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G.B.E. ... Gagliano, Marco da

G.B.E.: knight grand cross, or dame grand cross, of the British Empire, member of the highest class of a British order of knighthood. See British Empire, The Most Excellent Order of ...
G.C.: the George Cross, a British decoration for bravery. See George Cross.
G.C.B.: knight grand cross, or dame grand cross, of the Bath, member of the highest rank of knightly class in a British order of knighthood. See Bath, The Most Honourable Order ...
G.C.M.G.: knight grand cross, or dame grand cross, of St. Michael and St. George, member of the highest rank of a British order of knighthood. See Saint Michael and Saint George, ...
G.C.V.O.: knight grand cross, or dame grand cross, of the Royal Victorian Order, member of the highest rank of a British order of knighthood. See Royal Victorian Order.
G.M.: recipient of the George Medal, a British decoration for valour. See George Cross.
Ga: people of the southeast coast of Ghana, speaking a dialect of the Kwa branch of Niger-Congo languages. The Ga are descended from immigrants who came down the Niger River and ...
Gabar: any member of the small Zoroastrian minority in Iran. The name Gabar was formerly applied derogatorily to the Iranian Zoroastrians; the term is linguistically related to the Arabic kafir, meaning ...
gabardine: any of several varieties of worsted, cotton, silk, and mixed tightly woven fabrics, embodying certain features in common and chiefly made into suits and overcoats. It is a relatively strong ...
gabbai: treasurer or honorary official of a Jewish Orthodox congregation, often placed in charge of funds used for charity. The office is a carry-over from former times, when men whose reputations ...
gabbro: any of several medium- or coarse-grained rocks that consist primarily of plagioclase feldspar and pyroxene. Essentially, gabbro is the intrusive (plutonic) equivalent of basalt, but whereas basalt is often remarkably ...
Gabelentz, Hans Conon von der: German linguist, ethnologist, and government official who conducted important studies of a large number of languages. He also took some part in political affairs and was prime minister of the ...
Gabelich, Gary: American automobile-racing driver who set a world one-mile land-speed record of 622.407 miles per hour (1,001.67 km/h) on Oct. 23, 1970.
gabelle: form of tax in France before the Revolution of 1789-in particular, from the 15th century onward, the tax on salt.
Gabes, Gulf of: inlet, on the east coast of Tunisia, northern Africa. It is 60 miles (100 km) long and 60 miles wide and is bounded by the Qarqannah (Kerkena) Islands on the ...
gabija: in Baltic religion, the domestic hearth fire. In pre-Christian times a holy fire (sventa ugnis) was kept in tribal sanctuaries on high hills and riverbanks, where priests guarded it constantly, ...
Gabin, Jean: original name Jean-alexis Moncorge one of the most popular film actors in France from the 1930s to the '60s.
Gabinius, Aulus: Roman politician and a supporter of Pompey the Great.
gable: triangular section of wall at the end of a pitched roof, extending from the eaves to the peak. The gables in Classical Greek temples are called pediments.
Gable, Clark: American film actor who epitomized the American ideal of masculinity and virility for three decades. An enormously popular star during his lifetime, Gable was dubbed the "King of Hollywood."
Gable, Dan: American freestyle wrestler who is often considered to be the greatest amateur wrestler in American history.
Gabo, Naum: pioneering Constructivist sculptor who used materials such as glass, plastic, and metal and created a sense of spatial movement in his work.
Gabon: country lying on the west coast of Africa, astride the Equator, with a total area estimated at 103,347 square miles (267,667 square kilometres). It is bordered by Equatorial Guinea and ...
Gabon Estuary: inlet of the Gulf of Guinea, in western Gabon. It is fed by the Como and Mbei rivers, which rise in the Cristal Mountains to the northeast. The estuary is ...
Gabon, history of: history of the area from the explorations of Europeans, beginning in the 15th century, to the present.
Gaboon viper: extremely venomous but usually docile, ground-dwelling snake found in tropical forests of central Africa. It is the heaviest venomous snake in Africa, weighing 8 kg (18 pounds), and it grows ...
Gabor, Dennis: Hungarian-born electrical engineer who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1971 for his invention of holography, a system of lensless, three-dimensional photography that has many applications.
