Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges was a French historian, the originator of the scientific approach to the study of history in France. After studying at the École Normale Supérieure, he was sent to the French school at Athens in 1853 and directed some excavations at Chios. From 1860 to 1870 he was

Dame Elizabeth Kathleen Lane was a British jurist who was the first woman judge appointed to the British High Court. Lane also headed a controversial inquiry (1971–73) that upheld the 1967 Abortion Act. Coulborn attended McGill University, Montreal, and became interested in a legal career while

Recurring bills such as Internet, cell phone, satellite radio, and home security can quietly add hundreds of dollars to your monthly household budget. Sure, you could call your providers and ask for a better rate. Or you can let someone else do the dirty work and save yourself time and frustration.

A multiyear guaranteed annuity (MYGA) works similarly to a certificate of deposit (CD), offering a fixed interest rate for a set term—although it often allows more flexibility for withdrawals. These insurance products appeal to retirees and conservative investors because of their guaranteed rates

Paying off your mortgage early can save you thousands in interest payments and cancel your debt years ahead of schedule. One of the simplest ways to pay down your mortgage sooner is by making biweekly or bimonthly mortgage payments rather than a standard monthly payment. Biweekly and bimonthly

When The Boston Globe reported some years ago that an elite prep school in Massachusetts had set out to give away all its books and go one-hundred percent digital, most readers probably shrugged. This was just a sign of the times. American educators and parents generally assume a paperless future

Soil—a complicated medium, formed slowly by both biological and geological processes—exists as a thin barrier on the uppermost layer of Earth’s crust on land. Given that soil is found nearly everywhere on the surface of the continents (with the exception of very rocky areas), it is unlikely that we

arroyo, a dry channel lying in a semiarid or desert area and subject to flash flooding during seasonal or irregular rainstorms. Such transitory streams, rivers, or creeks are noted for their gullying effects and especially for their rapid rates of erosion, transportation, and deposition. There have

shield-backed katydid: …present in sufficient numbers, the coulee cricket (Peranabrus scabricollis) is a destructive pest of plants in the Pacific Northwest. Insecticides and insecticidal baits are used to control populations and migrating bands of Mormon crickets and coulee crickets; past methods of control included the creation of ditches or the erection of…

Coulee Dam, town on the Columbia River, northeast-central Washington, U.S. It is located at a point where Grant, Douglas, and Okanogan counties meet, 80 miles (129 km) west-northwest of Spokane. Founded in 1934 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation as a construction town for workers on the Grand Coulee

Promenade Plantée, partially elevated parkway and promenade built along an abandoned rail line and viaduct in the 12th arrondissement (municipal district) of Paris, France. The Promenade Plantée was the world’s first elevated park (first phase completed in 1994) and the first “green space”

Charlie Hebdo shooting: The attacks: …series of attacks, committed by Amedy Coulibaly, was at first thought to be independent from the assault on Charlie Hebdo. As the events unfolded, however, it came to light that he had been in contact with the Kouachis and that they had coordinated their actions. A video that emerged after…

Full House: …best friend Joey Gladstone (Dave Coulier), a stand-up comedian, move in to help Danny with his young daughters: Donna Jo, known as D.J. (Candace Cameron Bure), Stephanie (Jodie Sweetin), and Michelle (played by twins Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen). The show revolves around the everyday interactions and antics of…

Earth sciences: Understanding of clouds, fog, and dew: …necessarily so was proved by Paul-Jean Coulier of France from experiments reported in 1875. Coulier found that the sudden expansion of air in glass flasks failed to produce an artificial cloud if the air in the system was filtered through cotton wool. He concluded that dust in the air was…

Congo River: Physiography: …a narrow section called the Chenal (“Channel”), or Couloir (“Corridor”). Between banks no more than half a mile to a mile wide, the riverbed deepens and the current becomes rapid, flowing through a valley that cuts down several hundreds of yards deep into the soft sandstone bedrock of the Batéké…

coulomb, unit of electric charge in the metre-kilogram-second-ampere system, the basis of the SI system of physical units. It is abbreviated as C. The coulomb is defined as the quantity of electricity transported in one second by a current of one ampere. Named for the 18th–19th-century French

nuclear fusion: Rate and yield of fusion reactions: This repulsion is called the Coulomb barrier (see Coulomb force). It is highly unlikely that two positive nuclei will approach each other closely enough to undergo a fusion reaction unless they have sufficient energy to overcome the Coulomb barrier. As a result, the cross section for fusion reactions between charged…

damping: …also called in this context dry, or Coulomb, damping, arises chiefly from the electrostatic forces of attraction between the sliding surfaces and converts mechanical energy of motion, or kinetic energy, into heat.

