richard's Almanac was an almanac written and published by Benjamin Franklin (see ALMANAC).


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Pop art is an art movement that originated in England in the 1950's but became best known in the United States during the 1960's.


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Popcorn is a type of maize that is a popular snack food in the United States.


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Pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church.


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Pope, Alexander (1688-1744), was the greatest English poet of the early 1700's.


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Popish Plot (1678) was a fictional Roman Catholic conspiracy invented by two Englishmen, Titus Oates and Israel Tonge (see OATES, TITUS).


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Poplar is any one of a group of fast-growing trees that are found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.


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Popocatepetl is a volcanic mountain that lies about 64 kilometres southeast of Mexico City.


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Poppy is the common name for several related groups of flowers.


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Popular music is music that has mass appeal--that is, music that is enjoyed by a very large proportion of the population.


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Popular sovereignty was a doctrine that developed during the controversy over slavery that is part of the history of the early United States.


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Population of a country or other area is the total number of people who live in it.


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Populism was an American political movement that attained its greatest strength during the 1890's.


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Porcelain is a type of ceramics highly valued for its beauty and strength.


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Porcupine is an animal that has long, soft hairs and strong, stiff quills on its back, sides, and tail.


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Porcupinefish, also called spiny puffer, is a kind of fish that has sharp, protective spines covering its body.


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Pore is the tiny opening of a skin gland.


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Porgy is a fish that lives in shallow areas of warm seas.


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Porosity is the existence of many small holes or spaces in a material.


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Porphyry (233-304), a philosopher in the Neo-Platonic group, described how all the qualities people attribute to things may be classified.


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Porpoise is the name of several sea mammals closely related to dolphins.


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Porritt, Lord (1900-1994), served as governor-general of New Zealand from 1967 to 1972.


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Port is a place where ships and boats load and unload passengers and cargoes.


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Port Arthur (pop. 150) is a town in Tasmania, Australia, that was once a penal settlement for convicts.


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Port-au-Prince (pop. 738,342) is the capital and largest city of Haiti.


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Port Augusta (pop. 14,966), is a city in South Australia.


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Port Broughton (pop. 587) is a small resort in South Australia.


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Port Chalmers (pop. 2,871), lies 14 kilometres from Dunedin on the western shore of Otago Harbour in the South Island of New Zealand.


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Port Elizabeth (pop. 303,353; met. area pop. 825,799) is a leading seaport and industrial city in Eastern Cape.


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Port Elliott is a resort on Horseshoe Bay, about 80 kilometres south of Adelaide, in South Australia.


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Port Hedland (pop. 12,596), is a town on the northwestern coast of Western Australia.


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Port Kembla, in New South Wales, is one of the fastest-growing industrial areas in Australia.


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Port Latta, on the northwest coast of Tasmania, Australia, was built specifically to export iron ore from the Savage River mine.


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Port Lincoln (pop. 11,809), is a city at the southern end of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia.


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Port Louis (pop. 138,482) is the capital, largest city, and leading port of Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean.


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Port Macquarie (pop. 22,884) is a town in New South Wales, Australia.


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Port Macdonnell (pop. 682), is the most southerly settlement in South Australia.


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Port of Melbourne, in Victoria, is Australia's largest general cargo port.


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Port Moresby (pop. 152,100) is the administrative centre of Papua New Guinea.


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Port of entry is any place established by a government to receive foreigners, imports, and customs duties.


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Port-of-Spain (pop. 59,649) is the capital and trade centre of Trinidad and Tobago, an island country northeast of South America.


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Port Phillip Bay is a large inlet of Bass Strait, on the southern coast of Victoria, Australia.


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Port Pirie (pop. 14,398), is a leading provincial city in South Australia, and the state's closest port to the rich silver-lead-zinc mines at Broken Hill.


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Port Said (pop. 399,793) is an Egyptian city that lies at the junction of the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea.


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Port Sudan (pop. 206,727), the main port of Sudan, lies on the Red Sea, 402 kilometres northeast of Atbara.


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Port Talbot (49,900) is a town and local government district in West Glamorgan, South Wales.


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Port Victoria (pop. 258) is a small coastal town in South Australia, named in 1839 by Robert Cock after the schooner used to explore the Spencer Gulf.


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Portage is the carrying of goods or boats overland between two bodies of water, or around some obstacle such as a waterfall or river rapids.


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Portal, Lord (1893-1971), Charles Frederick Algernon Portal, was commander-in-chief of the Royal Air Force's Bomber Command in 1940.


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Porter is the family name of two United States naval officers, father and son.


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Porter, Cole (1891-1964), was an American songwriter famous for his witty lyrics and for imaginative melodies.


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Porter, Fitz-John (1822-1901), an American soldier, became the central figure in a celebrated military inquiry.


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Porter, Gene Stratton (1863-1924), was an American writer of sentimental outdoor stories.


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Porter, Hal (1911-1984), an Australian short-story writer, poet, playwright, and novelist, gained renown during the 1960's.


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Porter, Katherine Anne (1890-1980), was an American writer noted mainly for her short stories.


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Portland (pop. 10,136) is a town on Portland Bay in Victoria, Australia.


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Portland (pop. 437,319; met. area pop. 1,239,842) is a city in the United States.


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Portland, Duke of (1738-1809), was twice prime minister of Britain.


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Porto (pop. 330,199; met. area pop. 1,550,800) is Portugal's second largest city.


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Porto Alegre (pop. 1,108,883; met. area pop. 2,232,370) is the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil.


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Porto-Novo (pop. 144,000) is the official capital of Benin, West Africa.


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Portsmouth (pop. 174,700), is a city in Hampshire, England.


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Portugal is the westernmost country of continental Europe.


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Portuguese discovery of Australia has been the subject of debate among experts for nearly 200 years.


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Portuguese language is the official language of Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, and Angola.


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Portuguese man-of-war is a floating creature found in warm seas throughout the world.


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Portuguese water dog is a breed of dog noted for its exceptional swimming ability.


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Portulaca is the name of a group of herbs with dainty red, yellow, pink, white, or purple flowers.


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Positivism is a variation of the philosophical theory called empiricism.


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Positron emission tomography (PET) is a technique used to produce images of the chemical activity of the brain and other body tissues.


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Possession Island is a small, hilly, grass-covered island situated west of Cape York on the far northeastern coast of Australia.


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Possum is a furry mammal that lives in the trees of Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands.


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Post, Wiley (1899-1935), a pioneer American aviator, was the first person to make a solo flight around the world.


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Post office is a place where mail is handled and where postage stamps, other postal materials, and services are sold.


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Postal order, or money order, is a document ordering that a sum of money be paid to a certain person.


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Postal Union, Universal (UPU), is a specialized agency of the United Nations that sets rules for the free flow of mail between countries.


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Poster is a printed sheet of paper or cardboard that is displayed in public.


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Postimpressionism is the name applied to several styles of painting that arose in western Europe, especially France, in the 1880's and 1890's.


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Post-modernism is a term often applied to artistic styles that emerged in the mid-1900's.


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Posture is the position of a person's body while standing or sitting.


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Potash is the commercial name for a group of salts containing the element potassium.


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Potassium is a chemical element with symbol K. It is a silvery metal.


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Potato is the world's most widely grown vegetable and one of the most important foods.


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Potentilla is the name of several types of flowering shrub.


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Potentiometer is a device that measures electric current, voltage, and resistance with high precision.


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Potsdam (pop. 138,737) is a German city that stands on the Havel River, about 24 kilometres southwest of Berlin.


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Potsdam Conference was the last meeting among the leaders of the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States during World War II (1939-1945).


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Potter, Beatrix (1866-1943), was an English author and illustrator known for her charming children's stories about small animals.


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Potter, Dennis (1935-1994), a British playwright, author, and journalist, became well known for his television plays.


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Potter, Stephen (1900-1969), a British author, became widely known for his humorous books.


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Potteries is the name given to a district of northern Staffordshire, England, devoted to the manufacture of china and earthenware.


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Potter's field is a free burial ground for strangers, criminals, and people too poor to pay funeral expenses.


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Pottery is a type of decorative or useful ware made of baked clay.


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Potto is a small animal that lives in western Africa.


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Poulenc, Francis (1899-1963), was a French composer.


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Poultry are birds that are bred to provide meat and eggs for people.


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Pound, also called pound sterling, is the monetary unit of Great Britain and some other countries.


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Pound is a common unit of weight in the British system of weights and measures used before the adoption of the metric system, and is the customary system used in the United States and several other English-speaking countries.