Gaboriau, Emile: French novelist who is best known as the father of the roman policier (detective novel). He has been described as the Edgar Allan Poe of France.
Gaborone: town, capital of Botswana. The seat of government was transferred there from Mafeking (now spelled Mafikeng), South Africa, in 1965, one year before Botswana became independent of Britain. Gaborone is ...
Gabriel: American bondsman who planned the first major slave rebellion in U.S. history (Aug. 30, 1800). His abortive revolt greatly increased the whites' fear of the slave population throughout the South.
Gabriel: in the Bible and the Qur'an, one of the archangels. Gabriel was the heavenly messenger sent to Daniel to explain the vision of the ram and the he-goat and to ...
Gabriel, Ange-Jacques: also called Jacques-ange Gabriel French architect who built or enlarged many chateaus and palaces during the reign of Louis XV. He was one of the most important and productive French ...
Gabriel, Peter: former lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis and solo artist known for the intelligence and depth of his lyrics and for his commitment to various political causes.
Gabrieli, Andrea: Italian Renaissance composer and organist, known for his madrigals and his large-scale choral and instrumental music for public ceremonies. His finest work was composed for the acoustic resources of the ...
Gabrieli, Giovanni: Italian Renaissance composer, organist, and teacher, celebrated for his sacred music, including massive choral and instrumental motets for the liturgy.
Gabrielino: any of two-and possibly three-dialectally and culturally related North American Indian groups who spoke a language of Uto-Aztecan stock and lived in the lowlands, along the seacoast, and on islands ...
Gabrilowitsch, Ossip: Russian-born American pianist noted for the elegance and subtlety of his playing.
Gabrovo: town, north-central Bulgaria. It is situated on both banks of the Yantra River, at the foot of the Shipka Pass in the Balkan Mountains. A major industrial centre, Gabrovo has ...
Gabu: town, eastern Guinea-Bissau, western Africa. Gabu is situated along the Colufe River, a tributary of the Geba River, and is an agricultural marketing centre. Peanuts (groundnuts), grown mainly by the ...
gaccha: among the image-worshipping Shvetambara sect of the Indian religion Jainism, a group of monks and their lay followers who claim descent from eminent monastic teachers. Although some 84 separate gacchas ...
Gad: one of the 12 tribes of Israel that in biblical times composed the people of Israel who later became the Jewish people. The tribe was named after the elder of ...
Gadamer, Hans-Georg: German philosopher whose system of philosophical hermeneutics, derived in part from concepts of Wilhelm Dilthey, Edmund Husserl, and Martin Heidegger, was influential in 20th-century philosophy, aesthetics, theology, and criticism.
Gadara: ancient city of Palestine, a member of the Decapolis, located just southeast of the Sea of Galilee in Jordan. Gadara first appeared in history when it fell to the Seleucid ...
Gadda, Carlo Emilio: Italian essayist, short-story writer, and novelist outstanding particularly for his original and innovative style, which has been compared with that of James Joyce.
Gaddi, Agnolo: son and pupil of Taddeo Gaddi, who was himself the major pupil of the Florentine master Giotto. Agnolo was an influential and prolific artist who was the last major Florentine ...
Gaddi, Taddeo: pupil and most faithful follower of the Florentine master Giotto. A capable artist, although lacking his teacher's comprehensive aesthetic vision, he was, after Giotto's death, the leading Florentine painter for ...
Gaddis, William: American novelist of complex, satiric works who was considered one of the best of the post-World War II modernist writers.
Gade, Niels: Danish composer who founded the Romantic nationalist school in Danish music. He studied violin and composition and became acquainted with Danish poetry and folk music. Both Mendelssohn and Schumann, who ...
gadfly petrel: any of several species of petrels distinguished from others by their fluttering type of flight. See petrel.
Gadifer De La Salle: French soldier who, with Jean de Bethencourt, conquered and explored the Canary Islands.
gadolinium: (Gd), chemical element, rareearth metal of transition Group IIIb of the periodic table. Silvery white and moderately ductile, the metal reacts slowly with oxygen and water. Below 17° C it ...
