floating mass of ice formed from seawater in the Earth's polar regions. Pack ice expands during winter to cover about 5 percent of the northern oceans and 8 percent of ...
American electrical engineer and entrepreneur who cofounded the Hewlett-Packard Company, a manufacturer of computers, computer printers, and analytic and measuring equipment.
in mathematics, a type of problem in combinatorial geometry that involves placement of figures of a given size or shape within another given figure-with greatest economy or subject to some ...
king of Parthia (reigned AD 78-c. 115/116). Little is known of his reign, which seems to have been filled with rebellions and the rule of counterkings (Artabanus IV, Osroes, and ...
kotamadya (municipality) and kabupaten (regency), capital of Sumatera Barat provinsi ("province"), Indonesia. Padang is the chief port on Sumatra's western coast and is now the main city of the Minangkabau ...
region near the western coast of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. It is part of the Barisan Mountains of Sumatera Barat provinsi ("province"). The highest among several volcanoes in the ...
any of several species of tropical trees of the genus Pterocarpus. Padauks of the Indo-Malaysia region have a tendency to be larger than related species elsewhere. They are highly prized ...
area in the borough of Westminster, London. Formerly (until 1965) a metropolitan borough, it is located west of St. Marylebone and north of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. Its southern ...
small-scale form of tennis similar to a British shipboard game of the 1890s. Frank P. Beal, a New York City official, introduced paddle tennis on New York playgrounds in the ...
method of ship propulsion that was once widely employed but is now almost entirely superseded by the screw propeller. Early experiments with steam-driven paddles acting as oars led several inventors, ...
either of two species of archaic freshwater fish with a paddle-like snout, wide mouth, smooth skin, and cartilaginous skeleton. A relative of the sturgeon, the paddlefish is of the family ...
American sprinter, world-record holder for the 100-metre dash (1921-30) and the 200-metre dash (1921-26). He also held the world record for the 100-yard dash (1921, 1924-26) and the 220-yard dash ...
small, level, flooded field used to cultivate rice in southern and eastern Asia. Wet-rice cultivation is the most prevalent method of farming in the Far East, where it utilizes a ...
city, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), central Germany. It lies on the Pader River, a small affluent of the Lippe formed from rain seepage on the slope of ...
aristocratic Spanish military leader of the Castilian Comunidades (Comuneros) in their unsuccessful revolt (1520-21) against the government of the Habsburg emperor Charles V (King Charles I of Spain).
park in Norrbotten lan (county), northwestern Sweden, adjoining Norway (west) and Sarek National Park (east). It is the largest of the Swedish national parks and one of the largest parks ...
main channel of the Ganges River below its bifurcation into the Bhagirathi and Padma rivers in extreme western Bangladesh. Flowing southeastward, the Padma receives the mighty Jamuna (Brahmaputra) River near ...
barrier island, 113 miles (182 km) long and up to 3 miles (5 km) wide, lying in the Gulf of Mexico along the southeastern coast of Texas, U.S. It extends ...
(1821-37), armed conflict in Minangkabau (Sumatra) between reformist Muslims, known as Padris, and local chieftains assisted by the Dutch. In the early 19th century the puritan Wahhabiyah sect of Islam ...
city, capital of Padova province, Veneto region, northern Italy, on the River Bacchiglione, west of Venice. The Roman Patavium, founded, according to legend, by the Trojan hero Antenor, it was ...
autonomous coeducational state institution of higher learning in Padua, Italy. The university was founded in 1222 by a secession of about a thousand students from the University of Bologna, reinforced ...
city, seat of McCracken county, southwestern Kentucky, U.S., at the confluence of the Ohio (there bridged to Brookport, Illinois) and Tennessee rivers. The site, known as Pekin, was part of ...
solemn choral lyric of invocation, joy, or triumph, originating in ancient Greece where it was addressed to Apollo in his guise as Paean, physician to the gods. Paeans were sung ...
reproduction by sexually mature larvae, usually without fertilization. The young may be eggs, such as are produced by Miastor, a genus of gall midge flies, or other larval forms, as ...
retention by an organism of juvenile or even larval traits into later life. There are two aspects of paedomorphosis: acceleration of sexual maturation relative to the rest of development (progenesis) ...
one of three kingdoms into which ancient Korea was divided before 660. Occupying the southwestern tip of the Korean peninsula, Paekche is traditionally said to have been founded in 18 ...