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Pound, Ezra Loomis (1885-1972), was an American poet and critic.


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Poussin, Nicolas (1594-1665), was the most highly respected French painter of his age.


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Poverty is the state or fact of being in want.


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Powder horn was an instrument for carrying the gunpowder used in muzzle-loading muskets.


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Powder metallurgy is a process that reduces metals to powdered form and presses the powder into certain somewhat restricted shapes.


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Powell, Anthony (1905-...), an English writer, is best known for his 12-volume series of novels called A Dance to the Music of Time.


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Powell, Cecil Frank (1903-1969), was a British physicist.


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Powell, John Wesley (1834-1902), was an American geologist, an authority on irrigation, and a student of Amerindians.


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Power, in arithmetic, is the product of a number multiplied by itself a specified number of times.


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Power, in physics, is the rate of doing work.


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Power, in the social sciences, is the ability of persons or groups to impose their will on others.


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Power, Harry (1819-1891?), was an Australian bushranger.


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Power House Museum in Sydney, Australia, displays items of science and technology from Australia's past.


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Power of attorney is a legal, written document, usually in the form of a deed.


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Power plant is any system that generates power.


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Powers, Hiram (1805-1873), was one of the best-known American sculptors of the mid-1800's.


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Powys is the family name of three brothers, all of whom achieved fame as writers.


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Poynting, John Henry (1852-1914), was a British physicist whose most important research was on the theory of electromagnetism.


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Poznan (pop. 575,100) is a city that lies on the Warta River in west-central Poland.


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Praetor was a law official in ancient Rome.


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Praetorian Guard was the personal guard of the Roman emperors.


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Praetorius, Michael (1571-1621), a German composer of church music, became known also as a music historian.


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Pragmatic sanction was a type of decree concerning church or state matters issued by European rulers.


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Pragmatism is a philosophy that attempts to apply the methods of science to philosophy.


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Prague (pop. 1,189,828) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic and an important centre of culture and learning.


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Prairie is a region of flat or hilly land covered chiefly by tall grasses.


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Prairie chicken is the name of two species of North American grouse.


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Prairie dog is a burrowing rodent that lives in grassy regions of western North America.


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Prambanan is the name given to a group of Hindu temples near Yogyakarta, in central Java, Indonesia.


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Pramudya Ananta Tur (1925-...) is one of Indonesia's greatest writers of the 1900's.


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Prasad, Rajendra (1884-1963), was a prominent leader of the nationalist struggle in India.


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Praseodymium is one of the rare-earth chemical elements.


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Pratap Sinha, Rana (1540-1597), an Indian king, is regarded as a hero in the state of Rajasthan.


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Pratincole is the name given to 16 species of birds with long pointed wings and a forked tail.


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Pravda was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union until the Communist Party lost control of the Soviet government in 1991.


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Praxiteles was one of the greatest Greek sculptors of the 300's B.C. He was one of the first sculptors to humanize the Greek gods and goddesses, a departure from the stern, remote, awe-inspiring figures of previous Greek sculptors.


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Prayer refers to reverent words and thoughts directed toward God, gods, goddesses, or other objects of worship.


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Prayer Book is the service book of the Church of England.


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Predestination is the belief that God foresees and wills from all eternity that some individuals will be saved.


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Preferential voting is the process used in federal and state parliamentary elections in Australia.


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Pregnancy, also called gestation, is the period during which a female carries a developing baby within her body.


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Prehistoric animal is any animal that lived more than 5,500 years ago--that is, before people invented writing and began to record history.


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Prehistoric people are human beings who lived before writing was invented about 5,500 years ago.


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Prejudice is an opinion formed without taking the time or care to judge fairly.


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Prelate is the title of a high-ranking church official.


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Prelude is a piece of music played as an introduction to other music, or before a play or an opera (see OVERTURE).


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Premature birth occurs when a woman gives birth to a baby before the pregnancy reaches full term.


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Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a condition that affects many women 3 to 10 days before the beginning of their menstrual period.


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Premier is the head of the cabinet in some countries of the world.


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Premiers' conference is an annual meeting between the premiers of the six Australian states and representatives of the Australian federal government.


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Prendergast, Maurice Brazil (1859-1924), was an American painter and illustrator.


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Prentice, Reginald Ernest (1923-...) was a United kingdom politician and government minister.


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Preposition, in grammar, is a word that introduces a word or phrase and connects that word with the word it modifies.


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Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was a group of seven young English artists and writers who wanted to reform England's art.


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Presbyterians form a large group of Protestant denominations in English-speaking countries.


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Prescott, John (1938-...), a British politician, became deputy prime minister and secretary of state for transport, the environment, and the regions, in 1997.


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Prescott, William Hickling (1796-1859), an American historian, wrote chiefly about Spain and its relations with the New World and with the Protestant Reformation.


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Preseli Pembrokeshire (pop. 69,600) is the most westerly local government area in Wales.


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Presentation software consists of computer programs used to prepare text and illustrations for viewing on a film screen.


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President is a title used by some heads of state or leaders of national governments.


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President of the United States is often considered the most powerful elected official in the world.


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Presley, Elvis (1935-1977), became the most popular American singer in the history of rock music.


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Pre-Socratic philosophy is a term for the theories developed by Greek philosophers from about 600 B.C. to 400 B.C. These philosophers are called pre-Socratic because most of them preceded Socrates, the famous philosopher of Athens.


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Press gangs were groups of seamen used to obtain conscripts (involuntary recruits) for Britain's Royal Navy until the early 1800's.


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Pressure is defined as force per unit area.


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Prester John (or Presbyter John) was a legendary Christian priest and king.


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Preston (pop. 126,200) is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire, in England.


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Prestwick is a small town in South Ayrshire, in southern Scotland.


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Pretenders were two claimants to the throne of England, the son and the grandson of James II.


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Pretoria (pop. 525,583; met. area pop. 1,025,790) is the administrative capital of South Africa and its fourth largest city.


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Prevailing westerly is a wind that blows over the North and South middle latitudes from west to east.


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Prevert, Jacques (1900-1977), was probably the most popular French poet of the mid-1900's.


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Previn, Andre (1929-...), is an American conductor, pianist, and composer.


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Priam, in Greek mythology, was the last king of Troy and ruler of the city during the Trojan War with Greece.


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Pribilof Islands are four hilly islands in the Bering Sea.


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Price is the amount of money for which something can be bought or sold.


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Price, Leontyne (1927-...), an American singer, ranks among the most celebrated sopranos of her time.


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Price, Richard (1723-1791), was a Welsh Nonconformist minister and an influential writer.


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Price control is a method used by a government to influence prices for the benefit of producers or consumers.


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Prickly ash is one of a group of trees or shrubs.


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Prickly heat is a skin rash of tiny, red pimples that itch.


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Prickly pear, also called nopal or cholla, is a type of cactus with prickly fruit that are shaped somewhat like a pear or fig.


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Pride's Purge was one of the most decisive events of the English Civil War.


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Pridham, John Theodore (1879-1954), was one of Australia's greatest plant breeders.


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Priest, in many religions and religious denominations, is the title of certain members of the clergy.


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Priestley, John Boynton (1894-1984), was an English novelist, playwright, and journalist who wrote his novels in the realistic tradition of the 1800's.


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Priestley, Joseph (1733-1804), an English clergyman and chemist, shares the credit for the discovery of oxygen with Carl Wilhelm Scheele of Sweden (see OXYGEN).


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Primary election, in the United States, is a method of selecting candidates to run for public office.


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Primate is a member of the group of mammals made up of human beings and the animals that resemble them most closely.


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Prime minister is the head of the government in the United Kingdom and many other countries.


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Primo de Rivera, Miguel (1870-1930), Marques de Estella, was a Spanish army general.


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Primogeniture is a system of inheritance widely used in Europe for hundreds of years.


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Primrose is the common name of a group of plants that usually flower in early spring.


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Prince is a title of the highest rank of the nobility.


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Prince consort is the husband of a reigning queen.


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Prince Edward Island (pop. 134,557) is the smallest but most densely populated province of Canada.


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Prince of Wales is the title given to the first male heir to the throne of the United Kingdom.


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Princes in the Tower were the two young sons of Edward IV of England.


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Princess Royal is a title bestowed by the British monarch upon his or her eldest daughter.


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Printing is one of our most important means of mass communication, along with radio, television, and films.


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Prion, also called whalebird, is any of six species of sea birds.


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Prion is a microscopic particle that causes scrapie, a disease of sheep and goats.


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Prior, James (1927-...), a British Conservative politician, served from 1981 to 1984 as secretary of state for Northern Ireland.