Coulomb force, attraction or repulsion of particles or objects because of their electric charge. One of the basic physical forces, the electric force is named for a French physicist, Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, who in 1785 published the results of an experimental investigation into the correct

Coulomb force, attraction or repulsion of particles or objects because of their electric charge. One of the basic physical forces, the electric force is named for a French physicist, Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, who in 1785 published the results of an experimental investigation into the correct

Coulomb’s law, mathematical description of the electric force between charged objects. Formulated by the 18th-century French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb, it is analogous to Isaac Newton’s law of gravity. Both gravitational and electric forces decrease with the square of the distance

Charles-Augustin de Coulomb was a French physicist best known for the formulation of Coulomb’s law, which states that the force between two electrical charges is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. The Coulomb force is

titration: …course of the titration; and coulometric titrations, the total quantity of electricity passed during the titration. In the four titrations just mentioned, except coulometric titrations, the end point is indicated by a marked change in the electrical quantity that is being measured. In coulometric titrations, the quantity of electricity required…

coulometry, in analytical chemistry, method for determining the quantity of a substance, based on the strict proportionality between the extent of a chemical change and the quantity of electricity involved (Faraday’s law). The quantity of the material to be analyzed can be determined directly by

Henri II d’Orléans, duke de Longueville was a noted rebel in the French civil wars of the Fronde. His second wife was the celebrated Anne-Geneviève de Bourbon-Condé, Duchess de Longueville (q.v.). After taking part in the conspiracy against Cardinal de Richelieu in 1626, Longueville distinguished

Johnny Coulon was an American professional boxer and world bantamweight champion. (Read Gene Tunney’s 1929 Britannica essay on boxing.) Coulon began his boxing career in 1905. He won the American bantamweight title in 1908 and in a March 6, 1910, match for the vacated world bantamweight

George Coulouris was a British actor known for his portrayals of villainous characters such as Count Teck de Brancovis in both the stage (1941) and screen (1943) versions of Lillian Hellman’s Watch on the Rhine. Coulouris studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London; he made his

Frederick Sanger: DNA research: Sanger and British colleague Alan R. Coulson developed the “plus and minus” method for rapid DNA sequencing. It represented a radical departure from earlier methods in that it did not utilize partial hydrolysis. Instead, it generated a series of DNA molecules of varying lengths that could be separated by…

United Kingdom: News of the World hacking scandal: …of News of the World, Andy Coulson, in 2007. It did not prevent him from becoming the communications chief for Cameron when he took office, however. When the scandal began to grow, in January 2011 Coulson stepped down. By the middle of July, in addition to the shuttering of News…

The 7 Best Pinecones (Really!): The Heavyweight: Coulter Pine (Pinus coulteri): Coulter pines, native to the mountains of southern California (U.S.) and Baja California (Mexico), produce the most-massive cones of any pine species. Known colloquially as “widow-makers,” those giant pinecones can weigh up to 5 kg (11 pounds)! They also feature large…

Ann Coulter is an American conservative political commentator and author who frequently courts controversy with brash statements about her ideological opponents, often Democrats and liberals. With a father who was a corporate lawyer and two older brothers, Coulter learned to be verbally aggressive

Ann Coulter is an American conservative political commentator and author who frequently courts controversy with brash statements about her ideological opponents, often Democrats and liberals. With a father who was a corporate lawyer and two older brothers, Coulter learned to be verbally aggressive

Canadian literature: Drama: …milieu for dramatists such as John Coulter, whose Riel (1962) creates a heroic figure of Louis Riel, the leader of the Métis rebellion in 1885. As regional and experimental theatres multiplied, increasingly innovative and daring productions were mounted, such as John Herbert’s Fortune and Men’s Eyes (1967), on homosexuality in…

Charles Joseph Chamberlain: botanist John Coulter he prepared textbooks on the morphology of spermatophytes (1901), angiosperms (1903), and gymnosperms (1910). He also wrote The Living Cycads (1919) and Gymnosperms, Structure and Evolution (1935).

