World Economic Forum: Influence and diplomatic role: …cited example is the 1988 Davos Declaration, a no-war agreement between Greece and Turkey, which were then close to armed conflict over disputed underwater research near Greek islands in the Aegean Sea.

Louis-Nicolas Davout, duke of Auerstedt was a French marshal who was one of the most distinguished of Napoleon’s field commanders. Born into the noble family of d’Avout, he was educated at the École Royale Militaire in Paris and entered Louis XVI’s service as a second lieutenant in 1788. Amid the

Louis-Nicolas Davout, duke of Auerstedt was a French marshal who was one of the most distinguished of Napoleon’s field commanders. Born into the noble family of d’Avout, he was educated at the École Royale Militaire in Paris and entered Louis XVI’s service as a second lieutenant in 1788. Amid the

Neue Sachlichkeit: Carlo Mense, Georg Scholz, and Heinrich Davringhausen.

fuel cell: Development of fuel cells: By mid-century O.K. Davtyan of the Soviet Union had published the results of experimental work on solid electrolytes for high-temperature fuel cells and for both high- and low-temperature alkaline electrolyte hydrogen-oxygen cells.

bass drum: …drums are the Turkish folk davul and the South Asian dhol.

Turkey: An emboldened Erdoğan and the AKP face resistance: Ahmet Davutoğlu took over the post of prime minister that same month. Davutoğlu, an AKP member who had previously served for five years as foreign minister under Erdoğan, was widely expected to follow the course set by his predecessor in both domestic and foreign affairs.

Walt Disney: Major films and television productions: The Zorro and Davy Crockett series were very popular with children, and a weekly showcase (known by several titles, including Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color) became a Sunday night fixture. The Mickey Mouse Club, a variety show featuring a cast of teenage performers known as the Mouseketeers,…

tactical nuclear weapons: …main warhead used on the Davy Crockett nuclear recoilless rifle, a portable warhead launcher that was crewed by a single soldier. The Davy Crockett could deliver a warhead to a target up to 2.5 miles away.

Nolichucky River: , impounds Davy Crockett Lake, named for the frontiersman, who was born (1786) on the river near Limestone. John Sevier, first governor of Tennessee, lived on the riverbank (1783–90) and was nicknamed “Nolichucky Jack.” The river was named for a Cherokee village, and the word probably means…

Davy Jones, the personification of the spirit of the sea, usually seen as a spirit malevolent to sailors. Davy Jones’s locker is a common phrase meaning the bottom of the ocean, the grave of those who die at

Davy lamp, safety lamp (q.v.) devised by Sir Humphry Davy in

Edward Davy was a physician, chemist, and inventor who devised the electromagnetic repeater for relaying telegraphic signals and invented an electrochemical telegraph in 1838. Davy, who wrote an Experimental Guide to Chemistry (1836), emigrated in 1839 to Australia, where, in addition to practicing

Sir Humphry Davy was an English chemist who discovered several chemical elements (including sodium and potassium) and compounds, invented the miner’s safety lamp, and became one of the greatest exponents of the scientific method. Davy was the elder son of middle-class parents who owned an estate in

John Davis was an English navigator who attempted to find the Northwest Passage through the Canadian Arctic to the Pacific. Davis appears to have first proposed his plan to look for the Northwest Passage in 1583 to Sir Francis Walsingham, principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I. In 1585 he began

jackdaw, (species Corvus monedula), crowlike black bird with gray nape and pearly eyes of the family Corvidae (q.v.; order Passeriformes). Jackdaws, which are 33 cm (13 inches) long, breed in colonies in tree holes, cliffs, and tall buildings: their flocks fly in formation around the site. They lay

Aung San Suu Kyi is a politician and opposition leader of Myanmar, daughter of Aung San (a martyred national hero of independent Burma) and Khin Kyi (a prominent Burmese diplomat), and winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1991. She held multiple governmental posts from 2016, including that of

Mongolian literature: The 20th century and beyond: The poet Kögltin Dawa (David Kugultinov) is perhaps the most recognized of 20th-century Kalmyk writers. A politician who had previously been a soldier and a labour camp detainee, he wrote lyrics that, late in his career, attained great thoughtfulness. Some of his poems were collected in English…

