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faro ... Fauresmith industry

faro: one of the oldest gambling games played with cards, supposedly named from the picture of a pharaoh on certain French playing cards. A favourite of highborn gamblers throughout Europe well ...
Faroe Islands: group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean between Iceland and the Shetland Islands. They form a self-governing region within the kingdom of Denmark. There are 17 inhabited islands and ...
Faroese language: language spoken in the Faroe Islands by some 44,000 inhabitants. Faroese belongs to the West Scandinavian group of the North Germanic languages. It preserves more characteristics of Old Norse than ...
Farouk I: king of Egypt from 1936 to 1952, whose administration was hampered by internal rivalries and whose alienation of the military led to his own downfall and to the formation of ...
Farquhar, George: Irish playwright of real comic power who wrote for the English stage at the beginning of the 18th century. He stood out from his contemporaries for originality of dialogue and ...
Farragut, David: U.S. admiral who achieved fame for his outstanding Union naval victories during the American Civil War (1861-65).
Farrakhan, Louis: African-American leader, from 1978, of the black separatist organization Nation of Islam. A compelling orator whose rhetoric often fell into overt racism and anti-Semitism, Farrakhan was nonetheless effective in encouraging ...
Farrant, Richard: English composer, choirmaster, and theatrical producer, who established the original Blackfriars Theatre, home to the outstanding children's companies of the Elizabethan era.
Farrar, Geraldine: American soprano, known for her beauty and dramatic talent and the intimate timbre of her voice.
Farrar, Margaret Petherbridge: American editor whose enormously popular series of crossword puzzle books capitalized on the nascent American passion for those diversions.
Farrell, Eileen: American soprano who achieved success in both operatic and popular music.
Farrell, James T.: American novelist and short-story writer known for his realistic portraits of the lower-middle-class Irish in Chicago, drawn from his own experiences.
Farrell, Suzanne: American dancer especially known for her performances with the New York City Ballet.
Farrer, William James: British-born Australian agricultural researcher who developed several varieties of drought- and rust-resistant wheat that made possible a great expansion of Australia's wheat belt.
Farrukh Beg: outstanding Mughal painter, praised by the Indian Mughal emperor Jahangir as "unrivaled in the age."
Farrukhabad-cum-Fatehgarh: municipality, central Uttar Pradesh state, northern India, just west of the Ganges River. The two cities form a joint municipality. Farrukhabad was founded in 1714 by Muhammad Khan Bangash, an ...
Fars: geographic region, south-central Iran. The ancient region, known as Pars, or Persis (q.v.), was the heart of the Achaemenian empire (559-330 BC), which was founded by Cyrus the Great and ...
farthingale: underskirt expanded by a series of circular hoops that increase in diameter from the waist down to the hem and are sewn into the underskirt to make it rigid. The ...
farthingale chair: armless chair with a wide seat covered in high-quality fabric and fitted with a cushion; the backrest is an upholstered panel, and the legs are straight and rectangular in section. ...
Fartlek: (Swedish: "Speed Play"), approach to distance-running training involving variations of pace from walking to sprinting aimed at eliminating boredom and enhancing the psychological aspects of conditioning. It was popularized by ...
fasces: in ancient Rome, insignia of official authority. It was carried by the lictors, or attendants, and was characterized by an ax head projecting from a bundle of elm or birch ...
Fasching: the Roman Catholic Shrovetide carnival as celebrated in German-speaking countries. There are many regional differences concerning the name, duration, and activities of the carnival. It is known as Fasching in ...
fascio siciliano: any of the organizations of workers and peasants founded in Sicily in the early 1890s, reflecting the growing social awareness of the lower classes.
fascioliasis: infection of humans and grass-grazing animals, caused by the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica, a small parasitic flatworm that lives in the bile ducts and causes a condition ...
fasciolopsiasis: infection of humans and swine by the trematode Fasciolopsis buski, a parasitic worm. The adult worms, 2-7.5 cm (0.8-3 inches) long, attach themselves to the tissues of the small intestine ...
fascism: political ideology and mass movement that dominated many parts of central, southern, and eastern Europe between 1919 and 1945 and that also had adherents in western Europe, the United States, ...
fashion: in dress and adornment, any mode of dressing that is prevalent during a particular time or in a particular place. See dress.
fashionable novel: early 19th-century subgenre of the comedy of manners portraying the English upper class, usually by members of that class. One author particularly known for his fashionable novels was Theodore Hook.