warfarin, anticoagulant drug, marketed as Coumadin. Originally developed to treat thromboembolism (see thrombosis), it interferes with the liver’s metabolism of vitamin K, leading to production of defective coagulation factors. Warfarin therapy risks uncontrollable hemorrhage, either spontaneously

coumarin, an organic compound having the characteristic odour of new-mown hay, obtainable from the tonka tree (native to Guyana) or by chemical synthesis. It is used in perfumes and flavourings and for the preparation of other chemicals. Coumarin belongs to the heterocyclic class of organic

South America: The Amazonian and Guianan forests: …of which is highly valued; coumarou (Curimato), which is a toothless vegetarian fish resembling the marine mullet; electric eel (Electrophorus electricus); pirarucu (Arapaima gigas), which can attain a length of 15 feet (4.5 metres) and a weight of 200 pounds (90 kg); and piranha, having teeth so sharp that they…

Amazon River: Agriculture and forestry: Other trees, such as the coumarou, or tonka bean (Dipteryx odorata), yield perfumes, flavourings, and pharmaceutical ingredients. However, the rubber and Brazil nut trees produce more-valuable commodities. The rubber tree, for example, has been one of the reasons for the intense penetration and exploitation of the forest. It gave rise…

Amazon River: Agriculture and forestry: Other trees, such as the coumarou, or tonka bean (Dipteryx odorata), yield perfumes, flavourings, and pharmaceutical ingredients. However, the rubber and Brazil nut trees produce more-valuable commodities. The rubber tree, for example, has been one of the reasons for the intense penetration and exploitation of the forest. It gave rise…

Native American art: Arts of the American Indian peoples in the contemporary world: …are the American Indian tribal councils and economic development boards, many of which support the arts in their own areas, not only to augment income but also out of an awareness of the cultural value of those arts. Many tribes, particularly the Navajo, Hopi, Cherokee, and Crow, have set up…

council, in the Christian Church, a meeting of bishops and other leaders to consider and rule on questions of doctrine, administration, discipline, and other matters. An ecumenical or general council is a meeting of bishops of the whole church; local councils representing such areas as provinces or

Council Bluffs, city, seat (1851) of Pottawattamie county, southwestern Iowa, U.S., on the Missouri River across from Omaha, Nebraska. The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed there in 1804 and held consultations with the Oto and Missouri Indians at a place called Council Hill or Council Bluff; a

Patrick Dodson: …the founding chairperson of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) from 1991 to 1997, however, that led to his becoming known as the “Father of Reconciliation.” He also served as cochair of the Expert Panel for Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians (2010–16). Dodson was devoted to building constructive relationships between…

Holocaust: The extermination camps: …was punishable by death, the Zegota (Council for Aid to Jews) rescued a similar number of Jewish men, women, and children. Financed by the London-based Polish government in exile and involving a wide range of clandestine political organizations, Zegota provided hiding places and financial support and forged identity documents.

Holocaust: The extermination camps: …was punishable by death, the Zegota (Council for Aid to Jews) rescued a similar number of Jewish men, women, and children. Financed by the London-based Polish government in exile and involving a wide range of clandestine political organizations, Zegota provided hiding places and financial support and forged identity documents.

Council for World Mission, English mission organization, formed in 1966 by the merger of the Commonwealth Missionary Society and the London Missionary Society. The Commonwealth Missionary Society (originally the Colonial Missionary Society) was organized in 1836 to promote Congregationalism in the

Council Grove, city, seat (1871) of Morris county, east-central Kansas, U.S., on the Neosho River. The settlement started as an Indian campground in a grove of oaks near the river, where a treaty was concluded (1825) between the federal government and the Kansa and Osage Indians to permit the

Council of Economic Advisers, advisory body within the executive branch of the United States government comprising three professional members who are appointed by the president and subject to approval by the Senate. The duties of the Council of Economic Advisers include the collection and analysis

cybercrime: Defining cybercrime: …on November 23, 2001, the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime was signed by 30 states. The convention came into effect in 2004. Additional protocols, covering terrorist activities and racist and xenophobic cybercrimes, were proposed in 2002 and came into effect in 2006. In addition, various national laws, such as…

council of governments (COG), in the United States, type of regional planning body that exists throughout the country. A COG is an association that consists of elected public officials who come from the major local governments within an urban or metropolitan area. COGs were developed during the

Council of Guardians, in Iranian government, a council empowered to vet legislation and oversee elections. The 12-member Council of Guardians is a body of jurists that acts in many ways as an upper legislative house. Half its members are specialists in Islamic canon law appointed by the country’s

Korea: The Three Kingdoms: …the Council of Nobles (Hwabaek), which made important decisions. The council’s membership consisted of men of chin’gol (“true-bone”) class, who were of the high aristocracy.

