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African violet ... Agasias
African violet
flowering plant of the genus Saintpaulia (family Gesneriaceae), especially S. ionantha. The genus consists of about 20 species native to higher elevations in tropical eastern Africa. The plants are small, ... [2 Related Articles]
African water rat
(from the article "water rat") ...also eat crustaceans and occasionally small fish. All water rats locate prey underwater by touch with their sensitive whiskers. Most are adept swimmers and aggressive underwater predators, but the African ...
African whitewood
(from the article "Magnoliales") ...and fishing rods. Guatteria boyacana (solera, or Colombian lancewood) has most of the same properties and uses, though it is not as well known in the timber trade. Enantia chlorantha ...
African wild ass
(from the article "equine") ...Only the races of E. caballus (including the myriad domestic strains) are called horses; three species (E. zebra, E. burchelli, and E. grevyi) are called zebras; and two (E. asinus ...
African wood stork
(from the article "stork") The African wood stork (Ibis ibis), or yellow-billed stork, is about 100 cm (3 ft) tall, with a yellowish bill and red facial skin.
African-American Students Foundation
(from the article "Mboya, Tom") ...and the People's Convention Party in Nairobi. In the critical preindependence decade he also spent a year at the University of Oxford and twice visited the United States. In 1959 ...
Africanus, Sextus Julius
first Christian historian known to produce a universal chronology. [1 Related Articles]
Afridi
Pashtun tribe inhabiting the hill country from the eastern spurs of the Safid Range to northern Pakistan. The Afridis, whose territory straddles the Khyber Pass, are of uncertain origin. [1 Related Articles]
Afrika Korps
(from the article "logistics") ...World War II virtually eliminated local supply and intermediate bases and depots, in effect replacing staged resupply by a simple single-shuttle base-to-troops operation. In 1941-42 the German Afrika Korps in ...
Afrikaans language
West Germanic language of South Africa, developed from 17th-century Netherlandic (Dutch) by the descendants of European (Dutch, German, and French) colonists, indigenous Khoisan peoples, and African and Asian slaves in ... [13 Related Articles]
Afrikaans literature
(from the article "South African literature") Although Afrikaans had diverged sufficiently from its parent Dutch by about 1750 to be considered a language on its own, the first Afrikaans texts were not published until more than ...
Afrikaner
(from the article "Afrikaner") a South African of European descent whose native language is Afrikaans. They are descendants of the Boers. See Boer.for more on this topicBoer
Afrikaner Bond
(Afrikaans: "Afrikaner League"), the first political party of Cape Colony, southern Africa, founded by S.J. du Toit in 1880. In 1883 it amalgamated with J.H. Hofmeyr's Boeren Beschermings Vereeniging ("Farmer's ... [5 Related Articles]
Afrikaner Party
(from the article "National Party") ...or People's Party (Herenigde Nasionale Party, or Volksparty). The new party was weakened by wartime factionalism; and Hertzog and others with Nazi sympathies eventually walked out and formed the Afrikaner ...
Afrikaner Rebellion
(from the article "South Africa") When Britain declared war on Germany in 1914, South Africa's dominion status meant that it was automatically at war, and its troops mobilized to invade German South West Africa. This ...
Afrikaner, Jonker
(from the article "Southern Africa") ...sparse water and grazing land. At first they settled peacefully on land granted them by the local populace, some of them establishing mission communities. The advent in the 1830s of ...
Afrikaner-Broederbond
South African secret society composed of Afrikaans-speaking, Protestant, white men over the age of 25. Although its political power is evident throughout South African society, its rituals and membership-by invitation ... [1 Related Articles]
Afringan
(from the article "Gahanbar") Parsis observe the Gahanbar festivals in two stages. Four liturgical rites are first celebrated: the Afringan, being prayers of love or praise; the Baj, prayers honouring yazatas (angels) or fravashis ...
Afro-Alpine zone
(from the article "East African mountains") The succession of soils is from the raw mineral type of the summit area, through the dark peaty loams of the Afro-Alpine zone and the strong brown loams of high ...
Afro-American Unity, Organization of
(from the article "Malcolm X") ...of African Unity (known as the African Union since 2002), an intergovernmental group established to promote African unity, international cooperation, and economic development. In 1965 he founded the Organization of ...