Fashir, Al-: town, northwestern Sudan, 120 miles (195 km) northeast of Nyala. A historical caravan centre, it is located at an elevation of about 2,400 feet (700 metres). The town serves as ...
Fashoda Incident: (Sept. 18, 1898), the climax, at Fashoda (Kodok), Egyptian Sudan, of a series of territorial disputes in Africa between Great Britain and France.
Fasi, al-: in full Yusuf Ibn Muhammad Ibn Yusuf Al-fasi Muslim teacher and mystic who was prominent in the intellectual life of northwest Africa.
Fasilides: also spelled Fasilidas, Fasiladas, or Basilide Ethiopian emperor from 1632 to 1667, who ended a period of contact between his country and Europe, initiating a policy of isolation that lasted ...
Fasli era: (Persian fasli: "harvest"), chronological system devised by the Mughal emperor Akbar for land-revenue purposes in North India, for which the Muslim lunar calendar was inconvenient. The word comes from the ...
Fassbinder, Rainer Werner: motion-picture and theatre director, writer, and actor who was an important force in postwar West German cinema. His socially and politically conscious films often explore themes of oppression and despair.
Fassett, Cornelia Adele Strong: American painter, perhaps best remembered for her painting of a meeting of the Electoral Commission of 1877 and her portraits of other major political figures of her day.
Fassi, Carlo: Italian-born figure-skating coach who guided four individual skaters to gold medals in the Winter Olympics.
fasti: (probably from Latin fas, "divine law"), in ancient Rome, sacred calendar of the dies fasti, or days of the month on which it was permitted to transact legal affairs; it ...
fasting: abstinence from food or drink or both for ritualistic, mystical, ascetic, or other religious or ethical purposes. The abstention may be complete or partial, lengthy or of short duration. Fasting ...
Fastnachtsspiel: carnival or Shrovetide play that emerged in the 15th century as the first truly secular drama of pre-Reformation Germany. Usually performed on platform stages in the open air by amateur ...
Fastnet Cup: trophy for sailing yachts, awarded to the winner of a race sailed from Cowes, Isle of Wight, Eng., around the Isles of Scilly to the Fastnet Rock off the southwest ...
Fastolf, Sir John: English career soldier who fought and made his fortune in the second phase of the Hundred Years' War between England and France (1337-1453). His name is immortalized through William Shakespeare's ...
fat: any substance of plant or animal origin that is nonvolatile, insoluble in water, and oily or greasy to the touch. Fats are usually solid at ordinary temperatures, such as 25° ...
fat and oil processing: method by which animal and plant substances are prepared for eating by humans.
Fata Morgana: mirage that appeared periodically in the Strait of Messina between Italy and Sicily, named in Italian after the legendary enchantress Morgan le Fay (q.v.) of Arthurian romance.
Fatah: political and military organization of Arab Palestinians, founded in the late 1950s by Yasir 'Arafat and Khalil al-Wazir (Abu Jihad) with the aim of wresting Palestine from Israeli control by ...
Fate: in Greek and Roman mythology, any of three goddesses who determined human destinies, and in particular the span of a person's life and his allotment of misery and suffering. Homer ...
fate tragedy: a type of play especially popular in early 19th-century Germany in which a malignant destiny drives the protagonist to commit a horrible crime, often unsuspectingly. Adolf Mullner's Der neunundzwanzigste Februar ...
Fateh Singh, Sant: Sikh religious leader who became the foremost campaigner for Sikh rights in post-independence India.
Fatehpur: town, southern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It lies southeast of Kanpur, on a major road and rail line to Allahabad. Fatehpur was founded by Pashtuns (Pathans) in the 15th ...
Fatehpur Sikri: town, southwestern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. The town, lying about 23 miles (37 km) west of Agra, was founded in 1569 by the great Mughal emperor Akbar. In that ...
