Henrik Dam was a Danish biochemist who, with Edward A. Doisy, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1943 for research into antihemorrhagic substances and the discovery of vitamin K (1939). Dam, a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Copenhagen (1920), taught in the School of

Henrik Dam was a Danish biochemist who, with Edward A. Doisy, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1943 for research into antihemorrhagic substances and the discovery of vitamin K (1939). Dam, a graduate of the Polytechnic Institute of Copenhagen (1920), taught in the School of

telecommunications media: Satellite links: …upon request—a process known as demand assigned multiple access (DAMA)—multibeam satellites can link widely distributed mobile and fixed users that cannot be linked economically by optical fibre cables or earthbound radio relays.

fallow deer, (Dama dama), medium-sized deer of the family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla) that is frequently kept on estates, in parks, and in zoos. The common fallow deer (Dama dama dama) is native to the eastern Mediterranean; a second, larger, more brightly coloured, short-antlered form, the

Persian deer, fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) of western Asia. The maral, an Asiatic red deer, also is often called Persian deer. See fallow

Elche: …La dama de Elche (“The Lady of Elche”), was found on a nearby archaeological site in 1897; a mosaic floor with Latin inscriptions was also uncovered there in 1959. A local custom—declared a national artistic monument in 1931—is observed annually on August 14–15 in the 17th-century church of Santa…

gazelle: The three largest species—the dama gazelle, Grant’s gazelle, and Soemmering’s gazelle—are placed in the genus Nanger (formerly considered a subgenus), and three of the smaller species—Thomson’s gazelle, the red-fronted gazelle, and the Mongalla gazelle—have become the genus Eudorcas

Turkey: Mustafa Kemal and the Turkish War of Independence, 1919–23: The unpopular grand vizier, Damad Ferid Pasha, resigned and was replaced by the more sympathetic Ali Riza Pasha. Negotiations with the Kemalists were followed by the election of a new parliament, which met in Istanbul in January 1920. A large majority in parliament was opposed to the official government…

Mīr Dāmād was a philosopher, teacher, and leader in the cultural renascence of Iran during the Ṣafavid dynasty. A descendant of a well-known Shīʿī family, Mīr Dāmād spent most of his life in Isfahan as a student and teacher. Mīr Dāmād’s major contribution to Islāmic philosophy was his concept of

Zinder, city, south-central Niger. The country’s second largest city, it was the capital of a Muslim dynasty established in the 18th century, which freed itself from the sovereignty of Bornu in the mid-19th century. The city was occupied by French troops in 1899, and it served as the capital of the

Jeremy Irons: …appeared in the sensual drama Damage (1992), the action movie Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995), and as Humbert Humbert in Lolita (1997), a controversial adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov’s novel. In the animated blockbuster The Lion King (1994), Irons provided the voice of a villainous lion.

ship: Damage buoyancy and stability: Building a ship that can be neither sunk nor capsized is beyond practicality, but a ship can be designed to survive moderate damage and, if sinking is inevitable, to sink slowly and without capsizing in order to maximize the survival chances…

ship: Damage buoyancy and stability: …subdivision but in lack of damage stability. Longitudinal bulkheads in the vicinity of the torpedo hits limited the flooding to one side, causing the ship to heel quickly to the point where normal hull openings were submerged. As a consequence of this disaster, commercial ships are now forbidden from having…

collective behavior: Common misconceptions: …is much less looting and vandalism than is popularly supposed. Even among persons who converge from outside the community there is more petty pilfering for souvenirs than serious crime. Fourth, initially an altruistic selflessness is more prevalent than self-pity and self-serving activity. Frequently noted are dramatic instances of persons who…

Black Flag: …its vocalist, Black Flag released Damaged (1981), its first full-length album, which spawned the group’s best-known single, “Rise Above.” Later recordings flirted with heavy metal, and the band also provided musical accompaniment to Rollins’s spoken-word poetry before breaking up in 1986.