Dawānī was a jurist and philosopher who was chiefly responsible for maintaining the traditions of Islamic philosophy in the 15th century. Dawānī’s family claimed descent from Abū Bakr (the first caliph of Islām). He received a traditional Islāmic education, first at Dawān, where he studied with his

Dawānī was a jurist and philosopher who was chiefly responsible for maintaining the traditions of Islamic philosophy in the 15th century. Dawānī’s family claimed descent from Abū Bakr (the first caliph of Islām). He received a traditional Islāmic education, first at Dawān, where he studied with his

Arabian Desert: Physiography: as Al-Rimah–Al-Bāṭin, Al-Sahbāʾ, and Dawāsir-Jawb, which carried vast loads of sediment from the interior toward the Persian Gulf. The Al-Dibdibah region once was the delta of Wadi Al-Rimah–Al-Bāṭin, and Al-Budūʿ Plain was the delta of Wadi Al-Sahbāʾ. The gravel plains of Raydāʾ and Abū Baḥr, and adjacent areas covered…

Arabian Desert: Physiography: as Al-Rimah–Al-Bāṭin, Al-Sahbāʾ, and Dawāsir-Jawb, which carried vast loads of sediment from the interior toward the Persian Gulf. The Al-Dibdibah region once was the delta of Wadi Al-Rimah–Al-Bāṭin, and Al-Budūʿ Plain was the delta of Wadi Al-Sahbāʾ. The gravel plains of Raydāʾ and Abū Baḥr, and adjacent areas covered…

Australian literature: Literature from 1970 to 2000: …Dog Fox Field [1990]), and Bruce Dawe, who evinced the Australian voice in his contemporary, journalistic poetry appearing in, for example, Sometimes Gladness (1978). Robert Gray continued the tradition of spare, almost Imagistic lyric verse in such volumes of his as Piano (1988) and Certain Things (1993). Robert Adamson and…

Tavoy, town, southern Myanmar (Burma). It lies at the head of the Tavoy River estuary on the Andaman Sea. Tavoy is a weaving centre and is engaged in coastal trade with northern Myanmar and the Malay Peninsula. It is served by an airport. A hunting reserve and Mamagan, a popular beach area, are

Dawenkou culture, Chinese Neolithic culture of c. 4500–2700 bce. It was characterized by the emergence of delicate wheel-made pots of various colors; ornaments of stone, jade, and bone; walled towns; and high-status burials involving ledges for displaying grave goods, coffin chambers, and the

Dawes General Allotment Act, (February 8, 1887), U.S. law providing for the distribution of Indian reservation land among individual Native Americans, with the aim of creating responsible farmers in the white man’s image. It was sponsored in several sessions of Congress by Sen. Henry L. Dawes of

Dawes Plan, arrangement for Germany’s payment of reparations after World War I. On the initiative of the British and U.S. governments, a committee of experts (with two members each from France, Belgium, Italy, Britain, and the United States), presided over by an American financier, Charles G.

Dawes General Allotment Act, (February 8, 1887), U.S. law providing for the distribution of Indian reservation land among individual Native Americans, with the aim of creating responsible farmers in the white man’s image. It was sponsored in several sessions of Congress by Sen. Henry L. Dawes of

Charles G. Dawes was the 30th vice president of the United States (1925–29) in the Republican administration of President Calvin Coolidge. An ambassador and author of the “Dawes Plan” for managing Germany’s reparations payments after World War I, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace jointly

Charles G. Dawes was the 30th vice president of the United States (1925–29) in the Republican administration of President Calvin Coolidge. An ambassador and author of the “Dawes Plan” for managing Germany’s reparations payments after World War I, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace jointly

Dawes General Allotment Act: Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts and finally was enacted in February 1887. Under its terms, the president determined the suitability of the recipients and issued the grants, usually by a formula of 160 acres (65 hectares) to each head of household and 80 acres (32…

Dawes General Allotment Act: Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts and finally was enacted in February 1887. Under its terms, the president determined the suitability of the recipients and issued the grants, usually by a formula of 160 acres (65 hectares) to each head of household and 80 acres (32…

Sophie Dawes, baroness de Feuchères was an English adventuress, mistress of the last survivor of the princes of Condé. The daughter of a drunken fisherman named Dawes, she grew up in the workhouse, went up to London as a servant, and became the mistress of the Duke de Bourbon, afterward the ninth

