• Ady, Endre (Hungarian poet)

    Endre Ady was one of Hungary’s greatest lyric poets. Ady was born into an impoverished but noble family. On leaving school he studied law for a time, but in 1899 he published an insignificant volume of verse, Versek, and from 1900 until his death he worked as a journalist. In 1903 he published

  • Adygea (republic, Russia)

    Adygeya, republic, southwestern Russia. It extends from the Kuban River south to the Caucasus foothills. Adygeya was established as an oblast (province) in 1922 for the Adyghian people, one of two major branches of the Circassians (Cherkess), who make up about one-fifth of its total population.

  • Adygeya (republic, Russia)

    Adygeya, republic, southwestern Russia. It extends from the Kuban River south to the Caucasus foothills. Adygeya was established as an oblast (province) in 1922 for the Adyghian people, one of two major branches of the Circassians (Cherkess), who make up about one-fifth of its total population.

  • Adyghian (people)

    Adygeya: …(province) in 1922 for the Adyghian people, one of two major branches of the Circassians (Cherkess), who make up about one-fifth of its total population. Apart from the foothills in the south, which are covered in deciduous forest, most of Adygeya is an undulating plain with rich soils that are…

  • Adyghian language

    Caucasian languages: Abkhazo-Adyghian languages: …consists of the Abkhaz, Abaza, Adyghian, Kabardian, and Ubykh languages. Adyghians and Kabardians are often considered members of a larger, Circassian group. Abkhaz, with about 90,000 speakers, is spoken in Abkhazia (the southern slopes of the western Greater Caucasus, Georgia). The other languages are spread over the northern slopes of…

  • adynaton (literature)

    adynaton, a kind of hyperbole in which the exaggeration is so great that it refers to an impossibility, as in the following lines from Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy

  • adyr (geology)

    Fergana Valley: …of low, barren hills, called adyr. The numerous rivers descending from the mountains cut through the adyr zone to irrigate an almost unbroken chain of fertile oases that surround an area of salt marshes and sand dunes in the lowest part of the valley. The climate is continental, with moderately…

  • Adývar, Halide Edib (Turkish author)

    Halide Edib Adıvar was a novelist and pioneer in the emancipation of women in Turkey. Educated by private tutors and at the American College for Girls in Istanbul, she became actively engaged in Turkish literary, political, and social movements. She divorced her first husband in 1910 because she

  • adz (tool)

    adz, hand tool for shaping wood. One of the earliest tools, it was widely distributed in Stone Age cultures in the form of a handheld stone chipped to form a blade. By Egyptian times it had acquired a wooden haft, or handle, with a copper or bronze blade set flat at the top of the haft to form a T.

  • Adžarija (autonomous republic, Georgia)

    Ajaria, autonomous republic in Georgia, in the southwestern corner of that country, adjacent to the Black Sea and the Turkish frontier. It is largely mountainous with the exception of a narrow coastal strip. Batumi is the capital and largest city. Area 1,112 square miles (2,880 square km). Pop.

  • adze (tool)

    adz, hand tool for shaping wood. One of the earliest tools, it was widely distributed in Stone Age cultures in the form of a handheld stone chipped to form a blade. By Egyptian times it had acquired a wooden haft, or handle, with a copper or bronze blade set flat at the top of the haft to form a T.

  • Adzhar (people)

    Ajaria: Geography: …Georgians, Russians, Armenians, and the Ajars themselves, a Georgian population Islamicized under Turkish rule. Although the Ajars are not a nationality distinct from other Georgians, they do represent a distinctive cultural segment of the Georgian homeland. Of the total population, less than one-half is urban and two-thirds live in the…

  • Adzhariya (autonomous republic, Georgia)

    Ajaria, autonomous republic in Georgia, in the southwestern corner of that country, adjacent to the Black Sea and the Turkish frontier. It is largely mountainous with the exception of a narrow coastal strip. Batumi is the capital and largest city. Area 1,112 square miles (2,880 square km). Pop.

  • Adzhubei, Alexei (Russian newspaper editor)

    Izvestiya: …editorship of Nikita Khrushchev’s son-in-law, Alexei Adzhubei, Izvestiya was transformed into a lively, readable daily with the introduction of more photographs, bigger headlines, shorter and more interesting articles, and a generally high standard of design.