Sally Mann: Immediate Family: In Damaged Child, one of Mann’s earliest portraits in the series (begun in 1984), her eldest daughter, Jessie, appears with a swollen eye and an expression seething with recrimination, a look some interpreted as belonging to a victim of child abuse. In truth, Jessie had been…

Gang of Four: …recording debut in 1978 with Damaged Goods, an extended-play record that featured Gill’s stuttering, jerky guitar; it was followed in 1979 by Entertainment!, which continued the group’s movement toward the dance floor, propelled by bassist Allen and drummer Burnham. The Gang of Four’s songs, often of an ironic and theoretical…

Edgar G. Ulmer: Early work: In 1933 Ulmer helmed Damaged Lives, an exploitation entry about a couple nearly destroyed by venereal disease. It was a commercial success despite having been banned in a number of U.S. cities. He had a less-controversial hit with The Black Cat (1934), though the subject matter was still sensationalistic.…

Rose Byrne: From drama to comedy: Damages, Bridesmaids, and Neighbors: …in the television legal thriller Damages. Starring alongside Glenn Close, she portrayed a naive law school graduate who becomes a shrewd attorney and legal strategist. Byrne’s performance in the role earned her two Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress in a drama series.

damages, in law, money compensation for loss or injury caused by the wrongful act of another. Recovery of damages is the objective of most civil litigation. Originally redress of wrongs was direct—an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The introduction of monetary systems and dissatisfaction with

India: Subordinate Maratha rulers: The rule of Damaji (died 1768) at Baroda was followed by a period of some turmoil. The Gaekwads still remained partly dependent on Pune and the peshwa, especially to intervene in moments of succession crisis. The eventual successor of Damaji, Fateh Singh (ruled 1771–89), did not remain allied…

blesbok: An isolated related subspecies, the bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus dorcas), confined to the coastal plain of Western Cape province, came nearer to extinction and is still uncommon; the largest population, of 200–250, lives in Bontebok National Park.

topi, (Damaliscus lunatus), one of Africa’s most common and most widespread antelopes. It is a member of the tribe Alcelaphini (family Bovidae), which also includes the blesbok, hartebeest, and wildebeest. Damaliscus lunatus is known as the topi in East Africa and as the sassaby or tsessebe in

blesbok: An isolated related subspecies, the bontebok (Damaliscus pygargus dorcas), confined to the coastal plain of Western Cape province, came nearer to extinction and is still uncommon; the largest population, of 200–250, lives in Bontebok National Park.

blesbok, (Damaliscus pygargus phillipsi), one of the gaudiest of the antelopes, a South African version of the closely related sassaby. The blesbok ranged the treeless Highveld in countless thousands throughout the mid-19th century but was hunted nearly to extinction. It has been reintroduced,

Daman, town, capital of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu union territory, western India. The town, together with numerous villages in the surrounding area, forms an enclave in southeastern Gujarat state and is situated on the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay) of the Arabian Sea. Known as Damão, the

Daman and Diu, former union territory of India, which comprised two widely separated districts on the country’s western coast. Daman is an enclave on the state of Gujarat’s southern coast, situated 100 miles (160 km) north of Mumbai (Bombay). Diu encompasses an island off the southern coast of

Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Geography: …which are crossed by the Daman Ganga River and its tributaries. The only navigable river in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, the Daman Ganga rises in Maharashtra and flows northwestward through the territory toward Daman, a port once famous for its docks.

Damanhūr, city, capital of Al-Buḥayrah muḥāfaẓah (governorate) in the western Nile River delta, Lower Egypt. Its name is derived from the ancient Egyptian Timinhor (“City of Horus”) and has historically applied to several centres in Egypt, mostly in the delta. The capital of a Ptolemaic nome,

Daman, town, capital of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu union territory, western India. The town, together with numerous villages in the surrounding area, forms an enclave in southeastern Gujarat state and is situated on the Gulf of Khambhat (Cambay) of the Arabian Sea. Known as Damão, the

dammar, any of a variety of hard varnish resins obtained from coniferous and hardwood trees characteristic of Southeast and East Asia. These include the conifer genus Agathis (family Araucariaceae), such flowering plants as Shorea (especially S. wiesneri) and other genera of the family

Al-Dāmir, town, northeastern Sudan. It lies on the right (east) bank of the Nile River, at an elevation of 1,158 feet (353 metres), about 155 miles (250 km) northeast of Khartoum. Al-Dāmir is a local commercial centre for the date-producing areas to the north. The town’s industries include date

Bergdama, a seminomadic people of mountainous central Namibia. They speak a Khoisan (click) language, but culturally they are more like the peoples of central and western Africa, though their origin is obscure. When first encountered by Europeans, in the 17th and 18th centuries, many of the

Damaraland, historical region of Namibia; the name is in part a misnomer, as it was originally applied to lands of north-central Namibia predominantly occupied by the Herero and Khoekhoe people rather than the Bergdama (Damara), the latter having been displaced and subjugated by the other two when

eusocial species: …rat (Heterocephalus glaber) and the Damaraland mole rat (Cryptomys damarensis), are the only vertebrates that engage in truly eusocial behaviour.