Paul Revere: Midnight ride: Both he and his compatriot William Dawes reached Lexington separately and were able to warn Hancock and Adams to flee. The two men together with Samuel Prescott (ancestor of the Bush family, which would produce two U.S. presidents) then started for Concord, but they were soon stopped by a British…

William Rutter Dawes was an English astronomer known for his extensive measurements of double stars and for his meticulous planetary observations. Trained as a physician, Dawes practiced at Haddenham and (from 1826) Liverpool; subsequently he became a Nonconformist clergyman. In 1829 he set up a

Doha, city, capital of Qatar, located on the east coast of the Qatar Peninsula in the Persian Gulf. More than two-fifths of Qatar’s population lives within the city’s limits. Situated on a shallow bay indented about 3 miles (5 km), Doha has long been a locally important port. Because of offshore

Ikhwān: …October 1928 deposed Ibn Humayd, al-Dawish, and Ibn Hithlayn, the leaders of the revolt. A massacre of Najd merchants by Ibn Humayd in 1929, however, forced Ibn Saud to confront the rebellious Ikhwān militarily, and, in a major battle fought in March on the plain of Al-Sabalah (near Al-Arṭāwiyyah), Ibn…

Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist, ethologist, and popular-science writer who emphasized the gene as the driving force of evolution and generated significant controversy with his enthusiastic advocacy of atheism. Dawkins spent his early childhood in Kenya, where his father was

The Artful Dodger, fictional character in Charles Dickens’s novel Oliver Twist (1837–39). The Artful Dodger is a precocious streetwise boy who introduces the protagonist Oliver to the thief Fagin and his gang of children, who work as thieves and

Richard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist, ethologist, and popular-science writer who emphasized the gene as the driving force of evolution and generated significant controversy with his enthusiastic advocacy of atheism. Dawkins spent his early childhood in Kenya, where his father was

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), transnational jihad movement that has orchestrated or inspired numerous terrorist attacks around the world, including the Paris attacks of 2015, the Brussels bombings of 2016, the Orlando shooting of 2016, and the New Orleans attack of 2025. Certain

Kuwait, country of the Arabian Peninsula located in the northwestern corner of the Persian Gulf. A small emirate nestled between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Kuwait is situated in a section of one of the driest, least-hospitable deserts on Earth. Its shore, however, includes Kuwait Bay, a deep harbour on

Palestinian Authority (PA), governing body of the Palestinian autonomous regions in the West Bank. Established in 1994 as part of the Oslo Accords peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the PA also has de jure governing authority over the entirety of the

Babur: Early years: of Delhi, but the governor, Dawlat Khan Lodi, resented Ibrahim’s attempts to diminish his authority. By 1524 Babur had invaded the Punjab three more times but was unable to master the tangled course of Punjab and Delhi politics sufficiently enough to achieve a firm foothold. Yet it was clear that…

Qatar, independent emirate on the west coast of the Persian Gulf. The small country has tremendous influence as a trusted mediator between rivals in the region and as one of the world’s largest exporters of natural gas. It has also garnered international attention through its popular television

Persian literature: Modern Iran: …stands the social realism of Mahmoud Dawlatabadi. His great novel Kalīdar, published in 10 parts (1978–84), depicts the lives of nomads in the plains of Khorāsān, the author’s native region.

Dawlish, town (parish), Teignbridge district, administrative and historic county of Devon, southwestern England. It is situated on the English Channel, just north-northeast ot Teignmouth. Dawlish became fashionable in the 19th century and is featured in the novels of Charles Dickens and Jane

Gustav Ucicky: Morgenrot (1932; Dawn), which gained some recognition both in Europe and the United States, is a realistic story of U-boat warfare and depicts the dangerous and tenuous life in a submarine. Flüchtlinge (1933; “Refugees”) was crudely anti-Soviet and was followed by several other propaganda films. After the…

sunlight: …tints to the sky at dawn and dusk.