Afro-Asiatic languages
languages of common origin found in the northern part of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and some islands and adjacent areas in Western Asia. About 250 Afro-Asiatic languages are spoken today ... [8 Related Articles]
Afro-Brazilian
(from the article "witchcraft") ...in many less developed countries, the same malign influence is cited to explain (at least in part) failure in examinations, elections, or difficulties in finding employment. Members of certain Afro-Brazilian ...
Afro-Caribbean dance
(from the article "dance") The many Afro-Caribbean dance forms are usually considered to constitute a distinct ethnic form because they share certain characteristic movements. As in Indian dance, the legs are frequently bent, with ...
Afro-Cuban
(from the article "Cuba") ...they were primarily interested in importing U.S. economic, cultural, and educational systems to the island. In addition, the U.S.-supervised electoral system was effectively racist and eliminated Afro-Cubans from politics. The ...
Afro-Cuban music
(from the article "percussion instrument") Western African idiophones introduced into the Americas with the slave trade are still flourishing. Clappers that originated among the Yoruba of Nigeria are played in Cuba; the claves, a pair ...
Afro-Shirazi Party
(from the article "Tanzania") ...state until 1992, when the constitution was amended to establish a multiparty political process. In 1977 the Tanganyika African Nationalist Union, which had led the colony to independence, and the ...
Afrocentrism
cultural and political movement whose mainly African American adherents regard themselves and all other blacks as syncretic Africans and believe that their worldview should positively reflect traditional African values. The ...
Afropithecus
(from the article "primate") ...from each other, and this led him to classify it in a separate family, Proconsulidae. Since the 1980s a number of other genera (Limnopithecus, Dendropithecus, Afropithecus, Kamoypithecus, and others) have ...
Afrotarsius chatrathi
(from the article "primate") The Eocene Tarsiidae, represented by the European species Necrolemur antiquus, found in the Quercy deposits of France, and Afrotarsius chatrathi, from the Fayum of Egypt, are likely to contain the ...
Afsharid Turkmen
(from the article "Iran") ...and partly to forestall Russian aspirations in the Caucasus, took advantage of the disintegration of the Safavid realm and invaded from the west, ravaging western Persia. Nadr, an Afsharid Turkmen ...
Afsluitdijk
(from the article "World's largest dams") shallow freshwater lake, northern and central Netherlands. It was formed from the southern part of the former Zuiderzee by the building of a dam (Afsluitdijk; completed 1932) separating the IJsselmeer ...
Aftasid dynasty
Muslim Berber dynasty that ruled one of the party kingdoms (ta'ifahs) at Badajoz in western Spain (1022-94) in the period of disunity after the demise of the ...
Aftenposten
(Norwegian: "Evening Post"), morning and evening daily newspaper published in Oslo. It is one of the leading newspapers in Norway and in all Scandinavia.
After Dark
series of interactive screensaver software created by the American software company Berkeley Systems in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The series later developed into a collection of games and ...
afterbirth
(from the article "mammal") ...wall. Villi are embedded in the lining of the uterus. The resulting complex of embryonic and maternal tissues is a true placenta. The uterine lining may be shed with the ...
afterbrain
(from the article "nervous system") ...movements initiated at cortical levels. In mammals a great mass of fibres connects the brain stem to the cerebellum; this region forms the pons, which, together with the cerebellum, constitutes ...
afterburner
second combustion chamber in a turbojet (q.v.) or turbofan engine, immediately in front of the engine's exhaust nozzle. The injection and combustion of extra fuel in this chamber provide additional ... [2 Related Articles]
aftercastle
(from the article "castle") in ship construction, structure or area raised above the main deck for combat or work purposes. The name was derived from early similarities to fortress turrets. The forecastle and aftercastle ...
aftercooler
(from the article "diesel engine") Diesel engines are often turbocharged and aftercooled. Addition of a turbocharger and aftercooler can enhance the performance of a diesel engine in terms of both power and efficiency.gasoline engines
afterdamp
(from the article "mine gas") ...an excess of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen in the air. Stinkdamp is the name given by miners to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) because of its characteristic smell of rotten eggs. ...
aftereffect
(from the article "movement perception") When a parade is interrupted after some minutes, the pavement may seem to move in the opposite direction to the marchers who have passed. Phenomena similar to this movement aftereffect ...