  • adzuki bean (plant)

    adzuki bean, (Vigna angularis), edible seed of the adzuki plant, a legume plant of the pea family (Fabaceae). The plant is native to East Asia and may have been independently domesticated in Korea, Japan, and China. An important source of starch and protein, adzuki beans are a common ingredient in

  • AE (Irish poet)

    AE was an Irish poet, artist, and mystic who became a leading figure in the Irish literary renaissance of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The name AE (or Æ) is the pseudonym of George William Russell, who took it from a proofreader’s query to him about his earlier pseudonym, “AEon.” Russell

  • Ae mere watan ke logo (song by Ramchandra)

    Lata Mangeshkar: Career: Ramachandra’s patriotic song “Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo” in 1963, which moved Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears.

  • AEA (research organization)

    Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), organization that gathered together a group of young aviators and designers for the purpose of developing heavier-than-air flying machines. It was founded in 1907 and funded for slightly longer than one year by the American inventor Alexander Graham Bell and his

  • AEA June Bug (airplane)

    AEA June Bug, biplane designed, built, and tested by members of the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA) in 1908. For a table of pioneer aircraft, see history of flight. Alexander Graham Bell, one of the founders of the AEA, gave the third and most famous of the powered airplanes constructed by the

  • Aeacidae (ancient Greek people)

    Epirus: …regarded as Greek were the Aeacidae, who were members of the Molossian royal house and claimed descent from Achilles. From about 370 bce on, the Aeacidae were able to expand the Molossian state by incorporating tribes from the rival groups in Epirus. The Aeacidae’s efforts gained impetus from the marriage…

  • Aeacus (Greek mythology)

    Aeacus, in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Aegina, the daughter of the river god Asopus; Aeacus was the father of Telamon and Peleus. His mother was carried off by Zeus to the island of Oenone, afterward called by her name. Aeacus was celebrated for justice and in later tradition became a judge of

  • AEC (United States organization)

    Atomic Energy Commission, U.S. federal civilian agency established by the Atomic Energy Act, which was signed into law by President Harry S. Truman on Aug. 1, 1946, to control the development and production of nuclear weapons and to direct the research and development of peaceful uses of nuclear

  • Aechmea (plant genus)

    Aechmea, genus of epiphytes (plants that are supported by other plants and have aerial roots exposed to the humid atmosphere) of the pineapple family (Bromeliaceae), with more than 180 species distributed in tropical America. Spiny-edged leaves, usually about 30 to 60 cm (about 12 to 24 inches)

  • Aechmophorus occidentalis (bird)

    grebe: Mating behaviour: …the rushing display of the western grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis). In nearly all courtship ceremonies, the roles of the sexes are interchangeable. The same is true of the precopulatory displays, and reverse mounting has been reported for all species that have been thoroughly studied. Courtship feeding, where one bird feeds another,…

  • aecidium (biology)

    aecium, a cluster-cup or fruiting body of certain rust fungi (phylum Basidiomycota, kingdom Fungi). Yellow to orange in colour, aecia develop after fertilization and bear one-celled spores (aeciospores, or aecidiospores). Aecia are usually found on lower leaf surfaces of

  • aeciospore (biology)

    cedar-apple rust: In late summer, the aeciospores of those structures are carried by the wind to junipers; the resulting galls do not produce spores until the second spring.

  • aecium (biology)

    aecium, a cluster-cup or fruiting body of certain rust fungi (phylum Basidiomycota, kingdom Fungi). Yellow to orange in colour, aecia develop after fertilization and bear one-celled spores (aeciospores, or aecidiospores). Aecia are usually found on lower leaf surfaces of

  • AED (medicine)

    defibrillation: Types of defibrillation devices: The two major types are automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and automatic implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). AEDs are used in emergency situations involving cardiac arrest. They are portable and often can be found in places where large numbers of people circulate, such as airports. Immediate emergency response that enables early defibrillation…

  • Aedan (king of Dalriada)

    Aidan was the king of the Scottish kingdom of Dalriada. He was the son of Gabran, king of Dalriada. Aidan was inaugurated as king at Iona by St. Columba. He refused to allow his kingdom to remain dependent on the Irish Dalriada; but, coming into collision with his southern neighbours, he led a

  • Aedde (Kentish monk)

    United Kingdom: The supremacy of Northumbria and the rise of Mercia: …in disaster; the Kentish monk Aedde, in his Life of St. Wilfrid, said Wulfhere roused all the southern peoples in an attack on Ecgfrith of Northumbria in 674 but was defeated and died soon after.