Dawn, U.S. spacecraft that orbited the large asteroid Vesta and the dwarf planet Ceres. Dawn was launched September 27, 2007, and flew past Mars on February 17, 2009, to help reshape its trajectory toward the asteroid belt. Dawn arrived at Vesta on July 16, 2011, and orbited Vesta until September

Michelangelo: The Medici Chapel: …otherwise they form a contrast: Dawn, a virginal figure, strains upward along her curve as if trying to emerge into life; Night is asleep, but in a posture suggesting stressful dreams.

blind snake: Anomalepids (early blind snakes) and leptotyphlopids (threadsnakes and wormsnakes) are slender, and species of both families are seldom more than 30 cm (12 inches) long from snout to vent and grow to a maximum of 40 cm (16 inches) in total length. The anomalepids are made…

The Weeknd: Breakthrough and albums: …year his fifth studio album, Dawn FM, appeared. The work was described as a “dance party in purgatory,” and it was narrated by Jim Carrey with guest appearances by Quincy Jones, Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys, and Tyler, The Creator.

Brash, confident, and strong-willed, Australian Dawn Fraser became a dominant figure in women’s swimming during the 1950s and ’60s, despite a penchant for Olympic misadventures that frequently drew the ire of coaches and officials. Fraser was the clear favourite for the gold medal in the 100-metre

Eohippus, (genus Hyracotherium), extinct group of mammals that were the first known horses. They flourished in North America and Europe during the early part of the Eocene Epoch (56 million to 33.9 million years ago). Even though these animals are more commonly known as Eohippus, a name given by

Zack Snyder: Career: He followed up Dawn of the Dead by directing and contributing to the script for 300, a stylishly violent historical epic about the Battle of Thermopylae starring Gerard Butler as the Spartan king Leonidas. Snyder quickly gained a reputation for his aesthetic eye and cinematography, blending moody darkness…

zombie: History: …about the ills of consumerism—with Dawn of the Dead (1978), in which a handful of living people attempt to escape the undead by hiding in a shopping mall. He followed up with a number of related films over the next several decades: Day of the Dead (1985), Land of the…

Ahmed Haşim: In 1909 he joined the Fecr-i âti (“Dawn of the Future”) literary circle but gradually drew apart from this group and developed his own style. Haşim, following the French masters, strove to develop the Turkish Symbolist movement. In a 1924 article on Turkish literature for the French publication Mercure de…

Keri Russell: The Americans and The Diplomat: …Jane Austen, and the action-drama Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). In 2016 she appeared with Matthew McConaughey in Free State of Jones, set during the American Civil War.

Emmanuel Roblès: Dawn on Our Darkness), a novel set in Sardinia and concerning a man caught between love and duty. Le Vésuve (1961; Vesuvius) and Un Printemps d’Italie (1970; “A Springtime in Italy”) are love stories set in wartime Italy. His later novels include Venise en hiver…

Howard Hawks: Early life and work: The Dawn Patrol (1930), another film about flying, was Hawks’s first true sound film. It was based on a story by John Monk Saunders, whose work had also formed the basis for William Wellman’s Wings (1927), and starred Richard Barthelmess and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., as…

Edmund Goulding: The 1930s: …splash, but Goulding’s remake of The Dawn Patrol (1938) was a major hit. Errol Flynn gave one of his best performances as the squadron leader who cannot bear to see inexperienced pilots sent on dangerous missions; Basil Rathbone and David Niven provided fine support. Goulding’s version of the film, which…

dawn redwood, (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), ancient conifer from central China, the only living species of its genus. The dawn redwood holds an interesting place in the history of paleobotany as one of the few living plants known first as a fossil—a true living fossil. Its fossilized foliage and

Bangkok: History of Bangkok: During these years Wat Arun, noted for its tall spire, Wat Yan Nawa, and Wat Bowon Niwet were completed, Wat Pho was further enlarged, and Wat Sutat was begun. There were, however, few other substantial buildings and fewer paved streets; the river and the network of interconnected canals…

Bernard Patrick O’Dowd: In Dawnward? (1903), his first book of verse, he expressed strong political convictions. The Silent Land followed in 1906, and the philosophical Dominions of the Boundary in 1907. In an important prose pamphlet “Poetry Militant” (1909), O’Dowd, a political and philosophical radical, argued that the poet…

Daur, Mongol people living mainly in the eastern portion of Inner Mongolia autonomous region and western Heilongjiang province of China and estimated in the early 21st century to number more than 132,000. They are one of the official ethnic minorities of China. Their language, which varies widely