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Prism is a solid that has two parallel bases joined by three or more lateral surfaces (sides).


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Prison is an institution for confining and punishing people who have been convicted of committing a crime.


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Prison hulks were ships used to accommodate British convicts.


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Prisoner of war, or POW, is a captured member of a warring country's armed forces.


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Pritchard, Sir John (1921-1989), a British opera and orchestral conductor, was chief conductor of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Symphony Orchestra from 1982 to 1989.


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Privateer is a privately owned armed vessel.


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Privy Council is an honorary council appointed by the Crown of Great Britain.


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Privy Seal is an official stamp that was once used on public documents in Britain.


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Probability.  When we say that one event is more probable than another, we mean it is more likely to happen.


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Probate.  When people die, their wills must be admitted to probate (proved to be genuine).


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Probation is a judicial act that allows a convicted criminal to remain free in society instead of serving a sentence in prison.


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Proboscis monkey is a large, leaf-eating monkey that lives on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia.


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Procaine is a drug used to block pain sensation in a specific part of the body.


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Proclamation is an executive notice issued under the authority of the head of a country.


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Proclamation Day is the day on which the South Australians celebrate the proclamation of the colony of South Australia.


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Procter, Michael John (1946-...), was an outstanding South African cricketer.


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Procurator fiscal is an officer of the judicial system in Scotland.


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Production is a major step in the series of economic processes that bring goods and services to people.


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Profit is the amount of money a company has left over from the sale of its products after it has paid for all the expenses of production.


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Profit sharing.  Many employers share part of their profits with their employees.


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Progeria is an extremely rare disorder that causes premature aging in children.


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Progesterone is a hormone produced mainly by the ovaries and the placenta in female animals during the years when they are able to bear young.


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Programming is the planning of operations to be performed by computers or other automatic machines.


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Progression, in mathematics, is a sequence of related numbers or symbols called terms.


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Progressive Conservative Party has been one of the two major political organizations of Canada.


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Progressive Democrats (PD's) are the third largest political party in the Republic of Ireland.


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Progressive movement was a campaign for economic, political, and social reform in the United States.


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Prohibition is the prevention by law of the drinking of alcoholic beverages.


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Projection screen is a square or rectangular device on which films or slides are shown.


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Projector is a device used to show pictures on a screen.


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Prokhorov, Alexander Mikhailovich (1916-...), is a Russian physicist.


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Prokofiev, Sergei Sergeyevich (1891-1953), was a major Russian composer.


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Prologue is an introduction to a play or other writing.


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Prometheus, in Greek myths, was a member of the earliest race of gods, called Titans.


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Promethium is a chemical element with symbol Pm.


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Promissory note is an unconditional and irrevocable promise made in writing to pay a specified sum of money, on demand or at a given date, to a designated person.


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Pronghorn is a graceful, hoofed animal that lives in North America.


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Pronoun is a part of speech used in place of a noun.


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Pronunciation is the process or action of saying words.


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Propaganda is one-sided communication designed to influence people's thinking and actions.


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Propeller is a device for producing motion that has blades mounted on a power-driven shaft.


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Property tax is a tax collected from the owners of buildings, land, and other taxable property, including business equipment and inventory.


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Prophet, in religion, is a person who claims to have been given a message by God which must be communicated to others.


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Prophylaxis means any treatment that protects a person from a disease.


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Proportion is a relationship of equivalence between two ratios.


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Proportional representation is a system of electing members of a legislature.


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Prose is the language of everyday speech and writing.


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Prospecting means searching for valuable mineral deposits.


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Prostaglandin is the name of a group of important chemical compounds.


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Prostate gland, is an organ of the male reproductive system.


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Prosthetics is a branch of medicine that deals with supplying artificial parts for the body.


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Prostitution is the performance of sexual acts for payment.


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Protea is the name of a large group of shrubs and trees that grow mainly in South Africa.


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Protective coloration is colouring that protects a plant or animal from its enemies.


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Protectorate is a weak country that is controlled by a stronger country.


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Protein is one of the three main classes of foods essential to the body.


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Protestant ethic is a set of attitudes that stress the moral value of work, self-discipline, and personal responsibility.


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Protestantism is the general name for hundreds of Christian denominations and sects that differ slightly or greatly from one another.


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Protist is the name of a group of organisms, most of which are microscopic.


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Protocol is a document containing a record of talks carried on by diplomatic representatives.


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Proton is a positively charged subatomic particle.


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Protoplasm is a term that means the living matter of cells.


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Protozoan is a one-celled organism that may have plantlike or animallike characteristics.


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Protractor is a device for measuring the size of angles.


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Proudhon, Pierre Joseph (1809-1865), was a French socialist and reformer.


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Proust, Joseph Louis (1754-1826), was a French chemist.


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Proust, Marcel (1871-1922), was a French author.


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Proverb is a brief saying that presents a truth or some bit of useful wisdom.


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


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Province, in Roman times, was a conquered district ruled by an official from Rome.


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Provisional government is a temporary government frequently set up during or after a revolution or other disorder.


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Prune is a sweet plum that has been dried.


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Pruning is the cutting away of plant parts, such as branches, shoots, buds, or roots.


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Prussia was a powerful military nation in north-central Europe, for hundreds of years.


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Prussian blue is a dark blue solid substance with a coppery lustre.


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Prussic acid, also known as hydrocyanic acid, is called prussic acid because it was first obtained from Prussian blue (see PRUSSIAN BLUE).


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Prut is an important river in south-central Europe.


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Przewalski's horse, also called Przhevalski's horse, is a species of horse which once roamed central Asia in herds.


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Psaila, Carmelo (Dun Karm) (1871-1961), a Maltese priest, came to be regarded as Malta's national poet.


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Psalms, Book of, is a collection of 150 poems or songs in the Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible.


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Pseudonym is a fictitious name taken by authors and other people who wish to conceal their true identities or simply to be known by another name.


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Psi particle, also called a J particle, is a type of subatomic particle.


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Psittacosis is a contagious disease that is carried by some birds.


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Psoriasis is a skin disease characterized by thick, raised, red patches covered with silvery-white scales.


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Psyche was a princess in ancient mythology.


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Psychiatry is the branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.


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Psychical research is the original name of a field of study that is now known as parapsychology.


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Psychoanalysis is a method of treating mental illness founded by the Austrian doctor Sigmund Freud.


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Psychological warfare uses propaganda to reach certain goals.


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Psychology is the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour.


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Psychosis is a term used to describe a severe mental illness.


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Psychosomatic medicine is the use of the methods and principles of psychology in the treatment of physical ailments.


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Psychotherapy is any treatment of mental or emotional disorders by psychological means.


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Psyllium is a herb grown in southern Europe and India.


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Ptarmigan is the name for a group of birds that resemble grouse.


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Pteridophyte, also called fern plant, is one of a large and important group of plants that are simpler in their structures than flowering plants.


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Pterosaur was a member of an extinct group of flying reptiles.


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Ptolemy (A.D. 100?-165?) was one of the greatest astronomers and geographers of ancient times.


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Ptolemy I (367?-283?  B.C.) founded a family of rulers who reigned in Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C. This family became known as the Ptolemies.


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Ptomaine poisoning is an outdated term for a type of food poisoning.


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Pu Yi (1906-1967), often called Henry Pu Yi, was the last emperor of China.


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Public domain means that the right to possess or own property belongs to the public rather than to an individual.


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Public houses are places where people can go to buy alcoholic or other cold drinks.


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Public opinion refers to the opinions or views of people in a community or country on issues of public interest or concern.


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Public opinion poll is a survey to find out the attitudes, beliefs, or opinions of a large number of people.


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Public relations, commonly called PR, is an activity aimed at increasing communication and understanding between an organization or individual and one or more groups called publics.


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Public speaking.  Training in effective public speaking is an essential part of training for leadership in any field of activity.


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Public trustee is a government official who acts as a trustee of people's estates in England and Wales.


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Public utility is a business which provides an essential service to the public.


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Publishing is the process of preparing, manufacturing, and distributing books, magazines, newspapers, or other printed materials.


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Puccini, Giacomo (1858-1924), was an Italian opera composer.


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Puck, or Robin Goodfellow, a mischievous spirit or elf in English folklore, tormented people, usually in fun.


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Puckapunyal is a state military camp near Seymour in Victoria, Australia.


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Puebla is a state in east-central Mexico between Mexico City and the Gulf of Mexico.