Afterglow
(from the article "Christie, Julie") ...of Gertrude in Kenneth Branagh's film version of Shakespeare's Hamlet (1996). She received her third Academy Award nomination for her role as a world-weary retired screen actress in Afterglow (1997). ...
afterimage
visual illusion in which retinal impressions persist after the removal of a stimulus, believed to be caused by the continued activation of the visual system. The afterimage may be positive, ... [1 Related Articles]
afterlife
(from the article "pre-Columbian civilizations") The beliefs of the Aztec concerning the other world and life after death showed the same syncretism. The old paradise of the rain god Tlaloc, depicted in the Teotihuacan frescoes, ...
afterpiece
supplementary entertainment presented after full-length plays in 18th-century England. Afterpieces usually took the form of a short comedy, farce, or pantomime, and were intended to lighten the solemnity of Neoclassical ...
afterripening
complex enzymatic and biochemical process that certain plant embryos must undergo before they will germinate. It results at least in part from rapid and extensive water loss because of the ... [4 Related Articles]
aftershaft
(from the article "bird") ...are often plumaceous-i.e., lacking in hamuli and remaining free of each other. In many birds each contour feather on the body (but rarely on the wings) is provided with a ...
aftershock
(from the article "Earth Sciences") ...on the boundary of the Australia and Sunda tectonic plates, about 160 km (100 mi) to the southeast of the epicentre of the earthquake of December 26. Some seismologists considered ...
Aftonian Interglacial Stage
major division of Pleistocene deposits and time (1,600,000 to 10,000 years ago) in North America. The Aftonian Interglacial, a time of relatively moderate climatic conditions, followed the Nebraskan Glacial Stage ...
Afula
largest city of the Plain of Esdraelon, or Valley of Jezreel (Hebrew: 'Emeq Yizre'el), northern Israel. Named for the Arab village of Al-'Affula formerly at that site, it is sometimes ... [1 Related Articles]
Afwerki, Isaias
Eritrean independence leader and president of Eritrea from 1993. [5 Related Articles]
Afyonkarahisar
city, western Turkey. It lies along the Akar River at an elevation of 3,392 feet (1,034 metres). In ancient times the town was known as Acroenus. It fell to the ...
Afzal Khan
(from the article "Sivaji") When the sultan of Bijapur, in 1659, sent against him an army of 20,000 under Afzal Khan, Sivaji, pretending to be intimidated, enticed the force deep into difficult mountain terrain ...
AG catalog
(AGK; "Astronomical Society Catalog"), compilation of the positions of all stars brighter than the ninth magnitude, compiled by the Astronomische Gesellschaft of Germany. Friedrich W.A. Argelander, founder of the society, ... [1 Related Articles]
Ag Hamani, Ahmed Mohamed
(from the article "Mali") Area: 1,248,574 sq km (482,077 sq mi) | Population (2004 est.): 11,957,000 | Capital: Bamako | Chief of state: President Amadou Toumani Toure | Head of government: Prime Ministers ...
aga
in Turkey, person of high rank or social position, especially during the era of the Ottoman Empire. Combined with the names of military units or administrative departments, it formed the ...
Aga Khan
(from the article "Shi'ite") ...and Bohra merchant communities of India and easternAfrica. The Khojas, who are descended from the Nizari branch of the Isma'ilis, continue to follow the aga khans, a lineage of Muslim ...
Aga Khan Award
(from the article "Architecture") ...of British Architects was awarded to Edward Cullinan, and the Stirling Award for the best building by a British architect went to David Chipperfield's Museum of Modern Literature in Germany. ...
Aga Khan I
imam, or spiritual leader, of the Nizari Isma'ilite sect of the Shi'ite Muslims. He claimed to be directly descended from 'Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, and 'Ali's wife ...
Aga Khan II
eldest son of the Aga Khan I. In 1881 he succeeded his father as imam, or spiritual leader, of the Nizari Isma'ilite sect of Shi'ite Muslims, and, during his short ...
Aga Khan III
only son of the Aga Khan II. He succeeded his father as imam (leader) of the Nizari Isma'ili sect in 1885. [4 Related Articles]
Aga Khan IV
elder son of Prince Aly Khan by his first wife, Joan Yarde-Buller, the daughter of the 3rd Baron Churston. Educated in Switzerland and at Harvard University, he was chosen as ...