  • aedeagus (insect anatomy)

    apterygote: Life cycle: However, the aedeagus in males is used to deposit sperm drops and not as a copulative organ. The deposition and pickup of sperm drops in Zygentoma and Archaeognatha must take place during each adult stage if young are to be produced since the contents of the female…

  • Aedes (mosquito genus)

    Aedes, (genus Aedes), genus of more than 950 species of mosquitoes, some members of which are serious biting nuisances and vectors of disease, sometimes transmitting potentially deadly pathogens (disease-causing organisms) to humans and other animals. The different species of Aedes mosquitoes are

  • Aedes aegypti (mosquito)

    mosquito: Aedes mosquitoes: A. aegypti, the important carrier of the virus responsible for yellow fever and other diseases, has white bands on its legs and spots on its abdomen and thorax. This domestic species breeds in almost any kind of container, from flower pots to discarded car-tire casings.…

  • Aedes albopictus (insect)

    Aedes: Role in disease transmission: … in Africa and the Americas, A. albopictus can also transmit the disease to humans in those regions. In French Polynesia, A. polynesiensis serves as an endemic dengue vector. Dengue outbreaks have also been attributed to A. scutellaris, a species native to islands of the Malay Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, and…

  • Aedes canadensis (mosquito)

    dormancy: Diapause in insects: The eggs of another mosquito, Aedes canadensis, are laid in the same soil as those of Aedes vexans, but they will not hatch until they have been subjected to cold. Thus, when both species lay their eggs together in early summer, those of Aedes vexans hatch in pools formed by…

  • Aedes dorsalis (mosquito)

    mosquito: Aedes mosquitoes: …summer salt marsh mosquito (A. dorsalis) are important mosquitoes in coastal marsh areas that experience daily or occasional flooding with brackish or salt water. They are prolific breeders, strong fliers, and irritants to animals, including humans.

  • Aedes polynesiensis (mosquito)

    Aedes: Role in disease transmission: In French Polynesia, A. polynesiensis serves as an endemic dengue vector. Dengue outbreaks have also been attributed to A. scutellaris, a species native to islands of the Malay Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, and the Torres Strait region.

  • Aedes scutellaris (mosquito)

    Aedes: Role in disease transmission: …have also been attributed to A. scutellaris, a species native to islands of the Malay Archipelago, Papua New Guinea, and the Torres Strait region.

  • Aedes sollicitans (mosquito)

    mosquito: Aedes mosquitoes: …eastern salt marsh mosquito (A. sollicitans), the black salt marsh mosquito (A. taeniorhynchus), and the summer salt marsh mosquito (A. dorsalis) are important mosquitoes in coastal marsh areas that experience daily or occasional flooding with brackish or salt water. They are prolific breeders, strong fliers, and irritants to animals,…

  • Aedes taeniorhynchus (mosquito)

    mosquito: Aedes mosquitoes: …black salt marsh mosquito (A. taeniorhynchus), and the summer salt marsh mosquito (A. dorsalis) are important mosquitoes in coastal marsh areas that experience daily or occasional flooding with brackish or salt water. They are prolific breeders, strong fliers, and irritants to animals, including humans.