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian research and development (R&D) organization. It was established as an autonomous body by the government of India in 1942 to promote scientific knowledge and boost industrialization and economic growth and is now one of the largest

Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), independent nonpartisan think tank and publisher that promotes understanding of international relations and foreign policy. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) was founded in 1921. It does not take policy positions but instead sponsors discussion, analysis,

Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED), international nongovernmental organization (NGO) created in 1993 to improve public health primarily in low- and middle-income countries. The Council on Health Research for Development (COHRED) helps countries strengthen their health research

Council Bluffs, city, seat (1851) of Pottawattamie county, southwestern Iowa, U.S., on the Missouri River across from Omaha, Nebraska. The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed there in 1804 and held consultations with the Oto and Missouri Indians at a place called Council Hill or Council Bluff; a

mayor and council system, municipal government in which a locally elected council is headed by a mayor, either popularly elected or elected by the council from among its members. In strict usage, the term is applied only to two types of local governmental structure in the United States. In the

order in council, in Great Britain, a regulation issued by the sovereign on the advice of the Privy Council; in modern practice, however, an order is issued only upon the advice of ministers, the minister in charge of the department concerned with the subject matter of the order being responsible

political system: Cities: …populations over 10,000 operate under council-manager governments. In council-manager systems the council is generally small, elected at large on a nonpartisan ballot for overlapping four-year terms; no other offices are directly elected, and the mayor, who presides at council meetings and performs mainly ceremonial functions, is chosen by the council…

alderman: …colonial boroughs, both aldermen and councilmen were chosen by the voters, a practice that became universal in the period of American independence. In the 19th century, when bicameral legislatures were common in city governments, the aldermen formed one legislative chamber and the councillors the other.

alderman: …colonial boroughs, both aldermen and councilmen were chosen by the voters, a practice that became universal in the period of American independence. In the 19th century, when bicameral legislatures were common in city governments, the aldermen formed one legislative chamber and the councillors the other.

Diet: …of Representatives (Shūgiin) and the House of Councillors (Sangiin). The latter takes the place of the old House of Peers and has a membership of 248 consisting of two categories: 100 councillors elected from the nation at large with the remaining 148 elected as prefectural representatives. Every voter may cast…

legal ethics: Criminal cases: The defense counsel has different concerns. Under Anglo-American law an accused may compel the state to prove that he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense counsel, therefore, becomes ethically obligated to require the state to produce such proof, whether or not the attorney believes his…

guidance counseling, the process of helping individuals discover and develop their educational, vocational, and psychological potentialities and thereby to achieve an optimal level of personal happiness and social usefulness. The concept of counseling is essentially democratic in that the

psychotherapy, any form of treatment for psychological, emotional, or behaviour disorders in which a trained person establishes a relationship with one or several patients for the purpose of modifying or removing existing symptoms and promoting personality growth. Psychotropic medications may be

Carl Rogers: …State University, where he wrote Counseling and Psychotherapy (1942). In it Rogers suggested that clients, by establishing a relationship with an understanding, accepting therapist, can resolve difficulties and gain the insight necessary to restructure their lives.

Milwaukee Brewers: Though they lost longtime manager Craig Counsell before the season began, the Brewers repeated as winners of their division in 2024. In the postseason, the team was upset by the New York Mets in the Wild Card Series.