Agacher Strip
(from the article "Burkina Faso") During Sankara's rule, tensions with Mali over the mineral-rich Agacher Strip erupted in a brief border war in December 1985. The dispute was settled in the International Court of Justice ...
Agade
(from the article "Sargon") ...through 2,000 years of cuneiform Mesopotamian history, and not from documents that were written during his lifetime. The lack of contemporary record is explained by the fact that the capital ...
Agadez
town, central Niger, at the southern edge of the Air massif. Agadez is a market town at a crossroads, 460 miles (740 km) northeast of Niamey, the national capital. Once ... [1 Related Articles]
Agadir
city, Atlantic port, southwestern Morocco. The city lies 6 miles (10 km) north of the mouth of the Sous valley. Possibly the site of the ancient Roman Portus Risadir, the ...
Agadir Incident
(from the article "Agadir Incident") event involving a German attempt to challenge French rights in Morocco by sending the gunboat Panther to Agadir in July 1911. The action incited the Second Moroccan Crisis (see Moroccan ...
Agahi, Muhammad
(from the article "Chagatai literature") Some notable Chagatai writing was also produced in Khiva during the 19th century. The two leading poets there were Shermuhammad Munis and his nephew Muhammad Agahi. Between 1806 and 1825, ...
Agaie
town and traditional emirate, Niger state, west-central Nigeria. The town lies at the intersection of roads from Bida, Baro, Tagagi, Lapai, and Ebba. Originally inhabited by the Dibo (Ganagana, Zitako), ...
Agaja
third ruler of the West African kingdom of Dahomey (1708-40), who was able to extend his kingdom southward to the coast and who consolidated and centralized it through important administrative ... [1 Related Articles]
Agalega Islands
two-island dependency of Mauritius, in the western Indian Ocean. It consists of North Island and South Island. They lie about 600 miles (1,000 km) north of Mauritius and have a ...
Agalliana ensigera
(from the article "curly top") ...geranium, pansy, petunia, strawflower, zinnia, and flax. The virus is transmitted in North America, Europe, and Asia by the beet leafhopper (Circulifer tenullus) and in South America by Agalliana ensigera, ...
Agalychnis calcarifer
(from the article "Anura") ...when in a resting position have bright colours or patterns on the flanks, groin, posterior surfaces of the thighs, and belly. For example, the South and Central American hylid
Agam, Yaacov
pioneer and leading exponent of optical and kinetic art, best known for his three-dimensional paintings and sculptures.
agama
any of about 30 species of lizards belonging to the family Agamidae (suborder Sauria). They are rather unspecialized lizards about 30 to 45 cm (12 to 18 inches) long exhibiting ... [1 Related Articles]
Agama
post-Vedic scripture conveying ritual knowledge and considered to have been revealed by a personal divinity. Shaivite scriptures, dating probably to the 8th century, are particularly so designated, in contrast to ... [3 Related Articles]
Agama agama
(from the article "agama") Agama agama, a common gray lizard with a red or yellow head, is well adapted to gardens and to the bush and grasslands. The hardun (A. stellio), ...
Agamanusarino Vijnanavadinah
(from the article "Yogacara") ...about the 2nd century AD but had its period of greatest productivity in the 4th century, during the time of Asanga and Vasubandha. Following them, the school divided into two ...
Agamassan
(from the article "Dalen, Nils") In 1906 Dalen became chief engineer of the Gas Accumulator Company, which marketed acetylene gas. He became managing director of the company in 1909 and then invented Agamassan, a substance ...
Agamemnon
in Greek legend, king of Mycenae or Argos. He was the son (or grandson) of Atreus, king of Mycenae, and his wife Aerope and was the brother of Menelaus. After ... [8 Related Articles]
Agamidae
lizard family composed of about 350 species in about 50 genera. Agamids typically have scaly bodies, well-developed legs, and a moderately long tail; average body size ranges from 10 to ...
agammaglobulinemia
(from the article "gamma globulin") ...of the other mammals, antibodies, when they are formed, occur in the gamma globulins. Persons who lack gamma globulin or who have an inadequate supply of it-conditions called, respectively, agammaglobulinemia ...