Precambrian: Occurrence and distribution of Precambrian rocks: Damaran belts in Africa, the Labrador Trough in Canada, and the Eastern Ghats belt in India. Several small relict areas, spanning a few hundred kilometres across, exist within or against Phanerozoic orogenic belts and include the Lofoten islands of Norway, the

drum: The modern Indian damaru is an hourglass-shaped clapper drum—when it is twisted its heads are struck by the ends of one or two cords attached to the shell. Barrel and shallow-nailed drums are particularly associated with India and East Asia; notable are the taiko drums of Japan, made…

Caribbean literature: …Roumain (Haiti), Nicolás Guillén (Cuba), Léon Damas (French Guiana), and Aimé Césaire (Martinique). Jean Price-Mars, a Haitian ethnologist, in Ainsi parla l’oncle (1928; “Thus Spoke the Uncle”), declared that his purpose was to “restore to the Haitian people the dignity of their folklore.” The achievement of this negritude, finely expressed…

St. John of Damascus ; Eastern and Western feast day December 4) was an Eastern Christian monk and theologian whose treatises on the veneration of sacred images placed him in the forefront of the 8th-century Iconoclastic Controversy. His theological synthesis made him a preeminent intermediary

damascening, art of encrusting gold, silver, or copper wire on the surface of iron, steel, bronze, or brass. A narrow undercut is made in the surface of the metal with a chisel and the wire forced into the undercut by means of a hammer. The name is derived from the city of Damascus, which was

Damascius was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher and last in the succession of Platonic scholars at the Greek Academy at Athens, which was founded by Plato about 387 bc. A pupil and close friend of the Greek philosopher Isidore of Alexandria, whose biography he wrote, Damascius became head of the

Damascus, city, capital of Syria. Located in the southwestern corner of the country, it has been called the “pearl of the East,” praised for its beauty and lushness; the 10th-century traveler and geographer al-Maqdisī lauded the city as ranking among the four earthly paradises. Upon visiting the

Damascus rug, usually small floor covering, often attributed to Damascus, Syria, in the 16th or 17th century in continuation of the rug art of the Mamlūk rulers of that land. The usual Damascus field pattern is a grid of small squares or rectangles (hence the European term chessboard carpets), each

Damascus Document, one of the most important extant works of the ancient Essene community of Jews at Qumrān in Palestine. The Essenes fled to the Judaean desert wilderness around Qumrān during Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ persecution of Palestinian Jews from 175 to 164/163 bc. Though a precise date for

Jerusalem: Architecture: …in the wall: the New, Damascus, and Herod’s gates to the north, the St. Stephen’s (or Lion’s) Gate to the east, the Dung and Zion gates to the south, and the Jaffa Gate to the west. An eighth gate, the Golden Gate, to the east, remains sealed, however, for it…

Damascus: Transportation: Damascus International Airport, located some 20 miles (32 km) east of the city, is served by many commercial airlines that offer direct flights to major regional and international cities. Inner-city transportation is largely provided by motor vehicles. Animal-drawn carts, which once gave the city a…

Damascus rug, usually small floor covering, often attributed to Damascus, Syria, in the 16th or 17th century in continuation of the rug art of the Mamlūk rulers of that land. The usual Damascus field pattern is a grid of small squares or rectangles (hence the European term chessboard carpets), each

Syria: Finance of Syria: A stock exchange, the Damascus Securities Exchange, formally opened for trading in Damascus in 2009.

Damascus steel, one of the famous steels of the pre-industrial era, typically made into weapon blades. Manufacture involved a secret carburization process in which a form of wrought iron was heated to red heat in contact with various carbonaceous materials in closed vessels. The result was an

Islamic arts: Other arts: of pottery: İznik, Rhodian, and Damascus ware. Both in technique and in design, Ottoman ceramics are the only major examples of pottery produced in the late Islamic period.