John Barrymore: … (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933), Counsellor-at-Law (1933), Romeo and Juliet (1936), and The Great Profile (1940), in which he lampooned his own image. Though his talents were prodigious and he was considered one of the greatest and handsomest actors of the the silent and early talkie eras of film, Barrymore…

Wawrzyniec Goślicki: …Oldisworth appeared under the title The Accomplished Senator. Opposing absolute monarchy and supremacy of the people, Goślicki recommended that the senate should stand between the sovereign and the people, controlling the sovereign and representing the people. He was one of the earliest political theorists to advocate the right of revolt…

William Wyler: Films of the 1930s: …Elmer Rice from his own play and starred John Barrymore. Wyler followed the melodrama Glamour (1934) with the comedy The Good Fairy (1935), a clever adaptation of a Ferenc Molnár play by Preston Sturges that starred Margaret Sullavan, whom Wyler had recently married. Successful though it was, The Good

Mafia: The 20th century and the Five Families: …or deputy director, and a consigliere, or counselor, who had considerable power and influence. Below the underboss were the caporegime, or lieutenants, who, acting as buffers between the lower echelon workers and the don himself, protected him from a too-direct association with the organization’s illicit operations. The lieutenants supervised squads…

Brazilian literature: Emergence of the republic: …work, Memorial de Ayres (1908; Counselor Ayres’ Memorial), a novel in the form of a diary, takes place during the days of the abolition of slavery (1888) and the declaration of the republic (1889). Yet it focuses primarily upon the enduring power of love. Although racism and slavery do not…

Ridley Scott: …eerie world of Alien; and The Counselor (2013), a crime drama scripted by Cormac McCarthy.

count, European title of nobility, equivalent to a British earl, ranking in modern times after a marquess or, in countries without marquesses, a duke. The Roman comes was originally a household companion of the emperor, while under the Franks he was a local commander and judge. The counts were

plea bargaining: Types of plea bargains: …type of plea negotiation is count bargaining, in which defendants who face multiple charges may be allowed to plead guilty to fewer counts. The charges need not be identical: the prosecutor may drop any charge or charges in exchange for a guilty plea on the remaining charges. Because count bargaining…

Robert Graves: …his own reign as emperor; Count Belisarius (1938), a sympathetic study of the great and martyred general of the Byzantine Empire; and The Golden Fleece (1944; U.S. title Hercules, My Shipmate). Graves’s researches for The Golden Fleece led him into a wide-ranging study of myths and to what was his…

Count Fleet, (foaled 1940), American racehorse (Thoroughbred) who in 1943 became the sixth winner of the American Triple Crown—the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. In 1927 John D. Hertz (founder of the Yellow Cab taxicab and Hertz rental car companies) bought a young

Francis Parkman: Literary career.: Count Frontenac and New France Under Louis XIV (1877) tells the story of New France, the early French settlement in Canada, under its most formidable governor, a man of vanity, courage, and audacity. Yet it was in Montcalm and Wolfe (1884)—a true biography of the…

Juan Goytisolo: …del Conde don Julián (1970; Count Julian), which is considered his masterwork, experiments with transforming the Spanish language, seen as a tool of political power. The novel excoriates Spain for its hypocrisy and cruelty. The trilogy concludes with Juan sin tierra (1975; Juan the Landless).

short story: Spreading popularity: …Manuel’s collection of lively exempla Libro de los enxiemplos del conde Lucanor et de Patronio (1328–35), which antedates the Decameron; the anonymous story “The Abencerraje,” which was interpolated into a pastoral novel of 1559; and, most importantly, Miguel de Cervantes’ experimental Novelas ejemplares (1613; “Exemplary Novels”). Cervantes’ short fictions vary…

noun: Types of nouns: …entities and are often called countable nouns, because they can be numbered. They include nouns such as apple, book, and chair. These nouns have plural forms (discussed below). Other nouns describe things that cannot be divided into discrete entities. These are called uncountable, or mass, nouns and are generally treated…

Henry Cavill: First onscreen roles: …Kevin Reynolds’s big-screen adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo (2002). For the part of Albert Mandego, Cavill, who has said that he was teased for being overweight as a kid, was encouraged to lose several pounds. In addition, Cavill had guest roles in a number of British television shows…

Hollywood: …of the first storytelling movies, The Count of Monte Cristo, was completed in Hollywood after its filming had begun in Chicago. In 1911 a site on Sunset Boulevard was turned into Hollywood’s first studio, and soon about 20 companies were producing films in the area. In 1913 Cecil B. DeMille,…

James O’Neill: …opened as Edmond Dantes in The Count of Monte Cristo in a stage version by Charles Fechter. His opening-night performance was ill-received by the press, but public enthusiasm was immediate, and the role eventually earned for O’Neill nearly $1,000,000 for more than 6,000 performances throughout the United States over a…