  • Aedes vexans (mosquito)

    dormancy: Diapause in insects: The eggs of the mosquito Aedes vexans, for example, remain in diapause until the damp soil on which the eggs are laid is flooded to form a pool suitable for the larvae. The eggs of another mosquito, Aedes canadensis, are laid in the same soil as those of Aedes vexans,…

  • Aedesius (Greek philosopher)

    Aedesius was a Greek philosopher whose ideas had their roots in Neoplatonism, a school of philosophy that grew out of the Idealism of Plato. Aedesius founded the so-called Pergamum school of philosophy, whose major concerns were theurgy (the magic practiced by some Neoplatonists who believed

  • Aedesius (Christian missionary)

    Saint Frumentius: …a colleague (possibly his brother), Aedesius, were captured by Ethiopians in about 340. They became civil servants at the court of the Aksumite king, whom Frumentius converted. On the death of the monarch, Frumentius joined the queen’s court as the royal administrator and became tutor to the crown prince, Ezana.…

  • aedicula (shrine)

    Rome: St. Peter’s: …by a three-niched monument (aedicula) of 166–170 ce. (Excavations in 1940–49 revealed well-preserved catacombs, with both pagan and Christian graves dating from the period of St. Peter’s burial.) Constantine enclosed the aedicula within a shrine, and during the last 15 years of his life (c. 322–337) he built his…

  • aedile (Roman official)

    aedile, (from Latin aedes, “temple”), magistrate of ancient Rome who originally had charge of the temple and cult of Ceres. At first the aediles were two officials of the plebeians, created at the same time as the tribunes (494 bc), whose sanctity they shared. These magistrates were elected in the

  • aediles (Roman official)

    aedile, (from Latin aedes, “temple”), magistrate of ancient Rome who originally had charge of the temple and cult of Ceres. At first the aediles were two officials of the plebeians, created at the same time as the tribunes (494 bc), whose sanctity they shared. These magistrates were elected in the

  • aedilis (Roman official)

    aedile, (from Latin aedes, “temple”), magistrate of ancient Rome who originally had charge of the temple and cult of Ceres. At first the aediles were two officials of the plebeians, created at the same time as the tribunes (494 bc), whose sanctity they shared. These magistrates were elected in the

  • Aedon (Greek mythology)

    Aedon, in Greek mythology, a daughter of Pandareus of Ephesus. According to Homer (Book XIX of the Odyssey), she was the wife of Zethus, who with his brother Amphion was the joint king of Thebes. She had only two children and envied her sister-in-law, Niobe, who had many. She planned to murder

  • Aedui (people)

    Aedui, Celtic tribe of central Gaul (occupying most of what was later the French région of Burgundy), chiefly responsible for the diplomatic situation exploited by Julius Caesar when he began his conquests in that region in 58 bc. The Aedui had been Roman allies since 121 bc and had been awarded

  • Aeëtes (Greek mythology)

    Argonaut: …they found that the king, Aeëtes, would not give up the fleece until Jason yoked the king’s fire-snorting bulls to a plow and plowed the field of Ares. That accomplished, the field was to be sown with dragon’s teeth from which armed men were to spring. Aeëtes’ daughter, the sorceress…

  • AEEU (British union)

    Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU), the leading trade union in the manufacturing sector of the United Kingdom until 2001, when it combined with two other British unions. The Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union (AEEU) originated in 1992 through the merger of the Amalgamated

  • AEF (French territory, Africa)

    French Equatorial Africa, collectively, four French territories in central Africa from 1910 to 1959. In 1960 the former territory of Ubangi-Shari (Oubangui-Chari), to which Chad (Tchad) had been attached in 1920, became the Central African Republic and the Republic of Chad; the Middle Congo

  • AEF (United States military)

    Walter Krueger: …chief of the tank corps, American Expeditionary Force; he then attended several service schools and served with the War Department general staff. As U.S. participation in World War II evolved, he was placed in charge of the Southern Defense Command (May 1941–January 1943). By this time he had gained a…

  • AEG (German company)

    AEG AG, former German electronics and electrical-equipment company. As one of Germany’s leading industrial companies through much of the 19th and 20th centuries, AEG manufactured products for industrial and domestic use. The company was founded in Berlin in 1883 when the industrialist Emil

  • AEG AG (German company)

    AEG AG, former German electronics and electrical-equipment company. As one of Germany’s leading industrial companies through much of the 19th and 20th centuries, AEG manufactured products for industrial and domestic use. The company was founded in Berlin in 1883 when the industrialist Emil

  • AEG-Telefunken (German company)

    AEG AG, former German electronics and electrical-equipment company. As one of Germany’s leading industrial companies through much of the 19th and 20th centuries, AEG manufactured products for industrial and domestic use. The company was founded in Berlin in 1883 when the industrialist Emil

  • Aega (Frankish official)

    Clovis II: He was dominated successively by Aega and by Erchinoald, Neustrian mayors of the palace. In about 648 he married Balthild, who played a dominant role in his administration thereafter.