Gadsden: city, seat (1866) of Etowah county, northeastern Alabama, U.S. It is situated on the Coosa River in the Appalachian foothills, 65 miles (105 km) northeast of Birmingham. The original farming ...
Gadsden Purchase: (December 30, 1853), transaction that followed the conquest of much of northern Mexico by the United States in 1848. It assigned to the United States nearly 30,000 additional square miles ...
Gadsden, James: U.S. soldier, diplomat, and railroad president, whose name is associated with the Gadsden Purchase (q.v.).
Gadus: fish genus of the family Gadidae, including the individuals and groups known as bib, cod, pollock, and whiting (qq.v.).
gadwall: (Anas strepera), small, drably coloured duck of the family Anatidae, a popular game bird. Almost circumpolar in distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, the gadwall breeds above latitude 40° and winters ...
Gaea: Greek personification of the Earth as a goddess. Mother and wife of Uranus (Heaven), from whom the Titan Cronus, her last born child by him, separated her, she was also ...
Gaekwar Dynasty: Indian ruling family and title of its head whose capital was at Baroda in Gujarat state. The state became a leading power in the 18th-century Maratha confederacy.
Gaelic football: Irish version of football (soccer), an offshoot of Britain's medieval melee, in which entire parishes would compete in daylong matches covering miles of countryside. A code of rules slightly restricting ...
Gaelic revival: resurgence of interest in Irish language, literature, history, and folklore inspired by the growing Irish nationalism of the early 19th century. By that time Gaelic had died out as a ...
Gaeta: town, seaport, and archiepiscopal see, Latina province, Lazio region, south-central Italy, on the Gulf of Gaeta, northwest of Naples. Gaeta first came under the influence of the Romans in the ...
Gaetulia: ancient district of interior North Africa that in Roman times, at least, was inhabited by wandering tribes, the Gaetuli. The area, not clearly defined, included the southern slopes of the ...
Gafencu, Grigore: Romanian diplomat, journalist, and politician who as foreign minister at the outbreak of World War II tried to maintain Romania's neutrality.
Gaffney: city, seat of Cherokee county, northern South Carolina, U.S., near the Broad River. Named for Michael Gaffney, an Irish settler who arrived in 1803, it early developed as a resort ...
gag rule: in U.S. history, any of a series of congressional resolutions that tabled, without discussion, petitions regarding slavery; passed by the House of Representatives between 1836 and 1840 and repealed in ...
Gag, Wanda Hazel: American artist and author whose dynamic visual style imbued the often commonplace subjects of both her serious art and her illustrated books for children with an intense vitality.
gagaku: ancient court music. The name is a Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters for elegant music (ya yueh). Such music first appeared in Japan as an import from Korea in ...
Gagarin, Yury Alekseyevich: Soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first man to travel into space.
Gage, Frances Dana Barker: American social reformer and writer who was active in the antislavery, temperance, and women's rights movements of the mid-19th century.
Gage, Matilda Joslyn: American women's rights advocate who helped to lead and publicize the suffrage movement in the United States.
Gage, Thomas: British general who successfully commanded all British forces in North America for more than 10 years (1763-74) but failed to stem the tide of rebellion as military governor of Massachusetts ...
Gagern, Friedrich, Freiherr von: Hans Christoph von Gagern's eldest son, a German soldier and administrator, and military commander of several Dutch provinces, who served as chief of staff during the wars against the Belgian ...
Gagern, Hans Christoph, Freiherr von: (baron of) conservative German administrator, patriotic politician, and writer who unsuccessfully called for arming the entire German nation during the French Revolutionary Wars. He represented The Netherlands at the Congress ...
Gagern, Heinrich, Freiherr von: second son of Hans Christoph von Gagern, liberal, anti-Austrian German politician and president of the 1848-49 Frankfurt National Assembly, who was one of the leading spokesmen for the Kleindeutsch (Little ...
Gagern, Maximilian Freiherr von: 10th son of Hans Christoph, liberal Dutch and German diplomat and politician, who played a prominent part in the German Revolution of 1848, attempting to institute the Kleindeutsch ("small German") ...
Gagliano, Marco da: one of the earliest composers of Italian opera.