ancient people of central Italy, whose territory lay inland on the eastward slopes of the Apennines. Though akin to the Samnites, they formed a separate league with their neighbours the ...
in Spanish cuisine, a dish of saffron-flavoured rice cooked with meats, seafood, and vegetables. Originating in the rice-growing areas on Spain's Mediterranean coast, the dish is especially associated with the ...
the land of the Paeonians, originally including the whole Axius (Vardar) River valley and the surrounding areas, in what is now northern Greece, Macedonia, and western Bulgaria. The Paeonians, who ...
the peony family of the order Dilleniales, consisting of the genus Paeonia with about 33 species distributed in Europe, Asia, and western North America. They are perennial herbs or sometimes ...
borough, northern North Island, New Zealand, situated along the Ohinemuri River near its junction with the Waihou. Paeroa (from a Maori word meaning "long ridge") was founded in the early ...
ancient city in southern Italy near the west coast, 22 miles (35 km) southeast of modern Salerno and 5 miles (8 km) south of the Sele (ancient Silarus) River. Paestum ...
Indians of the southern highlands of Colombia. The Paez speak a Chibchan language very closely related to that of the now-extinct Pijao and Coconuco (see Chibchan languages).
learned Jesuit priest who, in the tradition of Frumentius-founder of the Ethiopian church-went as a missionary to Ethiopia, where he became known as the second apostle of Ethiopia.
city, western Mindanao, Philippines. Located on Pagadian Bay (a northern extension of Illana Bay), it is a major port shipping rice and corn (maize); coconuts are the region's main commercial ...
village, central Myanmar (Burma), situated on the left bank of the Irrawaddy River and approximately 90 miles (145 km) southwest of Mandalay. The site of an old capital city of ...
king of Myanmar (1846-53), who suffered defeat in the Second Anglo-Burmese War, after which Yangon (Rangoon), the province of Pegu, and other areas in southern Myanmar were annexed by the ...
Italian composer and principal violin virtuoso of the 19th century. A popular idol, he inspired the Romantic mystique of the virtuoso and revolutionized violin technique.
gulf of the Aegean Sea, nomos (department) of Magnisia, Thessaly, Greece. The gulf is almost landlocked by a fishhook prong of the Magnesia peninsula, which forms the Trikkeri Strait. At ...
in medieval Europe, a youth of noble birth who left his home at an early age to serve an apprenticeship in the duties of chivalry in the family of some ...
American gridiron football player who in 1971 became the first defensive player to win the Most Valuable Player award of the National Football League (NFL). He was inducted into the ...
American newspaper columnist and television commentator. Page studied journalism at Ohio University (B.S., 1969), then joined the Chicago Tribune as a reporter. From 1980 to 1984 he ...
Australian statesman, coleader of the federal government (1923-29) in coalition with Stanley M. Bruce. As head of the Country Party (1920-39), he was a spokesman for the party's goal of ...
black American swing-era musician, one of the first to play "walking" lines on the string bass. A pioneer of the Southwestern jazz style, he was a star of the Count ...
journalist, book publisher, author, and diplomat who, as U.S. ambassador to Great Britain during World War I, worked strenuously to maintain close relations between the two countries while the United ...
a large-scale, spectacular theatrical production or procession. In its earlier meanings the term denoted specifically a car or float designed for the presentation of religious plays or cycles. By extension, ...
wheeled vehicle used in the processional staging of medieval vernacular cycle plays. Processional staging is most closely associated with the English cycle plays performed from about 1375 until the mid-16th ...
moderately common chronic disease of middle age, characterized by local disorganized bone-destructive processes alternating with bone-constructive activity. The disease leads to deformity, fracture, and imbalance in calcium metabolism and carries ...
French writer and motion-picture producer-director who won both fame as the master of stage comedy and critical acclaim for his filmmaking. He was elected to the French Academy in 1946, ...
port and administrative capital (since 1899) of American Samoa, on the south shore of Tutuila island, southwestern Pacific Ocean. It is situated at the head of a densely wooded and ...
in East and Southeast Asia, a towerlike, multistoried structure of stone, brick, or wood, usually associated with a Buddhist temple complex. The pagoda derives from the stupa of ancient India, ...
any of several trees of erect, conical form suggesting a pagoda, particularly Sophora japonica, commonly called the Japanese pagoda tree, or the Chinese scholar tree. A member of the pea ...
city, seat (1891) of Archuleta county, south-central Colorado, U.S. Located near large mineral springs, the town site was established in 1874 after control of the area was wrested from the ...