  • Aegabro (Spain)

    Cabra, city, Córdoba provincia (province), in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Andalusia, southern Spain. It is picturesquely situated between the Sierras de las Carbas and de Montilla, southeast of Córdoba city. Cabra has a ruined Moorish castle, and its parish church (the former

  • Aegadian Islands (islands, Italy)

    Egadi Islands, small mountainous group of islets belonging to Italy, in the Mediterranean just off the western coast of Sicily, with a total area of 15 square miles (39 square km). The principal islands are Favignana, the largest (7 square miles [18 square km]), Levanzo, and Marettimo. In the

  • Aegaeon (astronomy)

    Saturn: The ring system: …of a small moon, named Aegaeon, that is about 0.5 km (0.3 mile) across. This moon may be one of several parent bodies of the G ring. Those rings of Saturn that lie outside the A ring are analogous to Jupiter’s rings in that they are composed mostly of small…

  • Aegaeon (Greek mythology)

    Briareus, in Greek mythology, one of three 100-armed, 50-headed Hecatoncheires (from the Greek words for “hundred” and “hands”), the sons of the deities Uranus (Heaven) and Gaea (Earth). Homer (Iliad, Book I, line 396) says the gods called him Briareus; mortals called him Aegaeon (lines 403–404).

  • Aegates Insulae (islands, Italy)

    Egadi Islands, small mountainous group of islets belonging to Italy, in the Mediterranean just off the western coast of Sicily, with a total area of 15 square miles (39 square km). The principal islands are Favignana, the largest (7 square miles [18 square km]), Levanzo, and Marettimo. In the

  • Aegean civilizations

    Aegean civilizations, the Stone and Bronze Age civilizations that arose and flourished in the area of the Aegean Sea in the periods, respectively, about 7000–3000 bc and about 3000–1000 bc. The area consists of Crete, the Cyclades and some other islands, and the Greek mainland, including the

  • Aegean Islands (islands, Greece)

    Aegean Islands, Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, particularly the Cyclades, Sporades, and Dodecanese groups. The Cyclades consist of about 30 islands. The Dodecanese, or Southern Sporades, include Kálimnos, Kárpathos, Cos, Léros, Pátmos, Rhodes, and Sími. The Sporades, or Northern Sporades, include

  • Aegean Sea (Mediterranean Sea)

    Aegean Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea located between the Greek peninsula on the west and Asia Minor on the east. About 380 miles (612 km) long and 186 miles (299 km) wide, it has a total area of some 83,000 square miles (215,000 square km). The Aegean is connected through the straits of the

  • Aegean wallflower (plant)

    wallflower: The Aegean wallflower (Erysiumu cheiri) is native to cliffsides and meadows of southern Europe and is naturalized in Great Britain. It is biennial to perennial, with erect 70-cm (28-inch) stalks bearing spikelike fragrant clusters of golden to brown flowers. Many ornamental cultivars have been derived from…

  • Aegeon (fictional character)

    The Comedy of Errors: Egeon, a merchant of Syracuse, is arrested in Ephesus because of hostilities between the two cities and, unable to pay the local ransom, is condemned to death. He tells the duke, Solinus, his sad tale: years earlier he and his wife had been shipwrecked with…

  • Aegeus (Greek mythology)

    Aegeus, in Greek mythology, the son of Pandion and grandson of Cecrops. He was king of Athens and the father of Theseus. Aegeus drowned himself in the sea when he mistakenly believed his son to be dead. The sea was thereafter called the

  • Aegidius (Swiss historian)

    Gilg Tschudi was a Swiss humanist and scholar, the author of a chronicle of Swiss history that was used as a source by many subsequent writers, including Friedrich Schiller. Though a pupil of the religious reformer Huldrych Zwingli, Tschudi remained a convinced and militant Roman Catholic; and his

  • Aegidius Romanus (Augustinian theologian)

