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De Geer, Gerhard, Friherre ... Deba Habe

De Geer, Gerhard, Friherre: Swedish geologist, originator of the varve-counting method used in geochronology.
De Grey River: river in northwestern Western Australia. It rises as the Oakover River in the Robertson Range, 150 miles (240 km) southeast of Marble Bar, and flows north. Midway in its course, ...
de Havilland, Olivia: American motion-picture actress remembered for the lovely and gentle ingenues of her early career as well as for the later, more substantial roles she fought to secure.
De Havilland, Sir Geoffrey: English aircraft designer, manufacturer, and pioneer in long-distance jet flying. He was one of the first to make jet-propelled aircraft, producing the Vampire and Venom jet fighters.
de Klerk, F.W.: politician who as president of South Africa (1989-94) brought the apartheid system of racial segregation to an end and negotiated a transition to majority rule in his country. He and ...
de Kooning, Elaine: American painter, teacher, and art critic who is perhaps best known for her portraits.
de Kooning, Willem: Dutch-born American painter who was one of the leading exponents of Abstract Expressionism, particularly the form known as Action painting. During the 1930s and '40s de Kooning worked simultaneously in ...
De Koven, Reginald: American composer, conductor, and critic who helped establish the style of American light opera.
De la Gardie, Jacob Pontusson, Count: Swedish statesman and soldier who was mainly responsible for introducing advanced Dutch military methods into Sweden. He commanded the Swedish forces in Russia and against Poland and later served as ...
De la Gardie, Magnus Gabriel, Greve: Swedish statesman, head of Charles XI's administration from 1660 to 1680. During the youth of Charles XI, he headed the Council of Regency; when Charles became of age (1672), he ...
de la Mare, Walter: British poet and novelist with an unusual power to evoke the ghostly, evanescent moments in life.
de la Renta, Oscar: Dominican-born American fashion designer whose work, blending European luxury with American ease, helped define standards of elegant dressing among society circles in the late 20th and the early 21st century.
De la Rey, Jacobus Hercules: a talented and popular Boer leader in the South African War.
de la Roche, Mazo: Canadian author whose series of novels about the Whiteoak family of Jalna (the name of their estate) made her one of the most popular "family saga" novelists of the period ...
De la Rue, Warren: English pioneer in astronomical photography, the method by which nearly all modern astronomical observations are made.
De La Soul: American rap group whose debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising (1989), was one of the most influential albums in hip-hop history. The members were Posdnuos (byname ...
De La Warr, Thomas West, 12th Baron: one of the English founders of Virginia, for whom Delaware Bay, the Delaware River, and the state of Delaware were named.
De Land: city, seat (1888) of Volusia county, northeastern Florida, U.S. It is situated just east of the St. Johns River, about 25 miles (40 km) southwest of Daytona Beach. The area's ...
De Leon, Daniel: American socialist, one of the founders of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). He was one of the chief propagandists for socialism in the early American labour movement, but ...
De Long, George Washington: American explorer whose disastrous Arctic expedition gave evidence of a continuous ocean current across the polar regions.
de Man, Paul: Belgian-born literary critic, one of the major proponents of the critical theory known as deconstruction.
de Mille, Agnes: American dancer and choreographer who further developed the narrative aspect of dance and made innovative use of American themes, folk dances, and physical idioms in her choreography of musical plays ...
De Mille, James: Canadian author of more than 30 novels with a wide range of appeal, particularly noted for his wit and humour.
De Morgan, Augustus: English mathematician and logician whose major contributions to the study of logic include the formulation of De Morgan's laws and work leading to the development of the theory of relations ...
De Niro, Robert: American actor famous for his uncompromising portrayals of violent and abrasive characters.
De Palma, Brian: American motion-picture director and screenwriter best noted for his usually stylish, often graphic horror-suspense films that draw heavily on the work of director Alfred Hitchcock.
De Palma, Ralph: American automobile-racing driver, one of the most popular and successful competitors in the early days of the sport.
De Quincey, Thomas: English essayist and critic, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.
De Sanctis, Francesco: Italian literary critic whose work contributed significantly to the understanding of Italian literature and civilization.
De Sica, Vittorio: film director and actor who was a major figure in the Italian Neorealist movement.
De Smet: city, seat (1880) of Kingsbury county, east-central South Dakota, U.S. It lies about 70 miles (110 km) northwest of Sioux Falls, about halfway between Huron (west) and Brookings (east). It ...
De Tham: Vietnamese resistance fighter and enemy of French colonialism during the first two decades of French rule in Indochina.
de Toni-Fanconi syndrome: a metabolic disorder affecting kidney transport, characterized by the failure of the kidney tubules to reabsorb water, phosphate, potassium, glucose, amino acids, and other substances. When the disorder is accompanied ...
de Valera, Eamon: Irish politician and patriot, prime minister (1932-48, 1951-54, 1957-59), and president (1959-73). An active revolutionary from 1913, he became president of Sinn Fein in 1918 and founded the Fianna Fail ...
de Valois, Dame Ninette: Irish dancer, choreographer, and founder of the company that in October 1956 became the Royal Ballet. She was influential in establishing ballet in England.
de Varona, Donna: American athlete and sportscaster who, after a record-breaking amateur career as a swimmer, established herself as an advocate for women's and girls' sports opportunities.
De Vinne, Theodore L.: American author of many scholarly books on the history of typography.
De Voto, Bernard: American novelist, journalist, historian, and critic, best known for his works on American literature and the history of the Western frontier.
De Vries, Peter: American editor and novelist widely known as a satirist, linguist, and comic visionary.