Agaoglu, Adalet
(from the article "Turkish literature") Another leading novelist born in the 1920s, Adalet Agaoglu, portrayed life from a more personal and introverted perspective than Kemal. She was one of the generation that suffered from the ...
agape
in the New Testament, the fatherly love of God for humans, as well as the human reciprocal love for God. The term necessarily extends to the love of one's fellow ... [2 Related Articles]
Agapetus I, Saint
pope from 535 to 536. Of noble birth, he was an archdeacon at the time of his election (May 13, 535). At the urging of the Ostrogothic king Theodahad, he ... [2 Related Articles]
Agapitus II
pope from 946 to 955. Elected on May 10, 946, with the support of Alberic II, he was a wise and pious administrator who endeavoured to restore ecclesiastical discipline. The ...
agar
gelatin-like product made primarily from the algae Gelidium and Gracilaria (red seaweeds). Best known as a solidifying component of bacteriological culture media, it is used also in canning meat, fish, ... [6 Related Articles]
Agar, John
American actor (b. Jan. 31, 1921, Chicago, Ill.-d. April 7, 2002, Burbank, Calif.), first achieved fame when he married (1945) Shirley Temple but then became an actor and appeared with ...
Agaricaceae
(from the article "Agaricales") ...fruiting bodies. Today, agarics are classified based on genetic relatedness, and thus they may or may not have gills, and fruiting bodies may or may not be mushroom-shaped. The best ...
Agaricales
order of fungi in the class Agaricomycetes (phylum Basidiomycota, kingdom Fungi). Traditionally, agarics were classified based on the presence of gills (thin sheets of spore-bearing cells, or basidia) and mushroom-shaped ... [1 Related Articles]
Agaricomycetes
(from the article "fungus") ...with fruiting bodies ranging from cup-shaped to cone-shaped; example genera include Dacrymyces, Calocera, and Guepiniopsis. Parasitic, pathogenic, symbiotic, or saprobic; most are terrestrial, with few aquatic members; all are ...
Agaricomycotina
(from the article "fungus") ...range in colour from cream to yellow, brown, or orange; conidia are globose to elliptical-shaped; example genus is Malassezia.Parasitic or symbiotic on plants, animals, and other fungi, some are ...
Agaricostilbales
(from the article "fungus") Parasitic or saprobic; simple-septate basidiomycetes; contains two orders.Mostly saprobic; fruiting body is septate, with uniform hyphae; some have slender basidiospores, which may germinate by budding and may be solitary ...
Agaricostilbomycetes
(from the article "fungus") Mycoparasitic; auricularoid basidia may contain mitospores; example genus is Naohidea. Parasitic or saprobic; simple-septate basidiomycetes; contains two orders.
Agaricus bisporus
(from the article "mushroom") ...any fleshy fungus fruiting structure. In a very restricted sense, mushroom indicates the common edible fungus of fields and meadows (Agaricus campestris). A very closely related species, A. bisporus, is ...
Agaricus brunescens
(from the article "germination") ...controlled mass germination of cereal seeds supplies enzymes for the making of alcoholic beverages and for other industries as well. Spores of the commercially cultivated edible mushroom Agaricus brunescens are ...
Agariste
(from the article "Pericles") His Alcmaeonid mother, Agariste, provided him with relationships of sharply diminishing political value and her family curse, a religious defilement that was occasionally used against him by his enemies. A ...
Agarkar, Gopal Ganesh
(from the article "India") ...British goods to English schools and college classrooms, and politically active Indians began to emulate the so-called "Indian Jesuits"-Vishnu Krishna Chiplunkar (1850-82), Gopal Ganesh Agarkar (1856-95), Tilak, and Gokhale-who were ...
Agartala
town, capital of Tripura state, northeastern India, lying near the Bangladesh border in an intensively cultivated plain. Situated astride the Haroa River amid numerous villages, it is the commercial centre ...
Agarwala
important mercantile caste in India, belonging to that group of merchants, bankers, landowners, and shopkeepers that are called Bania in northern and western India. According to caste tradition, its members ... [1 Related Articles]
Agasias
sculptor of Ephesus, known for his "Borghese Warrior," a statue of a warrior on foot in combat with a warrior on horseback.