Dawson, city, western Yukon, Canada. It lies at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, near the boundary with the U.S. state of Alaska, 165 miles (265 km) south of the Arctic Circle. The community, named for George M. Dawson, the geologist-explorer, developed after the gold strike at

Dawson, city, western Yukon, Canada. It lies at the confluence of the Klondike and Yukon rivers, near the boundary with the U.S. state of Alaska, 165 miles (265 km) south of the Arctic Circle. The community, named for George M. Dawson, the geologist-explorer, developed after the gold strike at

Dawson Creek, city, northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The city lies along Dawson Creek near the Alberta border. It has the Mile “Zero” post marking the beginning of the Alaska Highway and is a terminus of the British Columbia Railway from Vancouver (741 miles [1,193 km] south-southwest) and

Dawson River, river in eastern Queensland, Australia. It rises in the Carnarvon Range and flows southeast, northeast, and north for about 400 miles (640 km) through a 50-mile-wide valley to join the Fitzroy River near Duaringa. The Dawson Valley Irrigation Project (inaugurated 1923) comprises

Dawson’s Creek, American television drama series that depicts the interactions of a group of teens in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and, later, Boston. The series debuted on January 20, 1998, and ran for six seasons (1998–2003) and 128 episodes. It became one of the flagship shows

Piltdown man, (Eoanthropus dawsoni), a proposed species of extinct hominins (members of the human lineage) that served as the subject one of the most successful hoaxes in the history of science. Fossil remains of Piltdown man were discovered in England in 1910–12; however, they were later proved to

Washington Nationals: …catcher Gary Carter and outfielders Andre Dawson and Tim Raines, the Expos advanced to their first postseason appearance two years later during the strike-shortened 1981 season. That year they won their first-round series against the Philadelphia Phillies before losing to the eventual world champion Los Angeles Dodgers as the result…

Piltdown man: Discoveries: …series of discoveries in 1910–12, Charles Dawson, an English lawyer and amateur geologist, found what appeared to be the fossilized fragments of a cranium, a jawbone, and other specimens in a gravel formation at Barkham Manor on Piltdown Common near Lewes in Sussex. Dawson took the specimens to Arthur Smith…

George Geoffrey Dawson was an English journalist, editor of The Times from 1912 to 1919 and from 1923 until his retirement in 1941. He changed his surname from Robinson to Dawson following an inheritance in 1917. Dawson was educated at Eton College and at Magdalen College, Oxford, and was elected a

Kansas City Chiefs: Early years in Dallas and the move to Kansas City: The Texans brought in quarterback Len Dawson (like Stram, a future Hall of Famer) before the 1962 season, and Dallas went 11–3 that year, defeating the Houston Oilers in the AFL championship game.

Sir John William Dawson was a Canadian geologist who made numerous contributions to paleobotany and extended the knowledge of Canadian geology. During his term as superintendent of education for Nova Scotia (1850–53), Dawson studied the geology of all parts of the province, making a special

bryophyte: General features: …feet) in height (the moss Dawsonia) or, if reclining, reach lengths of more than 1 metre (3.3 feet; the moss Fontinalis). They are generally less than 3 to 6 cm (1.2 to 2.4 inches) tall, and reclining forms are usually less than 2 cm (0.8 inch) long. Some, however, are…

dawsonite, a carbonate mineral, NaAlCO3 (OH)2, that is probably formed by the decomposition of aluminous silicates. Of low-temperature, hydrothermal origin, it occurs in Montreal, where it was first discovered; near Monte Amiata, Tuscany, Italy; and in Algiers. In the oil shale near Green River,

Ẓāhirīyah: …the 9th century by one Dāwūd ibn Khalaf, though nothing of his work has survived. From Iraq, it spread to Iran, North Africa, and Muslim Spain, where the philosopher Ibn Ḥazm was its chief exponent; much of what is known of early Ẓāhirī theory comes through him. Although it was…

Dax, town, Landes département, Nouvelle-Aquitaine région, southwestern France. It lies on the left bank of the Adour River, 88 miles (142 km) southwest of Bordeaux and 50 miles (80 km) north of the Pyrenees frontier with Spain. The town is a spa resort whose thermal springs and mud baths have been

China: 4th and 3rd millennia bce: …4th and 3rd millennia, the Daxi and Qujialing cultures shared a significant number of traits, including rice production, ring-footed vessels, goblets with sharply angled profiles, ceramic whorls, and black pottery with designs painted in red after firing. Characteristic Qujialing ceramic objects not generally found in Daxi sites include eggshell-thin goblets…

Chang’an, ancient site, north-central China. Formerly the capital of the Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties, it is located near the present-day city of

Beijing: Transportation: A new international airport, Daxing, opened south of the city centre in 2019.