De Wint, Peter: English landscape and architectural painter who was one of the chief English watercolourists of the early 19th century.
de Wolfe, Elsie: American interior designer, hostess, and actress, best known for her innovative and anti-Victorian interiors.
deacon: (from Greek diakonos, "helper"), a member of the lowest rank of the threefold Christian ministry (below the presbyter-priest and bishop) or, in various Protestant churches, a lay official, usually ordained, ...
dead reckoning: determination without the aid of celestial navigation of the position of a ship or aircraft from the record of the courses sailed or flown, the distance made (which can be ...
Dead Sea: landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan, which lies some 1,300 feet (400 metres) below sea level-the lowest elevation and the lowest body of water on the surface of the ...
Dead Sea Scrolls: ancient, mostly Hebrew, manuscripts (of leather, papyrus, and copper) first found in 1947 on the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea. Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is among the ...
deadly sin: any of the sins, usually numbering seven, dating back to the early history of Christian monasticism; they were grouped together as early as the 6th century by St. Gregory the ...
Deadwood: city, seat (1877) of Lawrence county, western South Dakota, U.S. Located just northeast of Lead and about 40 miles (65 km) northwest of Rapid City, Deadwood lies in a canyon ...
deafness: partial or total inability to hear. The two principal types of deafness are conduction deafness and nerve deafness. In conduction deafness, there is interruption of the sound vibrations in their ...
Deak, Ferenc: Hungarian statesman whose negotiations led to the establishment of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867.
Deak, Nicholas L: banker and founder of an internationally renowned retail currency-exchange service and dealer in precious metals.
Deakin, Alfred: prime minister of Australia (1903-04, 1905-08, 1909-10), who shaped many of the policies of the new commonwealth, especially those dealing with restriction of nonwhite immigration, social welfare, and protection of ...
Deakin, Arthur: leader of British trade unionism in the decade after World War II.
Deal: town, Dover district, administrative and historic county of Kent, England, on the English Channel. The town has a natural roadstead harbour, the Downs, enclosed by the North and South Forelands ...
dealfish: any of several slender marine fishes that belong to the genus Trachipterus (family Trachipteridae, order Lampridiformes), a subgroup of the ribbonfish. The dealfish inhabits the middle waters, probably not below ...
Dean, Dizzy: American professional baseball player who had a brief but spectacular pitching career with the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League. He was one of the most colourful athletes in ...
Dean, Forest of: ancient royal forest of oak and beech in western Gloucestershire, England, covering an area of about 26,000 ac (10,500 ha) between the Rivers Severn and Wye. It became a National ...
Dean, James: strikingly handsome American motion picture actor enshrined as a symbol of the confused, restless, and idealistic youth of the 1950s.
Dean, John Wesley, III: U.S. lawyer who served as White House counsel during the Nixon administration (1970-73) and whose revelation of official participation in the Watergate Scandal ultimately led to the resignation of the ...
Deane, Silas: first U.S. diplomat sent abroad (1776), who helped secure much-needed French aid for the American Revolutionary cause.
Dearborn: city, Wayne county, southeastern Michigan, U.S., adjacent to Detroit (north and east), on the River Rouge. The birthplace of Henry Ford, it is the headquarters of research, engineering, and manufacturing ...
Dearborn, Fort: blockhouse and stockade, built in 1803 because of Indian unrest, at a narrow bend in the Chicago River, northeastern Illinois, U.S., and named for Henry Dearborn, Revolutionary War hero. The ...
Dearborn, Henry: U.S. army officer, congressman, and secretary of war for whom Ft. Dearborn-the site of which is located in what is now the heart of Chicago-was named. He abandoned the practice ...
Deat, Marcel: French politician who was a leading collaborator with Nazi Germany.
death: the total cessation of life processes that eventually occurs in all living organisms. The state of human death has always been obscured by mystery and superstition, and its precise definition ...
death and gift tax: levy imposed on gratuitous transfers of property-that is, transfers made without compensation in either money or its equivalent. In this respect they differ from sales taxes imposed on transfers made ...
death mask: a wax or plaster cast of a mold taken from a dead face. Death masks are true portraits, although changes are occasionally made in the eyes of the mask to ...
Death of God movement: radical Christian theological school, mainly Protestant, that arose in the United States during the 1960s, evoking prolonged attention, response, and controversy. Though thinkers of many varied viewpoints have been grouped ...
death rate: frequency of deaths within a given population, conventionally calculated as the annual number of deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. See vital rates.
death rite: any of the ceremonial acts or customs employed at the time of death and burial.
death tax: a levy imposed on the estate left by a decedent or on the inheritance of a beneficiary. Like the gift tax, it is a levy imposed on gratuitous transfers of ...
Death Valley: structural depression primarily in Inyo county, southeastern California, U.S. It is the lowest, hottest, driest portion of the North American continent. Death Valley is about 140 miles (225 km) long, ...
death, dance of: medieval allegorical concept of the all-conquering and equalizing power of death, expressed in the drama, poetry, music, and visual arts of western Europe mainly in the late Middle Ages. Strictly ...
death-qualified jury: in law, a trial jury pronounced fit to decide a case involving the death penalty. The fitness of jurors to serve in death-punishable cases depends on their views on capital ...
deathwatch beetle: (Xestobium refuvillosum), an anobiid, or borer insect, of the family Anobiidae (order Coleoptera). These beetles tend to be small (1 to 9 millimetres, or less than 12 inch) and cylindrical. ...
Deauville: seaside resort, northern France, Calvados departement, Basse-Normandie region, at the mouth of the Touques River, opposite Trouville, across the Seine estuary from Le Havre. ...
Deba Habe: town, Bauchi State, northeastern Nigeria, on the road from Gombe to Numan. It was captured about 1810 by Buba Yero, the first Fulani emir of Gombe, and is still one ...