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Puebla (pop. 1,007,170), officially Puebla de Zaragoza, one of the largest cities in Mexico, stands 105 kilometres southeast of Mexico City.


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Puerto Rico is an island in the Caribbean Sea about 1,600 kilometres southeast of Florida, U.S.A. It is a commonwealth (dependent territory) of the United States.


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Puffball is a fungus that produces a ball-shaped fruit with spores completely enclosed.


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Puffer is a type of fish that can inflate its body like a balloon.


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Puffin, also called sea parrot, is a bird that lives in the Arctic waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.


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Pug is a small dog with a short nose and a tail that curls tightly over its back.


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Pugachev, Emelian Ivanovich (1742?-1775), a Russian soldier, led a revolt against Russian landowners in 1773 and 1774.


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Puget, Peter (1762?-1822), a British naval officer and explorer, played an important part in the exploration of the north Pacific Coast of North America.


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Puget Sound is a large, irregular inlet in the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Washington.


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Pugh, Clifton (1924-1990), an Australian painter, won the Archibald Prize for portrait painting at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia, in 1965, 1971, and 1972.


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Pugin was the family name of three British architects who had a great influence upon the revival of Gothic architecture in the 1800's.


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Pukeko is a colourful New Zealand bird that lives in swamps, lake shores, and poorly drained farmland.


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Pulaski, Casimir (1747?-1779), a Polish nobleman and soldier, won fame for his role with the Continental Army in the American Revolution (1775-1783).


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Puli is a medium-sized sheepdog originally bred in Hungary.


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Pulitzer, Joseph (1847-1911), was a Hungarian immigrant who became one of the greatest American newspaper publishers in history.


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Pulley is a wheel over which a rope or belt is passed for the purpose of transmitting energy and doing work.


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Pullman, George Mortimer (1831-1897), was an American inventor and businessman.


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Pulsar is an object in space that sends out regular bursts of electromagnetic radiation, mainly in the form of radio waves.


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Pulse is caused by a stretching of the arteries that takes place after each heartbeat.


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Pumice is a greyish-white natural glass with many tiny holes.


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Pump is a device that moves or compresses liquids and gases.


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Pumpkin is a vegetable related to marrows.


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Pun is a humorous use of words that sound alike or nearly alike but have different meanings.


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Punch and Judy are the main characters in a type of comic puppet show popular in England.


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Punctuation is the use of certain marks in writing and printing to make the writer's meaning clear.


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Pune (pop. 1,203,351), formerly called Poona, is a city in western India.


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Punic Wars were three struggles between ancient Rome and Carthage.


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Punjab region occupies a vast plain in southern Asia.


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Pupa is the relatively inactive stage in the metamorphosis (development) of most insects.


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Pupfish is any of about 30 species of small fish that live mainly in springs and streams in the Southwestern United States and Mexico.


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Pupin, Michael Idvorsky (1858-1935), was a Serbian-American electrical engineer, educator, and inventor.


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Puppet is an artificial figure whose movements are controlled by a person.


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Purbeck (pop. 42,600) is a local government district in the south of Dorset, England.


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Purcell, Henry (1659?-1695), was an English composer during the baroque period.


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Purgatory is a state, according to Roman Catholic tradition, in which people who have died atone for their sins before being admitted to the vision of God in heaven.


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Purim is a joyous Jewish festival celebrated in February or March, on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar.


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Puritans were members of a religious and social movement of the 1500's and 1600's.


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Purple flag flower, also called wild iris, belongs to a genus (group) of plants that grow mainly in Australia, but also extend north to the Philippines.


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Purslane is the name of about 40 species (kinds) of fleshy leaved trailing, annual plants.


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Purus River is one of the chief tributaries of the Amazon River.


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Pus is a yellow-white liquid that the body produces during infection.


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Pusan (pop. 3,516,807) is the second largest city and the major port in South Korea.


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Pusey, Edward Bouverie (1800-1882), an English theologian, was one of the founders of the Tractarian movement (see TRACTARIANS).


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Pusey, Nathan Marsh (1907-...), an American educator, served as president of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A., from 1953 to 1971.


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Pushkin, Alexander (1799-1837), is considered Russia's greatest poet.


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Pushtuns are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.


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Pussy willow, also called goat willow or great sallow, is a shrub or small tree belonging to the willow family.


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Putnam, Herbert (1861-1955), an American librarian, served as Librarian of Congress from 1899 to 1939.


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Putty is a filler material that is soft when applied, but slowly hardens.


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Pye, Hugh (1860-1942), was an outstanding breeder of wheat strains in Australia.


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Pygmalion was a sculptor and king of Cyprus in Greek legend.


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Pyle, Howard (1853-1911), an American painter, became one of the most influential illustrators of his time.


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Pym, Francis Leslie (1922-...), an English politician, was the Conservative Party government's secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs from 1982 to 1983.


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Pym, John (1584-1643), was a prominent English parliamentarian during the 1600's.


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Pyongyang (pop. 2,639,448) is the capital and largest city of North Korea.


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Pyramid, in geometry, is a solid figure with triangular faces that meet at a common point.


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Pyramids are large structures with square bases and four smooth, triangular-shaped sides that come to a point at the top.


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Pyramus and Thisbe are young lovers in an ancient legend.


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Pyrenean sheepdog is the smallest of four breeds of French sheepdogs.


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Pyrenees is a mountain chain that forms a natural barrier between France and Spain.


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Pyrethrum is the name of a group of flowers, native to southwestern Asia, that give us an insect powder and medicine.


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Pyrite, or "fool's gold," as it is sometimes called, is a compound of iron and sulphur.


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Pyromania refers to an uncontrollable urge to start fires.


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Pyrometry is a system of measuring temperatures.


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Pyroxene is any of a group of minerals that play an important part in the formation of many kinds of rocks.


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Pyrrho of Elis (361?-270?  B.C.) was the founder of Scepticism, a philosophical movement of ancient Greece.


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Pyrrhus (318?-272 B.C.) was a king of Epirus in Greece.


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Pythagoras (580?-^? ^B.C.) was a Greek philosopher and mathematician.


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Pythagoras' theorem, in geometry, states that in a right-angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides.


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Pytheas was a Greek explorer who lived in the late 300's B.C. Pytheas slipped by a blockade set up by the Carthaginian navy at Gibraltar in order to explore the northern coasts of Europe.


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Python is a large snake that lives in southeastern Asia, India, the East Indies, Africa, and Australia.


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Q is the 17th letter of the English alphabet.


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Qaboos bin Said (1940-...), became sultan of Oman in 1970.


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Qadhafi, Muammar Muhammad al- (1942-...), took over the leadership of Libya's government in 1969.


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Qandahar, also spelled Kandahar (pop. 191,345), is the second largest city of Afghanistan.


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Qantas is Australia's only international airline.


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Qatar is a small Arab country in southwestern Asia.


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Qin dynasty, also spelled Ch'in, was a Chinese dynasty (family of rulers) that governed from 221 B.C. to 206 B.C. The dynasty began after Shi Huangdi, ruler of the state of Qin in northwestern China, conquered rival northern and central states.


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Qu Yuan (340?-278?  B.C.), was a great patriotic poet of ancient China.


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Quadrilateral is the name given to a plane figure with four straight sides--that is, a four-sided polygon.


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Quadrillion is a thousand million millions in the United States and France.


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Quagga was a species (kind) of zebra that lived in South Africa and became extinct in the wild during the 1860's.


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Quail is a type of small bird that belongs to the same family as pheasants and partridges, grouse, turkeys, and guineafowl.


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Quakers is the popular name for members of the Religious Society of Friends.


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Quandong is a small, slim tree that grows in the dry parts of Australia.


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Quango is an organization set up by the British government to carry out work on many projects.


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Quantock Hills are a ridge of hills in western Somerset, England.


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Quantum electrodynamics is a theory concerning the interaction of electrons and electromagnetic radiation.


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Quantum mechanics is a field of physics that describes the structure of the atom and the motion of atomic particles.


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Quarantine is the isolation of certain people, places, or animals that may carry danger of infection.


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Quark Quark is one of three families of particles that serve as "building blocks" of matter.


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Quarrying is a method of taking large solid blocks or broken masses of stone from the earth and preparing them for construction projects.


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Quart is a unit of capacity or volume for both dry and liquid substances.


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Quarter is a United States coin worth 25 cents, or a quarter (fourth) of a dollar.


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Quarter days are four days that each mark the beginning of one quarter of the year.


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Quartz is a common mineral that occurs in many types of rocks.


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Quartzite is a rock composed chiefly of the mineral quartz.