Great Mosque of Damascus, the earliest surviving stone mosque, built between 705 and 715 ce by the Umayyad Caliph al-Walīd I, who proclaimed to his citizens: “People of Damascus, four things give you a marked superiority over the rest of the world: your climate, your water, your fruits, and your

The defeat of the Second Crusade at Damascus on July 23–28, 1148, ensured that the Christian crusader states in the Holy Land would remain on the defensive for the foreseeable future. With no hope of expanding their territorial holdings after that loss, Christians in the region were confined to

Damascus: Education: The University of Damascus was founded in 1923 through the joining of four older institutions of higher learning and was a pioneer in the Arab world for introducing Arabic as the sole language of instruction and research. It is the largest and oldest of Syria’s universities,…

damask, patterned textile, deriving its name from the fine patterned fabrics produced in Damascus (Syria) in the European Middle Ages. True damask was originally wholly of silk, but gradually the name came to be applied to a certain type of patterned fabric regardless of fibre. Single damask has

rose: Major species and hybrids: The flowers of the damask rose (Rosa ×damascena) and several other species are the source of attar of roses used in perfumes. Many species, particularly the rugosa rose (R. rugosa), produce edible rose hips, which are a rich source of vitamin C and are sometimes used in preserves.

Damascus steel, one of the famous steels of the pre-industrial era, typically made into weapon blades. Manufacture involved a secret carburization process in which a form of wrought iron was heated to red heat in contact with various carbonaceous materials in closed vessels. The result was an

Damaskinos was the archbishop of Athens and regent of Greece during the civil war of 1944–46, under whose regency came a period of political reconstruction. He was a private in the army during the Balkan Wars (1912) and was ordained priest in 1917. In 1922 Damaskinos became bishop of Corinth, and

Sam Wood: Wood’s heyday: …Fred MacMurray, Albert Dekker, and Gilbert Roland. Kitty Foyle (1940), however, was a huge hit. The sentimental soap opera, which was based on Christopher Morley’s best seller, centres on a working-class girl (Ginger Rogers) who must choose between her wealthy boss and an idealistic doctor. The dramatic role made erstwhile…

Procrustes, in Greek legend, a robber dwelling somewhere in Attica—in some versions, in the neighbourhood of Eleusis. His father was said to be Poseidon. Procrustes had an iron bed (or, according to some accounts, two beds) on which he compelled his victims to lie. Here, if a victim was shorter

St. Damasus I ; feast day December 11) was the pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, from October 1, 366, to December 11, 384. During his rule the primacy of the Roman see was asserted, and Christianity was declared the official religion of Rome. Among his consequential actions as pope,

Damasus II was the pope from July 17 to Aug. 9, 1048. His brief reign, delayed by a rival claimant to the papal throne, occurred during a period when the German emperors and factions of the Roman nobility vied for control of the papacy. He was bishop of Brixen when nominated (December 1047) by the

Damaturu, town, capital of Yobe state, northeastern Nigeria. Damaturu became the capital of newly created Yobe state in 1991. The town lies in a plains region that is covered by savanna and that supports crops of millet, sorghum (Guinea corn), and peanuts (groundnuts). The town is a market centre

Mount Damāvand, extinct volcanic peak of the Elburz Mountains in northern Iran, about 42 miles (68 km) northeast of Tehrān. Estimates of its height range from about 18,400 feet (5,610 metres) to 18,600 feet (5,670 metres); it dominates the surrounding ranges by 3,000 to 8,000 feet (900 to 2,450

Mount Damāvand, extinct volcanic peak of the Elburz Mountains in northern Iran, about 42 miles (68 km) northeast of Tehrān. Estimates of its height range from about 18,400 feet (5,610 metres) to 18,600 feet (5,670 metres); it dominates the surrounding ranges by 3,000 to 8,000 feet (900 to 2,450

Al-Damāzīn, town, southeastern Sudan, on the western bank of the Blue Nile River. Irrigation made possible by the Ruṣayriṣ (Roseires) dam to the east of Al-Damāzīn has increased the agricultural potential of Sudan. Industries include flour mills, sugar refineries, and oilseed mills. The town is

Al-Damāzīn, town, southeastern Sudan, on the western bank of the Blue Nile River. Irrigation made possible by the Ruṣayriṣ (Roseires) dam to the east of Al-Damāzīn has increased the agricultural potential of Sudan. Industries include flour mills, sugar refineries, and oilseed mills. The town is

Damba, town, northwestern Angola. In a fertile area, it is a market centre for coffee, rice, and sugarcane. The Kongo peoples of the town’s hinterland cultivate beans and cassava (manioc). About 1950 Damba was the site of an unsuccessful government-sponsored African resettlement project; the area

Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal: …charges, as he did with Dashiin Damba after regaining the party leadership from Damba in 1958. He advocated policies that downplayed Mongolian nationalism in his pursuit of a socialist system in the country, and he was responsible for introducing the Cyrillic alphabet in the 1940s to replace the traditional Mongolian…

Dambadeṇiya Dynasty, rulers of most of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1255 to about 1330 whose seat was at Dambadeṇiya. Arising in opposition to the Malay usurper Māgha, who seized power in northern Ceylon in 1215, the Dambadeṇiya dynasty is of uncertain origin. Officially acceding to power in

John Edgar Wideman: Books and teaching career: …a collection of short stories, Damballah (1981), the trilogy also examines the impact of slavery on African Americans. The three works received praise from many critics, and Sent for You Yesterday was awarded the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. In Brothers and Keepers (1984), Wideman’s first nonfiction book, he contemplates the…

Malawi: Plant and animal life: Grass-covered broad depressions, called madambo (singular: dambo), dot the plateaus. Grasslands and evergreen forests are found in conjunction on the highlands and on the Mulanje and Zomba massifs.

Dâmbovița, județ (county), southern Romania. The Transylvanian Alps (Southern Carpathians) and the sub-Carpathians rise above settlement areas in intermontane valleys and lowlands of the county. Dâmbovița is drained by the Ialomița, Dâmbovița, and Argeș rivers. Târgoviște is the county capital and

Dîmbovița River, river in south-central Romania that rises in the Transylvanian Alps and flows 155 miles (250 km) into the Arges

Sir Barnes Wallis: …who invented the innovative “dambuster” bombs used in World War II.

Mongolian literature: The 20th century and beyond: Tsendiin Damdinsüren (Damdinsürüng) wrote poems on nature (e.g., Dzugaatssaar mordson-ni [“Went Out for a Walk”]) and short stories (e.g., “Soliig solison-ni” [“How Mrs. Change Was Changed”] and Gologdson khüükhen [“The Unwanted Girl”]). He also rewrote (1943) Natsagdorj’s Uchirtai gurwan tolgoi, adding to it a happy…

Mongolian literature: The 20th century and beyond: Tsendiin Damdinsüren (Damdinsürüng) wrote poems on nature (e.g., Dzugaatssaar mordson-ni [“Went Out for a Walk”]) and short stories (e.g., “Soliig solison-ni” [“How Mrs. Change Was Changed”] and Gologdson khüükhen [“The Unwanted Girl”]). He also rewrote (1943) Natsagdorj’s Uchirtai gurwan tolgoi, adding to it a happy…

dame, properly a name of respect or a title equivalent to lady, surviving in English as the legal designation for the wife or widow of a baronet or knight or for a dame of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire; it is prefixed to the given name and surname. Dame has also been used by

Paris: Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Latin Quarter: …including the renowned six-panel tapestry La Dame à la licorne (“The Lady and the Unicorn”).

La traviata: Alexandre Dumas fils (La Dame aux camélias), the opera marked a large step forward for Verdi in his quest to express dramatic ideas in music. La traviata means “the fallen woman” or “the one who goes astray” and refers to the main character, Violetta Valéry, a courtesan. The…

François-Adrien Boieldieu: …Riding Hood”), and his masterpiece, La Dame blanche (1825; “The White Lady”). Composed on a libretto by Eugène Scribe, derived from Sir Walter Scott’s novels The Lady of the Lake, Guy Mannering, and Monastery, it had received 1,700 performances by 1914. Boieldieu’s work illustrates the evolution of French operatic music…

Hermann Sudermann: Frau Sorge (1887; Dame Care), dealing with the growing up of a sensitive youth, and Der Katzensteg (1889; Regina) are the best known of his early novels. He won renown, however, with his plays. Die Ehre (Eng. trans., What Money Cannot Buy), first performed in Berlin on Nov.…

Agnès Sorel was the mistress (1444–50) of King Charles VII of France, sometimes known as “Dame de Beauté” from the estate at Beauté-sur-Marne, which he gave her. Born of a family of the lesser nobility at Fromenteau in Touraine, Sorel was attached at an early age to the service of Isabel of