    Giles of Rome was a Scholastic theologian, philosopher, logician, archbishop, and general and intellectual leader of the Order of the Hermit Friars of St. Augustine. Giles joined the Augustinian Hermits in about 1257 and in 1260 went to Paris, where he was educated in the house of his order. While

  • Aegidius Sadeler II (Flemish engraver and painter)

    Egidius Sadeler, II was a Flemish engraver, print dealer, and painter, most noted for his reproduction engravings of Renaissance and Mannerist paintings. Sadeler was born into a family of well-known engravers. Jan and Raphaël Sadeler were probably uncles, and Egidius was Jan’s student in 1585. From

  • Aegilops (plant genus)

    goatgrass, (genus Aegilops), genus of about 20 species of grasses (family Poaceae) native to Eurasia and North Africa. Several goatgrass species are considered to be agricultural weeds; they often grow with wheat and other cereal crops, where their eradication is difficult. Common bread wheat

  • Aegilops speltoides (plant)

    Poaceae: Economic and ecological importance: …of a diploid wheat with Aegilops speltoides (a closely allied species of grass), followed by doubling of the chromosome complement, produced tetraploid wheats. In one of these, emmer wheat (T. dicoccon), the grain is tightly clasped by the hull (lemma and palea), a characteristic of wild species that depend on…

  • Aegilops tauschii (plant)

    Poaceae: Economic and ecological importance: …of a tetraploid wheat with A. tauschii, a closely allied diploid species of grass, followed by chromosome doubling to 42.

  • Aegina (Greek mythology)

    Aeacus: …mythology, son of Zeus and Aegina, the daughter of the river god Asopus; Aeacus was the father of Telamon and Peleus. His mother was carried off by Zeus to the island of Oenone, afterward called by her name. Aeacus was celebrated for justice and in later tradition became a judge…

  • Aegina (island, Greece)

    Aegina, island, one of the largest in the Saronic group of Greece, about 16 miles (26 km) south-southwest of Piraeus. With an area of about 32 square miles (83 square km), it is an eparkhía (eparchy) of the nomós (department) of Piraeus. The northern plains and hills are cultivated with vines and

  • Aegina, Gulf of (gulf, Greece)

    Saronikós Gulf, gulf of the Aegean Sea between Ákra (cape) Soúnion of the Attica (Modern Greek: Attikí) peninsula and Ákra Skíllaion of the Argolís peninsula of the Greek Peloponnese (Pelopónnisos). A maximum of 50 miles (80 km) long northwest-southeast and about 30 miles wide, it is linked on the

  • aegirine (mineral)

    aegirine, a pyroxene mineral, sodium and iron silicate (NaFe+3Si2O6), that is commonly found in alkaline igneous rocks, particularly in syenites and syenite pegmatites. It also occurs in crystalline schists. Aegirine forms a continuous chemical series with aegirine-augite, in which calcium replaces

  • aegirine-augite (mineral)

    aegirine: …a continuous chemical series with aegirine-augite, in which calcium replaces sodium, and magnesium and aluminum replace iron. In this series, the name acmite is given to crystals with the composition NaFeSi2O6 as well as to the reddish brown or greenish black pointed crystals approximating that composition. Aegirine generally is restricted…

  • aegis (ancient Greek dress)

    aegis, in ancient Greece, leather cloak or breastplate generally associated with Zeus, the king of the gods, and thus thought to possess supernatural power. Zeus’s daughter Athena adopted the aegis for ordinary dress. Athena placed on her aegis a symbolic representation of the severed head of the

  • Aegis cruiser (warship)

    Ticonderoga-class cruiser, class of warships used by the United States Navy. First commissioned in 1983, they were the first surface combat ships outfitted with the Aegis Weapon System, the Navy’s most sophisticated air-defense system. They are equipped for air, surface, and undersea warfare. The

  • aegises (ancient Greek dress)

    aegis, in ancient Greece, leather cloak or breastplate generally associated with Zeus, the king of the gods, and thus thought to possess supernatural power. Zeus’s daughter Athena adopted the aegis for ordinary dress. Athena placed on her aegis a symbolic representation of the severed head of the

  • Aegisthus (Greek mythology)