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Quasar is an extremely luminous object at a great distance from our galaxy.


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Quasicrystal is a solid composed of atoms arranged in an orderly pattern that differs from the pattern in a crystal.


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Quasimodo, Salvatore (1901-1968), an Italian poet, won the 1959 Nobel Prize for literature.


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Quayle, Dan (1947-...), served as vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993, during the term of President George Bush.


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Queanbeyan (pop. 24,943) is a city on the Queanbeyan River in New South Wales, Australia.


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Quebec (pop. 6,895,963) is the largest province of Canada.


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Quebec (pop. 167,517) is the capital city of the province of Quebec and the oldest city in Canada.


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Quebec, Battle of, settled the fate of the French empire in America.


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Quebec Conferences were two strategic conferences that took place in the Canadian city of Quebec during World War II (1939-1945).


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Quebracho is a type of South American tree that grows mainly in Argentina and Paraguay.


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Queen is the title of a woman who rules a kingdom in her own right, or who is the wife of a king.


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Queen Alexandra Range is a mountain range in Victoria Land, part of Ross dependency, Antarctica.


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Queen, Ellery, was the pen name of two American cousins, Frederic Dannay (1905-1982) and Manfred B. Lee (1905-1971), who became successful detective-story writers.


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Queen Anne's Bounty was a fund that Queen Anne of Great Britain (now the United Kingdom) established in 1704 to supplement the incomes of the poorer clergy.


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Queen Anne's War was the second of four wars fought between England and France for control of North America.


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Queen Charlotte Islands are an archipelago (chain of islands) south of Alaska.


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Queen Charlotte Sound is the most easterly of the Marlborough Sounds, a group of fiords on the northern coast of the South Island of New Zealand (see FIORD).


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Queen Maud Mountains are a range of rugged mountains in Antarctica.


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Queen Victoria Building is a historic building in George Street, Sydney.


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Queens is the largest of New York City's five boroughs (districts) in area.


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Queen's Awards for Export and Technology are awarded to companies in the United Kingdom for outstanding achievement in increasing exports or in technological innovation (using new methods or producing new products).


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Queen's birthday is celebrated in the United Kingdom on a Saturday early in June, not on the Queen's actual birthday, April 21.


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Queen's evidence.  In the United Kingdom, when a person accused of a crime volunteers, and is permitted, to give evidence against others involved in the crime, he or she is said to have turned Queen's evidence.


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Queensberry, Marquess of (1844-1900), John Sholto Douglas, a Scottish sportsman, sponsored the modern boxing code that came to bear his name see QUEENSBERRY RULES.


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Queensberry Rules are a set of rules for boxing matches.


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Queensland, the second largest state in Australia, lies in the northeast of the continent.


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Queenstown (pop. 3,593), is a town in western Tasmania, Australia.


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Queenstown (pop. 3,659), is the most popular tourist resort in the South Island of New Zealand.


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Quemoy is the name of a group of islands about 8 kilometres off the coast of China, in the Taiwan Strait.


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Queretaro is a mountainous state in central Mexico.


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Quesnay, Francois (1694-1774), was a French economist who made some of the earliest contributions to the development of economics.


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Quetta (pop. 285,719) is a city in western Pakistan.


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Quetzal is a brilliantly coloured bird of the trogon family (see TROGON).


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Quevedo, Francisco de (1580-1645), was the leading Spanish humanist of the 1600's.


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Quezon, Manuel L. (1878-1944), served as first president of the Philippines Commonwealth from 1935 until his death.


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Quezon City (pop. 1,666,766) is a beautiful city in the Philippines.


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Quick, Sir John (1852-1932), an English-born lawyer in Victoria, was one of the founding fathers of federation in Australia.


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Quicksand is a deep mass of extremely fine sand.


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Quiller-Couch, Sir Arthur (1863-1944), was a British novelist, essayist, poet, and literary critic.


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Quilter, Roger (1877-1953), an English composer, is best remembered for his songs.


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Quince is a type of attractive shrub or small tree that is closely related to apple and pear trees.


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Quinine is a bitter tasting substance that is taken from the bark of the cinchona tree.


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Quinn, Ruari (1946-...), was Ireland's minister of finance from 1994 to 1997 in the coalition government led by John Bruton.


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Quinoa is a grain plant native to the Andes Mountains of South America.


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Quintilian (A.D. 35?-95?), was a Roman teacher of oratory.


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Quintillion is a million million millions in the United States and France.


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Quintuplets are five babies born to the same mother at one time.


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Quirinal Hill is the northernmost of the famous seven hills of Rome.


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Quirinal Palace was the residence of the kings of Italy from 1871 until 1946.


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Quirino, Elpidio (1890-1956), was president of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953.


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Quirinus was one of the three principal gods in Roman mythology during the early history of Rome.


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Quiros, Pedro Fernandez de (1565-1615), a Portuguese navigator, sighted Vanuatu in 1606.


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Quisling, Vidkun Abraham Lauritz (1887-1945), was a Norwegian traitor of World War II (1939-1945).


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Quit India Movement was one of the last organized attempts made by Indian nationalists to expel the British from India.


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Quito (pop. 1,281,849) is the capital of the Republic of Ecuador.


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Quoits is a game in which players toss a metal ring, called a quoit, at a peg, called a mott.


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Quokka is a small wallaby with a short tail, small feet, and short ears that barely project above its long fur.


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Quorum is a certain number, or proportion, of members of an organization required by parliamentary law to be present before the group can transact business.


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Quota International is a service organization of executives and professionals who work to help people with hearing and speech disabilities.


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Quran is the sacred book of the Muslims.


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Qwaqwa was one of ten homelands (nation states) set up by the South African government under the former policy of apartheid (enforced racial separation).


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R is the 18th letter of the English alphabet.


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Rx is a symbol used on prescriptions written by doctors.


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Rabat (pop. 518,616) is the capital of Morocco.


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Rabaul (pop. 14,937), on New Britain, is the busiest port in Papua New Guinea.


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Rabbi is the title given to an ordained Jewish minister.


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Rabbit is a furry animal with long ears and a short, fluffy tail.


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Rabelais, Francois (1494?-1553?), a French humanist, wrote the comic narrative Gargantua and Pantagruel.


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Rabies is an infectious disease that destroys the nerve cells of part of the brain and almost always causes death.


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Rabin, Yitzhak (1922-1995), served as prime minister of Israel from 1974 to 1977 and from 1992 until his death in office in 1995 He was shot and killed by a right-wing Jewish extremist while leaving a peace rally in Tel Aviv on November 4, 1995.


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Raccoon is a furry animal that has a bushy, ringed tail and a band of black hair around its eyes.


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Raccoon dog is a member of the dog family that has thick fur with markings similar to a raccoon.


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Race relations laws protect people from being discriminated against on grounds of race.


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Races, Human.  All human beings are descended from people who lived hundreds of thousands of years ago.


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Rachel, in the Old Testament of the Bible, was the favourite wife of Jacob.


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Rachmaninoff, Sergei Vassilievich (1873-1943), was a Russian composer and director and one of the greatest pianists in music history.


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Racine, Jean (1639-1699), ranks among the greatest French playwrights.


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Racism is the belief that human beings can be divided into races and that members of some races are inferior to members of other races.


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Rack was an instrument of torture often used in the Middle Ages.


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Rackham, Arthur (1867-1939), an English artist, won wide recognition for his illustrations for children's books.


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Racquetball is a fast, exciting game played mostly in the United States.


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Radar is an electronic system used to detect and locate moving or fixed objects.


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Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. (1881-1955), a British anthropologist, helped develop present-day American and British anthropological theories.


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Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli (1888-1975), was an Indian philosopher and statesman.


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Radian is a metric unit used to measure angles.


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Radiation is energy given off in the form of waves or small particles of matter.


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Radiation sickness is the term for a variety of symptoms that follow a person's exposure to damaging amounts of certain types of radiation.


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Radiator is a set of pipes or tubes that gives off heat to its surroundings.


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Radical, in chemistry, is a group of two or more charged or neutral atoms that have at least one unpaired electron.


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Radicalism is a political philosophy that emphasizes the need to find and eliminate the basic injustices of society.


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Radio is one of our most important means of communication.


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Radio, Amateur, is a popular hobby in which an individual operates his or her own radio station.


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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a nonprofit corporation made up of two radio networks that broadcast to countries in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.


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Radio telescope is an instrument that collects and measures faint radio waves given off by objects in space.


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Radiocarbon, or carbon 14, is a radioactive isotope of carbon.


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Radiochemistry is a field of chemistry that involves the study of radioactive elements.