Daxue, brief Chinese text generally attributed to the ancient sage Confucius (551–479 bc) and his disciple Zengzi. For centuries the text existed only as a chapter of the Liji (“Collection of Rituals”), one of the Wujing (“Five Classics”) of Confucianism. When Zhu Xi, a 12th-century philosopher,

Daxue Mountains, great mountain range in western Sichuan province, southwestern China. These enormously high and rugged mountains were formed around the eastern flank of the ancient stable block of the Plateau of Tibet; their formation occurred during successive foldings that took place in the

Daxue Mountains, great mountain range in western Sichuan province, southwestern China. These enormously high and rugged mountains were formed around the eastern flank of the ancient stable block of the Plateau of Tibet; their formation occurred during successive foldings that took place in the

day, time required for a celestial body to turn once on its axis; especially the period of the Earth’s rotation. The sidereal day is the time required for the Earth to rotate once relative to the background of the stars—i.e., the time between two observed passages of a star over the same meridian

Michelangelo: The Medici Chapel: The immensely massive Day and Dusk are relatively tranquil in their mountainous grandeur, though Day perhaps implies inner fire. Both female figures have the tall, slim proportions and small feet considered beautiful at the time, but otherwise they form a contrast: Dawn, a virginal figure, strains upward along…

James Blish: …or, Faust Aleph-Null (1968) and The Day After Judgement (1971), a fantasy in which Satan and his demons conquer Earth.

Jake Gyllenhaal: Films: Donnie Darko, Brokeback Mountain, and Zodiac: …appeared in the disaster film The Day After Tomorrow as the son of Dennis Quaid’s character. Though the movie received only tepid reviews, it was a box-office hit. Gyllenhaal was especially busy in 2005. His credits from that year include Jarhead, about U.S. Marines serving in the Persian Gulf War,…

Michael Rumaker: A Day and a Night at the Baths (1979) and My First Satyrnalia (1981) are semiautobiographical accounts of initiation into New York’s homosexual community. His later novels included To Kill a Cardinal (1992), which was inspired by the ACT UP protest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral…

Sam Wood: Films with the Marx Brothers: …with the Marx Brothers on A Day at the Races. Although not as critically acclaimed as their earlier effort, the comedy was a huge box-office hit. Part of its success was attributed to the fact that the material had been polished through numerous live public performances prior to filming (although…

Robert Lowell: Later works: …a second Pulitzer Prize, and Day by Day (1977). His translations include Phaedra (1963) and Prometheus Bound (1969); Imitations (1961), free renderings of various European poets; and The Voyage and Other Versions of Poems by Baudelaire (1968).

fighter aircraft: A day fighter is an airplane in which weight and space are saved by eliminating the special navigational equipment of the night fighter. The air supremacy, or air superiority, fighter must have long-range capability, to enable it to travel deep into enemy territory to seek out…

the Tragically Hip: The Hip in the 1990s: Day for Night is a murky, moody, and mysterious record. Comanager Gregg told the band to re-record it; they told him to butt out. It ended up yielding six Canadian singles, including two of the Hip’s most beloved songs, “Grace, Too” and “Nautical Disaster.”

Two for the Road: …inspiration for his 1973 film Day for Night.

gecko: …and dirty whites predominating, though Phelsuma, a genus made up of the day geckos of Madagascar, is bright green and active in the daytime. The banded gecko (Coleonyx variegatus), the most widespread native North American species, grows to 15 cm (6 inches) and is pinkish to yellowish tan with darker…

heron: Herons are subdivided into typical herons, night herons, and tiger herons. Typical herons feed during the day. In breeding season some develop showy plumes on the back and participate in elaborate mutual-courtship posturing. Best known of the typical herons are the very large, long-legged and long-necked, plain-hued, crested members…

Nayantara Sahgal: In her fourth novel, The Day in Shadow (1971), for example, the heroine is an educated divorcée struggling in India’s male-dominated society.