The Count of Monte Cristo, Romantic novel by French author Alexandre Dumas père (possibly in collaboration with Auguste Maquet), published serially in 1844–46 and in book form in 1844–45. The work, which is set during the time of the Bourbon Restoration in France, tells the story of an unjustly

Rowland V. Lee: The Count of Monte Cristo (1934) was an exemplary adaptation (coscripted by Lee) of Alexandre Dumas’s classic adventure story. It starred Robert Donat as Edmond Dantès, a man unjustly imprisoned who escapes and seeks revenge against those who betrayed him. Cardinal Richelieu (1935) was a…

France: The central government: …by three men—the seneschal, the count of the palace, and, foremost, the mayor of the palace, who also presided over the king’s estates. They traveled with the king, who, while having various privileged places of residence, did not live at a fixed capital. Only under Charlemagne did this pattern begin…

Gioachino Rossini: Parisian period of Gioachino Rossini: …and Le Comte Ory (Count Ory, 1828), an adaptation of opera buffa style to French opera.

palatine: …important of these was the count palatine, who in Merovingian and Carolingian times (5th through 10th century) was an official of the sovereign’s household, in particular of his court of law. The count palatine was the official representative at court proceedings such as oath takings or judicial sentences and was…

István, Count Tisza was a Hungarian statesman who became prime minister of Hungary as well as one of the most prominent defenders of the Austro-Hungarian dualist system of government. He was an opponent of voting franchise reform in Hungary, and he was a loyal supporter of the monarchy’s alliance

Count Fleet: Final years: When his son, Count Turf, won the Kentucky Derby in 1951, it marked the first three-generation sweep of the famed event (Reigh Count, Count Fleet’s father, won the Derby in 1928). Count Fleet died in 1973 and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing’s Hall of Fame…

William Gibson: Count Zero (1986) was set in the same world as Neuromancer but seven years later. The characters of Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988) can “die” into computers, where they may support or sabotage outer reality. After collaborating with writer Bruce Sterling on The Difference Engine (1990),…

Count’s War, (1534–36), the last Danish war of succession, which resulted in the strengthening of the monarchy and in the establishment of Danish Lutheranism, as well as in a change in the Baltic balance of power. The war derived its name from Count Christopher of Oldenburg. Christopher

automata theory: The generalized automaton and Turing’s machine: …is, they are at most countable in number. This being the case, it can be proved that there is what Turing called a “universal” machine capable of operating like any given Turing machine. For a given partial recursive function of a single argument, there is a corresponding integer, called the…

probability theory: Measure theory: …is called the axiom of countable additivity. It is clearly motivated by equation (1), which suffices for finite sample spaces because there are only finitely many events. In infinite sample spaces it implies, but is not implied by, equation (1). There is, however, nothing in one’s intuitive notion of probability…

noun: Types of nouns: …entities and are often called countable nouns, because they can be numbered. They include nouns such as apple, book, and chair. These nouns have plural forms (discussed below). Other nouns describe things that cannot be divided into discrete entities. These are called uncountable, or mass, nouns and are generally treated…

automata theory: The generalized automaton and Turing’s machine: …is, they are at most countable in number. This being the case, it can be proved that there is what Turing called a “universal” machine capable of operating like any given Turing machine. For a given partial recursive function of a single argument, there is a corresponding integer, called the…

Robert Altman: Early years: …meticulously realized, documentary-flavoured space adventure Countdown (1968), with Robert Duvall and James Caan playing astronauts. Altman went to Canada to shoot That Cold Day in the Park (1969), a portentous modern gothic drama starring Sandy Dennis as a disturbed spinster who brings home a young drifter, with dire consequences.

Steely Dan: …Becker finished their second album, Countdown to Ecstasy (1973), they had sacked vocalist David Palmer, leaving Fagen as sole lead singer. Gradually the duo dropped the pretense of being an actual band and ceased touring, preferring to nurture their eccentric ideas with a regular crew of studio musicians that included…

MS NOW: …transition was largely credited to Countdown with Keith Olbermann (2003–11), a show that mixed news, politics, and liberal commentary. Olbermann attracted particular attention for his frequent scathing critiques of Fox News host Bill O’Reilly and the Republican Party. In addition, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which