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Radiogeology is the science that deals with the relation of radioactivity to geology.


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Radiology is the field of medicine that uses X rays and other means of creating images of the body to diagnose and aid in the treatment of diseases.


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Radiosonde is an instrument used by meteorologists to take soundings (measurements) of the upper air.


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Radish is a plant grown for its fleshy root.


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Radisson, Pierre Esprit (1640?-1710?), was a French explorer and fur trader.


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Radium is a chemical element with symbol Ra.


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Radium Hill was a uranium-mining centre in South Australia, about 100 kilometres southwest of Broken Hill.


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Radnorshire (pop. 23,200) was a local government area in central Powys, Wales.


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Radon is a radioactive chemical element that occurs naturally as a gas. The gas is produced by the radioactive decay (breakdown) of radium, a metallic element found in nearly all soil and rocks.


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Raeburn, Sir Henry (1756-1823), was the leading Scottish portrait painter of his day.


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Rafferty, Chips (1909-1971), was an Australian film actor.


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Rafferty, Tony (1939-...), an Irish-born long-distance runner, set several world records.


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Raffia is a fibre made from the leafstalks of certain varieties of palm trees.


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Raffles, Sir Stamford (1781-1826), an official of the British East India Company, was the founder of modern Singapore.


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Raffles Bay is located at the eastern end of the Cobourg Peninsula in the Northern Territory, Australia.


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Rafflesia is the name of a small genus of plants which have huge flowers but no leaves or stems.


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Rafsanjani, Ali Akbar Hashemi, (1934-...), was president of Iran from 1989 to 1997.


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Raft is one of the simplest kinds of watercraft.


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Rafting is an outdoor recreational activity in which small groups of people float down a river on rafts.


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Ragtime is a kind of music that uses strongly syncopated melody and a regularly accented accompaniment.


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Ragweed is the name of several weeds which are common in North America.


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Ragwort is the name of many species of plants with flat-topped clusters of small yellow-rayed flowers.


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Raikes, Robert (1735-1811), an English publisher, first developed Sunday schools on an extensive scale.


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Rail is the common name of a family of marsh birds that live throughout most of the world.


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Railway is one of the most important means of transportation.


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Railway, Model, is a small railway that copies the appearance and operation of a full-sized railway.


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Rain is a form of precipitation that consists of drops of water.


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Rain dance is a ceremony performed by American Indians of the Southwestern United States to ask spirits to send rain for their crops.


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Rain gauge is an instrument used to measure the amount of rain that falls in a certain place during a specific period of time.


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Rain shadow areas occur where mountain ranges bar the path of moist onshore winds.


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Rain tree, also called monkeypod tree, is a shade tree that grows in tropical climates.


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Rainbow is an arch of brilliant colours that appears in the sky when the sun shines during or shortly after a shower of rain.


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Rainbow Warrior was a vessel owned by Greenpeace, an international environmental organization, for use in antinuclear protest voyages.


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Raine Island is a small coral island on the Great Barrier Reef, off the Queensland coast of Australia.


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Rainier III (1923-...) became prince of Monaco in 1949.


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Rainmaking, also called cloud seeding, is a process that makes rain fall from a cloud.


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Raisa, Rosa (1893-1963), a dramatic soprano, was especially popular for many years with audiences in Italy and Chicago, U.S.A. Born in Bialystok, Poland, she fled from there at the age of 14.


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Raisbeck, Rosina (1916-...), a noted Australian singer, was a principal soprano for the Covent Garden Opera Company (now Royal Opera) in Covent Garden, London, during the late 1940's and early 1950's.


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Rajagopalachari, Chakravarti (1879-1972), was an Indian nationalist leader.


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Rajah is a title taken from the Sanskrit word rajan, which means king.


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Rajaraja I was probably the greatest ruler of the Chola Empire in southeastern India.


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Rajasthan is a state in the northwest of India.


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Rake is a machine used to gather mowed hay and place it in long piles called windrows.


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Raksha-Bandhan is a Hindu festival that takes place wherever Hindu communities live, especially in Northern India.


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Raleigh, Sir Walter (1552?-1618), is one of the most colourful figures in English history.


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Rama is the hero of the Indian epic poem Ramayana (see RAMAYANA).


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Ramadan, is an Islamic holy month when Muslims may not eat or drink from morning until night.


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Ramakrishna (1836-1886) was an Indian religious leader.


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Raman, Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata (1888-1970), an Indian physicist, discovered that when a beam of light passes through a liquid or a gas, it is scattered and the frequency of some of the scattered light is changed.


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Ramanuja (1017?-1137?) was an Indian philosopher and religious teacher of devotional Hinduism.


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Ramanujan, Srinivasa (1887-1920), was an Indian mathematician.


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Ramaphosa, Cyril (1952-...), a black South African former trade union leader, was secretary general of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1996.


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Ramapithecus was a kind of ape that lived from about 14 million to 8 million years ago.


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Ramayana is one of the two great epic poems of India.


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Rambert, Dame Marie (1888-1982), helped develop English ballet.


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Rambutan is a tree native to Southeast Asia which bears bright red, or sometimes yellow, edible fruit.


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Rameau, Jean-Philippe, (1683-1764), was a French composer and musical theorist of the baroque period.


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Ramie is a perennial plant grown chiefly for its fibre.


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Ramlee, P. (1929-1973), was a talented Malaysian singer, actor, scriptwriter, and film director.


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Ramos, Fidel Valdez (1928-...), became president of the Philippines in June 1992.


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Ramp, or wild leek, is a wild onion that grows in moist woodland areas in the eastern United States.


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Rampolla, Mariano Cardinal (1843-1913), Marchese del Tindaro, became a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church and papal secretary of state in 1887.


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Ramsay, Allan (1713-1784), was a British portrait painter.


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Ramsay, Sir Bertram Home (1883-1945), was an admiral in the navy of the United Kingdom (UK).


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Ramsay, Sir James (1916-1986), a retired Australian Navy commodore, was governor of Queensland from 1977 to 1986.


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Ramsay, Sir William (1852-1916), was a Scottish chemist who, with Baron Rayleigh, isolated the first rare atmospheric gas, argon.


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Ramsden, Jesse (1735-1800), was a British mathematical-instrument maker and an inventor of optical instruments.


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Ramses II was the Egyptian pharaoh (king) who reigned from about 1290 to 1224 B.C. Ramses came to the throne at an early age.


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Ramsey, Lord (1904-1988), Baron Ramsey of Canterbury, was archbishop of Canterbury and primate of all England from 1961 to 1974.


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Ramsey, Sir Alfred (1922-...), managed the England soccer team that won the World Cup in 1966.


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Ramsgate is an English resort on the east coast of the Isle of Thanet in Kent.


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Ranching usually means raising cattle and sheep on large farms.


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Rand Corporation is a nonprofit research organization that studies various policy problems of the United States, especially those involving national defence.


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Rangefinder is a device for measuring distances.


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Rangers are specialized infantry units of the U.S. Army.


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Rangoon (pop. 1,315,964; met. area pop. 2,452,881) is the capital and largest city of Burma.


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Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), known as the Lion of the Punjab, was one of the most important figures in the history of India.


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Rank, Lord (1888-1972), Joseph Arthur Rank, was a major figure in the British film industry.


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Ranke, Leopold von (1795-1886), a German historian, persuaded historians to use critical methods and examine history objectively.


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Rankin, Dame Annabelle (1908-1986), a Liberal Party senator, in 1946 became the first Queensland woman to enter the Australian federal Parliament.


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Rankin, Robert William (1907-1942), was a lieutenant commander of the Royal Australian Navy who was in command of HMAS Yarra when it was sunk during World War II (1939-1945).


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Ransome, Arthur (1884-1967), was a British journalist and author best known for his series of children's books.


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Ranunculus is the scientific name for about 250 species of perennial plants of the buttercup family.


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Rao, P. V. Narasimha, (1921-...), was prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996.


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Rap music is a form of popular music that is generally spoken or chanted at a fast pace rather than sung.


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Rape was an administrative region in Sussex, England, dating from Saxon times.


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Rape is the crime of forcing sexual intercourse upon a person against the individual's will.


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Rape is a flowering herb of the mustard family.


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Raper, John (1939-...), an Australian Rugby League test player, is rated as one of the greatest Rugby League players of all time.


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Raphael (1483-1520), was one of the greatest and most influential painters of the Italian Renaissance.


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Rapid Bay is a town on Gulf St. Vincent, about 97 kilometres south of Adelaide, in South Australia.