Fatemi, Hosayn: Iranian politician who supported Mohammad Mosaddeq in his power struggle with Iran's monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
Fath 'Ali Shah: shah of Persia (1797-1834) whose reign coincided with rivalry among France, Great Britain, and Russia over eastern affairs.
Father of the Church: any of the great bishops and other eminent Christian teachers of the early centuries whose writings remained as a court of appeal for their successors, especially in reference to controverted ...
Father's Day: in the United States, holiday (third Sunday in June) to honour fathers. Credit for originating the holiday is generally given to Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, whose father, a ...
fathom: old English measure of length, now standardized at 6 feet (1.83 metre), which has long been used as a nautical unit of depth. The longest of many units derived from ...
Fathometer: trade name for a type of sonic depth finder (q.v.).
fatigue: in engineering, manifestation of progressive fracture in a solid under cyclic loading as in the case of a metal strip that ruptures after repeated bending back and forth. Fatigue fracture ...
fatigue: specific form of human inadequacy in which the individual experiences an aversion to exertion and feels unable to carry on. Such feelings may be generated by muscular effort; exhaustion of ...
fatihah: the "opening" or first chapter (surah) of the Muslim book of divine revelation, the Qur'an; in tone and usage it has often been likened to the Christian Lord's Prayer. In ...
Fatimah: daughter of Muhammad (the founder of Islam) who in later centuries became the object of deep veneration by many Muslims, especially the Shi'ites. Muhammad had other sons and daughters, but ...
Fatimid Dynasty: political and religious dynasty that dominated an empire in North Africa and subsequently in the Middle East from AD 909 to 1171 and tried unsuccessfully to oust the 'Abbasid caliphs ...
fatsia: (Fatsia japonica), evergreen shrub or small tree, in the ginseng family (Araliaceae), native to Japan but widely grown indoors for its striking foliage and easy care. In nature it can ...
fatty acid: important component of lipids (fat-soluble components of living cells) in plants, animals, and microorganisms. Generally, a fatty acid consists of a straight chain of an even number of carbon atoms, ...
faujasite: hydrated sodium and calcium aluminosilicate mineral that is a rare member of the zeolite family. Faujasite somewhat resembles chabazite in chemical composition, crystal structure, and distribution. Isolated specimens of the ...
Faulhaber, Michael von: German cardinal and archbishop of Munich who became a prominent opponent of the Nazis.
Faulkner, William: American novelist and short-story writer who was awarded the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature.
fault: in geology, a planar or gently curved fracture in the rocks of the Earth's crust, where compressional or tensional forces cause relative displacement of the rocks on the opposite sides ...
Fauna: in ancient Roman religion, a goddess of the fertility of woodlands, fields, and flocks; she was the counterpart-variously considered the wife, sister, or daughter-of Faunus (q.v.).
faunal region: any of six or seven areas of the world defined by animal geographers on the basis of their distinctive animal life. These regions differ only slightly from the floristic regions ...
faunal succession, law of: observation that assemblages of fossil plants and animals follow or succeed each other in time in a predictable manner. Sequences of successive strata and their corresponding enclosed faunas have been ...
faunizone: stratigraphic unit that is distinguished by the presence of a particular fauna of some time or environmental significance. It differs from a biozone because it is based on a fossil ...
Faunus: ancient Italian rural deity whose attributes in classical Roman times were identified with those of the Greek god Pan. Faunus was originally worshiped throughout the countryside as a bestower of ...
Faure, Edgar: French lawyer and politician, premier (1952, 1955-56), and a prominent Gaullist during the Fifth Republic.
Faure, Felix: sixth president of the French Third Republic, whose presidency (Jan. 15, 1895 to Feb. 16, 1899) was marked by diplomatic conflicts with England, rapprochement with Russia, and the continuing problem ...
Faure, Gabriel: composer whose refined and gentle music influenced the course of modern French music.
Fauresmith industry: a sub-Saharan African stone-tool industry dating from the early part of the upper Pleistocene, about 75,000 to 100,000 years ago. The Fauresmith industry is largely contemporaneous with the Sangoan industry ...