    Agamemnon: Agamemnon’s murder: They landed in Argolis, where Aegisthus had, in the interval, seduced Clytemnestra. The pair treacherously carried out the murders of Agamemnon, his comrades, and Cassandra. In Agamemnon (458 bce), by the Greek poet and dramatist Aeschylus, however, Agamemnon was killed by Clytemnestra, as revenge for the death of Iphigeneia. The…

  • Aegithalidae (bird family)

    Aegithalidae, songbird family that includes the long-tailed tits (or titmice) of the Old World and the bushtits of North America. Both groups are considered subfamilies of the family Paridae (order Passeriformes) in some classifications. The eight species are small, arboreal insect eaters with

  • Aegithalos caudatus (bird)

    Aegithalidae: …best-known species is the common, long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus) of Eurasia. It is pinkish and black, with white head, and its tail makes up half of its 14-centimetre (6-inch) total length. One of the world’s tiniest birds is the pygmy tit (Psaltria exilis) of Java, with head and body length…

  • Aegithina (bird)

    iora, smallest of the fairy bluebird species. See fairy

  • Aegle marmelos (fruit and tree)

    bel fruit, (Aegle marmelos), tree of the family Rutaceae, cultivated for its fruit. The plant is native to India and Bangladesh and has naturalized throughout much of Southeast Asia. The unripe fruit, sliced and sun-dried, is traditionally used as a remedy for dysentery and other digestive

  • Aegospotami, Battle of (Greek history [405 bc])

    Battle of Aegospotami, (405 bc), naval victory of Sparta over Athens, final battle of the Peloponnesian War. The fleets of the two Greek rival powers faced each other in the Hellespont for four days without battle, until on the fifth day the Spartans under Lysander surprised the Athenians in their

  • Aegotheles (bird genus)

    owlet frogmouth, any of seven or eight species of shy and solitary night birds belonging to the genus Aegotheles and comprising the family Aegothelidae. They are closely related to frogmouths, in the order Caprimulgiformes. These inhabitants of forests resemble small owls with very wide mouths

  • Aegotheles cristatus (bird)

    moth owl, Australian bird, a species of owlet frogmouth

  • Aegypiinae (bird family)

    vulture: Old World vultures: The cinereous vulture, sometimes called the black vulture (Aegypius monachus), is one of the largest flying birds. Many scientists consider this bird to be the largest vulture and the largest bird of prey. It is about 1 metre (3.3 feet) long and…

  • Aegypius monachus (bird)

    vulture: Old World vultures: The cinereous vulture, sometimes called the black vulture (Aegypius monachus), is one of the largest flying birds. Many scientists consider this bird to be the largest vulture and the largest bird of prey. It is about 1 metre (3.3 feet) long and 12.5 kg (27.5 pounds)…

  • Aegyptopithecus (fossil primate)

    ape: genera include Catopithecus and Aegyptopithecus, possible successive ancestors of both the Old World monkeys and the apes. Later deposits have yielded such fossils as Pliopithecus, once thought to be related to gibbons but now known to be primitive and long separated from them. Closer to the modern apes are…

  • Aegyptus (Greek mythology)

    Danaus: …Egypt, and twin brother of Aegyptus. Driven out of Egypt by his brother, he fled with his 50 daughters (the Danaïds) to Argos, where he became king. Soon thereafter the 50 sons of Aegyptus arrived in Argos, and Danaus was forced to consent to their marriage with his daughters. Danaus,…

  • Aehrenthal, Alois, Graf Lexa von (Austro-Hungarian foreign minister)

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    Moldova: Independent Moldova: …under the banner of the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), and Vlad Filat of the Liberal Democratic Party of Moldova (PLDM) was named prime minister. Despite their victory, however, the four parties fell short of the three-fifths majority required to choose a president.

  • AEI (American organization)

    American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a private nonprofit American institution of research founded in 1943 by American industrialist Lewis H. Brown. One of the oldest and most-influential think tanks in the United States, it supports limited government, private enterprise, and democratic capitalism.

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    Al-ʿAqabah, port town, extreme southwestern Jordan. It lies on the Gulf of Aqaba, an inlet of the Red Sea, just east of the Jordan-Israel frontier on the gulf. It is Jordan’s only seaport. Because of freshwater springs in the vicinity, it has been settled for millennia; King Solomon’s port and

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