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Rapid Deployment Force is a United States military force designed to move quickly to protect U.S. interests anywhere in the world.


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Rapparees were Irish marauders in the unsettled southern counties of the country in the late 1600's.


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Rare earth is any one of a group of metallic elements with atomic numbers 58 to 71.


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Rasp, Charles (1846-1907), discovered silver deposits near Broken Hill, in New South Wales, Australia, in 1883, while working as a boundary rider.


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Raspberry is a thorny bush that produces small, round, tasty fruit.


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Rasputin, Grigori Efimovich (1872?-1916), a Siberian peasant, gained the reputation of a saint and exerted harmful influence on Nicholas II, the last Russian czar, or emperor.


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Rasmussen, Knud Johan Victor (1879-1933), was a Danish Arctic explorer and authority on the Inuit, the indigenous peoples of northern America and the Arctic regions.


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Rastafarians are members of Ras Tafari, a religious and political movement that began in the Caribbean island of Jamaica in the 1920's.


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Rat is a furry mammal that looks like a mouse but is larger.


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Ratana is a Maori religious and political movement in New Zealand.


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Ratchet is a wheel or bar that can move in only one direction.


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Ratel is a badgerlike animal that lives in Saudi Arabia, India, Nepal, and much of Africa.


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Rathbone, Eleanor Florence (1872-1946), was a British social reformer.


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Ratio is an ordered pair or set that represents a relationship between numbers or quantities.


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Rational number is any number that can be expressed in the form a/b, where a is any integer and b is any integer except zero.


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Rationalism is an outlook that emphasizes human reason and its ability to answer basic questions.


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Rationing is a system used by a government to distribute scarce products among the people of a country.


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Ratnagiri (pop. 138,056) is a town on the western coast of India, facing the Arabian Sea.


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Rats of Tobruk were the Allied soldiers of World War II (1939-1945) who withstood a siege of eight months during the 1941 North Africa campaign.


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Rattigan, Sir Terence (1911-1977), was a popular British dramatist.


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Rattle is an instrument consisting of loosely connected objects arranged so that they collide with each other and make a noise when the instrument is shaken.


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Rattle, Sir Simon (1955-...), an outstanding English conductor, became principal conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) in 1980.


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Rattlesnake is any one of the poisonous snakes of the Western Hemisphere with a rattle on the end of the tail.


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Rattner, Abraham (1895-1978), was an American painter who is best known for his religious works.


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Rauschenberg, Robert (1925-...), is an American artist famous for experimenting with a variety of materials, techniques, media, and styles.


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Ravel, Maurice (1875-1937), was a French composer.


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Raven is a large all-black bird of the crow family.


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Ravenna (pop. 135,844) is a city in northern Italy, famous for its art treasures and architecture.


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Rawlings, Marjorie Kinnan (1896-1953), was an American novelist who wrote about the conflict between people and nature in the Florida backwoods.


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Rawlinson, Sir Henry (1810-1895), was a British diplomat and an expert on ancient Assyria.


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Rawsthorne, Alan (1905-1971), a leading British composer, became known for the atonal (keyless) quality of his music.


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Ray is any member of a group of about 350 species of fishes.


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Ray, John (1627-1705), a British naturalist, is regarded as the founder of systematic zoology.


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Ray, Satyajit (1921-1992), was one of India's leading film directors.


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Rayon is a manufactured fibre produced from wood or cotton.


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Raziyah, Sultana (?-1240), an Indian ruler, reigned from 1236 to 1240.


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Razor is a cutting instrument used to remove hair from the skin.


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RDX is a powerful explosive also known as cyclonite and hexogen.


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Re, also spelled Ra, was the sun god in Egyptian mythology.


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Read, Gabriel (1824-1894), a Tasmanian prospector, discovered gold in the Tuapeka district, near Dunedin, in the South Island of New Zealand on May 23, 1861.


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Read, Sir Herbert (1893-1968), was a British scholar, poet, and critic.


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Reade, Charles (1814-1884), was an English novelist and playwright.


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Reading (pop. 213,474) is a town in Berkshire, southern England.


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Reading is the act of getting meaning from printed or written words.


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Reading, Marquess of (1860-1935), Rufus Daniel Isaacs, was British viceroy of India from 1921 until 1926.


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Reagan, John Henninger (1818-1905), an American statesman, worked for government regulation of railways.


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Reagan, Ronald Wilson (1911-...), was president of the United States from 1981 to 1989.


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Realism, in the arts, is the attempt to portray life as it is.


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Reaper is a machine that farmers once used to harvest grain.


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Reason usually has three different meanings. (1) It can signify the mind, or an agency used in thinking.


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Rebus is a word game in which the placement or size of letters, numbers, or words indicates names, phrases, or other words.


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Receipt is a written statement showing that one person has paid money to another.


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Recession is a decline in overall business activity.


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Recife (pop. 1,184,215; met. area pop. 2,348,362), in northeastern Brazil, is the capital of the state of Pernambuco.


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Reconstruction was a period in United States history that followed the American Civil War (1861-1865).


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Record player is a device that reproduces sounds that have been recorded on audio records.


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Recorder, in English law, generally refers to a part-time judge of the crown court in England and Wales.


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Recorder is a type of flute that has a whistle mouthpiece.


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Recording industry is the group of businesses involved in the production and sale of records, cassette tapes, and compact discs (CD's).


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Recreation is any activity that people voluntarily pursue for personal enjoyment, relaxation, or personal satisfaction, usually during their leisure, or spare time.


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Recreational vehicle (RV) provides temporary living quarters for people who are camping or travelling on holiday.


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Rectangle is a four-sided plane figure with four right angles.


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Recycling is a process designed to collect, process, remanufacture, and reuse materials instead of throwing them away.


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Red Cross is an organization that works to relieve human suffering.


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Red deer is a large but graceful member of the deer family.


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Red River Rebellion, also called the First Riel Rebellion, occurred when the settlers in the Red River Valley of Manitoba, Canada, revolted against the Canadian government in 1869-1870.


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Red Sea is a long, narrow arm of the Indian Ocean that separates the Arabian Peninsula from northeastern Africa.


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Red shift is a shift in the wavelength of light emitted by a cosmic object toward the longer (red) wavelengths of the object's spectrum.


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Red tape is an unfavourable term used to describe the inefficiency of any large bureaucracy, public or private.


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Red tide is a term used for brownish or reddish areas of ocean, river, or lake water.


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Red-winged blackbird is the name of one of several species of New World blackbirds.


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Redback spider is a dangerous spider that is common in Australia.


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Redbridge (pop. 220,600) is a borough within Greater London, England.


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Redditch (pop. 76,900) is a new town and local government district in Hereford and Worcester, England.


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Redfern, William (1778-1833), worked to gain full rights for emancipists (pardoned convicts) during the early days of settlement in New South Wales, Australia.


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Redford, Robert (1937-...), is an American film actor and director.


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Redgrave is the surname of three distinguished British actors--Sir Michael Redgrave and his daughters Vanessa and Lynn.


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Redgrave, Steven (1962-...), is a British oarsman.


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Redmond, John Edward (1851-1918), an Irish leader, succeeded Charles Stewart Parnell as the political champion of Irish Home Rule.


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Redpoll is a small bird related to the finches.


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Redshank is a wading bird of Europe and northern Asia.


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Redstart is a woodland bird of Europe and North Africa.


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Reduction is a chemical reaction in which a substance gains electrons.


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Redwood is a forest tree that grows along the West Coast of the United States from central California to southern Oregon.


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Reece, Eric (1909-...) was premier of Tasmania from 1958 to 1969, and again from 1972 to 1975.


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Reed is a common name for four kinds of tall, slender grass plants.


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Reed is a family that became prominent in publishing in both New Zealand and Australia.


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Reed, Sir Carol (1906-1976), directed many fine films, including The Stars Look Down (1939), Odd Man Out (1947), The Fallen Idol (1948), The Third Man (1949), and Our Man in Havana (1960).


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Reed, Walter (1851-1902), a medical officer in the United States Army, helped show how to control typhoid fever and yellow fever.


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Rees, Dai (1913-1983), a Welsh former golf champion and Ryder Cup team captain, won most of the major golfing events.


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Rees, Lloyd (1895-1988), an Australian artist, became known for his landscapes.


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Reeve was the holder of one of two different official positions in medieval English society.


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Reeves, Sir Paul (1932-...), was governor general of New Zealand from 1985 to 1990.


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Reeves, William Pember (1857-1932), was a politician, historian, and poet, who is noted as New Zealand's first minister of labour.