Barry Humphries was an Australian actor best known for his character Dame Edna Everage, a sharp-tongued housewife and talk show host. Humphries attended Melbourne University but left to pursue acting. He made his theatrical debut in 1953 at the Union Theatre in Melbourne and subsequently toured

dame school, small private school for young children run by women; such schools were the precursors of nursery, or infant, schools in England and colonial America. They existed in England possibly before the 16th century in both towns and rural areas and survived into the 19th century. The school

English literature: Verse romance: …manuscript with this work is Dame Sirith, the earliest English fabliau. Another sort of humor is found in The Land of Cockaygne, which depicts a utopia better than heaven, where rivers run with milk, honey, and wine, geese fly about already roasted, and monks hunt with hawks and dance with…

dame’s rocket, (Hesperis matronalis), herbaceous plant of the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Native to Eurasia, dame’s rocket is often cultivated as an ornamental and has naturalized in North America, where it is now considered an invasive species. The plant is a biennial or short-lived perennial

dame’s rocket, (Hesperis matronalis), herbaceous plant of the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Native to Eurasia, dame’s rocket is often cultivated as an ornamental and has naturalized in North America, where it is now considered an invasive species. The plant is a biennial or short-lived perennial

dame’s rocket, (Hesperis matronalis), herbaceous plant of the mustard family (Brassicaceae). Native to Eurasia, dame’s rocket is often cultivated as an ornamental and has naturalized in North America, where it is now considered an invasive species. The plant is a biennial or short-lived perennial

Polish checkers: The German game Damenspiel is Polish checkers played on the 64-square chessboard with 12 men on a side, as in draughts-style checkers.

Al-Dāmir, town, northeastern Sudan. It lies on the right (east) bank of the Nile River, at an elevation of 1,158 feet (353 metres), about 155 miles (250 km) northeast of Khartoum. Al-Dāmir is a local commercial centre for the date-producing areas to the north. The town’s industries include date

Tadd Dameron was an American jazz pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader, especially noted during the bop era for the melodic beauty and warmth of the songs he composed. Dameron was initially known as an arranger and composer for big bands, in particular for Harlan Leonard and His Rockets in

Tadd Dameron was an American jazz pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader, especially noted during the bop era for the melodic beauty and warmth of the songs he composed. Dameron was initially known as an arranger and composer for big bands, in particular for Harlan Leonard and His Rockets in

cable-stayed bridge: The Dames Point Bridge (1987), designed by Howard Needles in consultation with Ulrich Finsterwalder, was the longest cable-stayed bridge in the United States until the opening of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge in South Carolina in 2005. The Dames Point Bridge crosses the St. Johns River in…

Treaty of Cambrai, (French: “Peace of the Ladies”; Aug. 3, 1529), agreement ending one phase of the wars between Francis I of France and the Habsburg Holy Roman emperor Charles V; it temporarily confirmed Spanish (Habsburg) hegemony in Italy. After a series of successes, Charles had defeated the

Dāmghān, town, northern Iran. It lies at an elevation of 3,900 feet (1,200 metres), just southeast of the Elburz Mountains on a large, barren gravel plain. It is on the road and railway between Tehrān and Meshed. In 856 ce, Dāmghān was the epicentre of a powerful earthquake that destroyed the

St. Dymphna ; feast day May 15) was an Irish virgin martyr who is venerated as the patron saint of people with mental disorders and epilepsy and victims of incest. Most accounts say she lived in the 7th century, but some propose that she lived in the 5th or 6th century or as late as the 9th.

Bona Dea, in Roman religion, deity of fruitfulness, both in the earth and in women. She was identified with various goddesses who had similar functions. The dedication day of her temple on the Aventine was celebrated May 1. Her temple was cared for and attended by women only, and the same was the

Frei Damião was an Italian-born Brazilian Roman Catholic monk. He became a Capuchin friar at age 16 and later studied in Rome. In 1931 he was sent to Brazil, where he spent the rest of his life traveling in the poverty-stricken northeastern region. Soon after he arrived he developed a reputation as

St. Damien of Molokai ; canonized October 11, 2009; feast day May 10) was a Belgian priest who devoted his life to missionary work in Hawaii helping people with Hansen’s disease (leprosy). In 2009 he was declared a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. He is venerated as the patron saint of people

St. Damien of Molokai ; canonized October 11, 2009; feast day May 10) was a Belgian priest who devoted his life to missionary work in Hawaii helping people with Hansen’s disease (leprosy). In 2009 he was declared a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. He is venerated as the patron saint of people