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Referendum is a vote of the people on a question.


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Reflection is the return of a wave of energy, such as light, heat, sound, or radio, after it strikes a surface.


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Reflex action is an automatic or involuntary movement provoked by a sensory stimulus, such as a pinprick on the skin.


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Reformation was a religious movement of the 1500's that led to Protestantism.


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Reformatory is a correctional institution for lawbreakers over the age of 18 who do not need maximum security.


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Refraction is the change in the direction in which waves travel when they pass from one kind of matter into another.


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Refractory is any nonmetallic material or object that can withstand high temperatures without becoming soft.


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Refrigeration is the process of producing low temperatures.


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Refugee is a person who is forced to flee his or her country of origin and seek safety elsewhere.


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Regelation is the process in which ice melts under pressure and refreezes as soon as the pressure is taken away.


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Regeneration, in plants and animals, is the capacity to replace lost or damaged parts by growing new ones.


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Regent is a person who rules a country when the rightful ruler cannot, either because he or she is too young, out of the country, or ill.


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Reger, Max (1873-1916), was a German composer and organist.


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Reggae is a type of popular music that developed in Jamaica in the 1960's.


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Regiment is a military organization responsible for housing and organizing a group of soldiers and their equipment.


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Region is a geographical area identified by some characteristic such as scenery or the nature of its economy.


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Register office, in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, is where parish records of births, marriages, and deaths are kept.


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Regression is a characteristic sign of certain mental illnesses.


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Regulus, Marcus Atilius (?-249?  B.C.), was a Roman general who became a national hero.


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Rehan, Ada (1860-1916), an American actress, was famous for her portrayal of Katherine in William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew.


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Reibey is the name of a family that took an active part in business and politics in Australia.


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Reich is a German word meaning empire or state.


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Reichstein, Tadeus (1897-1996), a Swiss chemist, shared the 1950 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine for his research on hormones of the outer cover, or cortex, of the adrenal glands.


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Reichswehr is the German term for army of the state.


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Reid, Sir George (1845-1918), was premier of New South Wales, Australia, from 1894 to 1899 and prime minister of Australia in 1904 and 1905.


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Reigate and Banstead (pop. 114,900) is a local government district in Surrey, England.


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Reims (pop. 185,164; met. area pop. 206,362) is a fortified city of northern France.


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Reincarnation is the belief that the soul survives after death and is reborn in the body of another person or some other living thing.


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Reindeer is a kind of large deer that lives in the northernmost regions of Europe and Asia.


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Reindeer moss is a type of lichen that grows in the arctic regions and sometimes farther south.


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Reiner, Fritz (1888-1963), was one of the great symphony orchestra and operatic conductors of his time.


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Reinhardt, Max (1873-1943), was an Austrian theatrical producer and director.


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Reith, Lord (1889-1971), John Charles Walsham Reith, was the first director-general of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), from 1927 to 1938.


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Relapsing fever is an infectious disease that occurs chiefly in the tropics, often as an epidemic.


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Relativity.  Einstein's theory of relativity has caught the imagination of the average person more than any other physical theory in history.


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Relief, in art, is sculpture in which the figures or designs project from their background.


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Religion.  No simple definition can describe the numerous religions in the world.


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Religious life is a term for the way of life that some people choose for becoming as holy as possible and for being of the greatest possible service to others.


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Remarkables are a range of mountains located near the southern end of Lake Wakatipu, in the South Island of New Zealand.


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Remarque, Erich Maria (1898-1970), a German-American author, wrote realistic, suspenseful novels about the horrors and effects of war.


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Rembrandt (1606-1669) was the Netherlands' greatest artist.


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Remembrance Day is observed in many Commonwealth countries to honour the memory of all the men and women who died in World Wars I and II and in other conflicts since then.


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Remington, Frederic (1861-1909), was an American artist best known for his action-filled paintings, drawings, and sculptures of cowboys and Indians.


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Remora is a fish with a sucker at the top of its head that it uses to attach itself to larger marine animals.


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Remote control is the control of a system from a distance.


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Remote sensing is a technique used to gather information about an object without actually touching it.


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Remsen, Ira (1846-1927), an American chemist, did much to promote the rapid development of science in the United States.


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Renaissance was a great cultural movement that began in Italy during the early 1300's.


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Renan, Ernest (1823-1892), was a French historian and religious scholar.


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Rene, Roy (1892-1954), was a leading Australian comedian from 1914 until his death.


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Renfrew (pop. 193,622) was a local government area in Strathclyde Region, Scotland that included the manufacturing towns of Barrhead, Johnstone, Paisley, and Renfrew.


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Renmark (pop. 7,545), is a town in South Australia near the border with Victoria.


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Rennie, John (1761-1821), a Scottish engineer and architect, constructed canals, docks, and bridges.


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Reno (pop. 133,850; met. area pop. 254,667) is a major tourist centre and the second largest city in Nevada, United States.


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Reno, Janet (1938-...), became the first woman to serve as attorney general of the United States.


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Renoir, Jean (1894-1979), was a French film director.


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Renoir, Pierre Auguste (1841-1919), a French impressionist painter, is famous for his pictures of young girls and children, and intimate portraits of French middle-class life.


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Rent commonly refers to a payment for the use of something, such as a house.


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Repeal means wiping out a law already on the books.


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Repetitive strain injury is any of a group of painful medical disorders caused by performing a similar activity over and over again.


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Repplier, Agnes (1855-1950), an American writer, was best known for her skilfully written essays.


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Reprieve is the temporary suspension of a sentence passed on a criminal.


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Reproduction is the process by which living things create more of their own kind.


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Reproduction, Human, is the process by which human beings create more of their own kind.


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Reptile is an animal that has dry, scaly skin and breathes by means of lungs.


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Repton, Humphrey (1752-1818), was an English landscape gardener.


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Republic is any form of government whose leader or leaders are elected, usually for a specific term of office.


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Republican Party is one of the two principal political parties of the United States.


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Research is the systematic investigation of a particular subject.


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Reserpine is a drug used to treat mild hypertension (high blood pressure).


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Reservoir is a place where large quantities of water are stored to be used for irrigation, power, water supply, and recreation.


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Resin is any one of a class of natural substances used in varnishes, medicines, soaps, paints, and other applications.


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Resin, Synthetic, is any one of a large group of chemical compounds that includes most of our common plastics.


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Respighi, Ottorino (1879-1936), was one of the most successful Italian composers of the early 1900's.


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Respiration is the process by which human beings and other living things obtain and use oxygen.


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Respiratory distress syndrome is a lung condition that affects premature babies.


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Responsible government was established in the colonies of Australia and New Zealand when they gained the right to govern themselves without interference from the British government.


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Restaurant is a business establishment that serves food and beverages to the public.


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Restoration was the period in English history that followed the return of the House of Stuart to the throne.


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Restormel (pop. 88,300) is a local government district in the English county of Cornwall.


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Resurrection is a religious belief that a dead person will return to life through the power of God.


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Resurrection plant is the name of several different plants that can be dried, but turn green again when they are watered.


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Reszke is the family name of two brothers who became famous opera singers.


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Retailing consists of all the activities that result in the offering for sale of merchandise or services to consumers for their own use.


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Retainer is a formal agreement between a lawyer and a client in which the lawyer agrees to take the client's case.


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Retief, Piet (1780-1838), was a South African Boer leader.


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Retriever is a hunting dog trained to retrieve (find and bring back) game that has been shot.


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Returned Services League of Australia, popularly known as the R.S.L., is an organization primarily concerned with the welfare of its members and other former servicemen and servicewomen and their dependents.


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Reunion is an island in the Indian Ocean, about 640 kilometres east of Madagascar.


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Reuter, Baron de (1816-1899), founded Reuters, one of the world's leading news services.


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Reuters is one of the world's largest news-gathering agencies.


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Revelation, Book of, is the last book of the New Testament of the Bible.


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Revere, Paul (1735-1818), was an American patriot who, in April 1775, carried news to the people of Lexington, Massachusetts, of the approach of the British.


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Revivalism is an approach to religion that emphasizes individual religious experience rather than doctrines.


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Revolution is a term that generally refers to a fundamental change in the character of a nation's government.


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Revolution of 1848 involved a series of uprisings in France, Germany, and the Austrian Empire, including parts of Italy.


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Rexroth, Kenneth (1905-1982), was an American poet.


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Rey, Jean (1902-1983), a Belgian statesman, served as chief administrator of the European Community (now the European Union) from 1967 until 1970 (see EUROPEAN UNION).


