Kyshtym disaster, explosion of buried nuclear waste from a plutonium-processing plant near Kyshtym, Chelyabinsk oblast, Russia (then in the U.S.S.R.), on September 29, 1957. Until 1989 the Soviet government refused to acknowledge that the event had occurred, even though about 9,000 square miles

Washington: Native Americans and early European explorers: The Ozette site, on the Olympic Peninsula, has a unique collection of well-preserved clothing, basketry, and harpoons of people who fished and hunted seals and whales 500 years ago. Tools of a similar culture dating from 2,000 years ago were also found there. These and other…

Vasily Aksyonov: …later novels was Ozhog (1980; The Burn), an anarchic blend of memory, fantasy, and realistic narrative in which the author tries to sum up Russian intellectuals’ spiritual responses to their homeland. Another, Skazhi izyum (1985; Say Cheese!), is an irreverent portrait of Moscow’s intellectual community during the last years of…

Uzziah, in the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 26), son and successor of Amaziah, and king of Judah for 52 years (c. 791–739 bc). Assyrian records indicate that Uzziah reigned for 42 years (c. 783–742). His reign marked the height of Judah’s power. He fought successfully against other nations and

Cynthia Ozick is an American novelist, short-story writer, essayist, and intellectual whose works seek to define the challenge of remaining Jewish in contemporary American life. By delving into the oldest religious sources of Judaism, Ozick explored much new territory. Ozick received a B.A. in

John Pepper Clark: A more experimental work, Ozidi (performed in the early 1960s; pub. 1966), is a stage version of a traditional Ijo ritual play, which in a native village would take seven days to perform. Like Yoruba folk opera, it is alive with music, dancing, mime, and spectacle. Clark also produced…

ozier pattern, in tableware, molded basket-weave pattern produced in Germany in the 1730s on Meissen porcelain tableware. It was probably one of the numerous inventions of the celebrated modeler Johann Joachim Kändler. There are four basic types of ozier molding: the ordinair-ozier (“ordinary

Józef Bartłomiej Zimorowic was a Polish-Latin Baroque writer, prolific author of satiric and erotic epigrams. When well-advanced in years, Zimorowic published a series of descriptions of Ukrainian peasant life, Sielanki nowe ruskie (1663; “New Ruthenian Idylls”), under the name of his more-gifted

Wacław Berent: …portrayed domestic problems in his Ozimina (1911; “Winter Crop”), putting a strong emphasis on the diverse social and political interests present in Polish society on the eve of the 1905 revolution. Berent’s later novels of the 1930s, Nurt (1934; “The Current”) and Zmierzch wodzów (1939; “The Twilight of the Commanders”)…

Project Ozma, attempt undertaken in 1960 to detect radio signals generated by hypothetical intelligent beings living near stars other than the Sun. Some 150 hours of intermittent observation during a four-month period detected no recognizable signals. Frank D. Drake, director of the search, named

Cookie Monster: Henson’s longtime collaborator Frank Oz (byname of Richard Frank Oznowicz) performed the character’s voice and movements for more than 30 years, beginning with his first Sesame Street appearance in 1969, and Oz is often credited as the greatest creative force in the character’s genesis.

ozokerite, (from Greek ozokēros, “odoriferous wax”), naturally occurring, light yellow to dark brown mineral wax composed principally of solid paraffinic hydrocarbons (compounds chiefly of hydrogen and carbon atoms linked in chains). Ozokerite usually occurs as thin stringers and veins filling rock

ozokerite, (from Greek ozokēros, “odoriferous wax”), naturally occurring, light yellow to dark brown mineral wax composed principally of solid paraffinic hydrocarbons (compounds chiefly of hydrogen and carbon atoms linked in chains). Ozokerite usually occurs as thin stringers and veins filling rock

Ozolua was an African king, the greatest warrior-king of Benin (in modern Nigeria). Ozolua was able to extend the boundaries of Benin from the Niger River in the east virtually to Lagos in the west. Tradition calls him the first ruler in West Africa to have had contact with the Portuguese explorers

Catherine Deneuve: …of a star-studded cast in François Ozon’s 8 Femmes (2002; 8 Women) and smaller roles in Oliveira’s Je rentre à la maison (2001; I’m Going Home) and Une Filme falado (2003; A Talking Picture). She later reteamed with Ozon for the farcical comedy Potiche (2010). Deneuve starred as a woman…

ozone, (O3), triatomic allotrope of oxygen (a form of oxygen in which the molecule contains three atoms instead of two as in the common form) that accounts for the distinctive odor of the air after a thunderstorm or around electrical equipment. The odor of ozone around electrical machines was

rubber: Protective chemicals: …result, small, deep fissures, termed ozone cracks, are formed if the rubber is stretched slightly (by more than about 10 percent). Cracks one millimetre long appear in unprotected rubber after only a few weeks of exposure to a typical outdoor concentration of ozone, about 5 parts per 100 million. However,…

ozone depletion, gradual thinning of Earth’s ozone layer in the upper atmosphere caused by the release of chemical compounds containing gaseous chlorine or bromine from industry and other human activities. The thinning is most pronounced in the polar regions, especially over Antarctica. Ozone

ozone depletion, gradual thinning of Earth’s ozone layer in the upper atmosphere caused by the release of chemical compounds containing gaseous chlorine or bromine from industry and other human activities. The thinning is most pronounced in the polar regions, especially over Antarctica. Ozone

ozone layer, region of the upper atmosphere, between roughly 15 and 35 km (9 and 22 miles) above Earth’s surface, containing relatively high concentrations of ozone molecules (O3). Approximately 90 percent of the atmosphere’s ozone occurs in the stratosphere, the region extending from 10–18 km

environmental economics: Examples of regulation using corrective instruments: The Ozone Transportation Commission program aimed to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions in participating states in both 1999 and 2003. The results of the program, as reported by the Environmental Protection Agency, included a reduction in sulfur dioxide emissions (as compared with 1990 levels) of more than…

Montreal Protocol: …international cooperation in research involving ozone-depleting chemicals (ODCs) and empowered the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to lay the groundwork for the Montreal Protocol.

ozonide, any of a class of chemical compounds formed by reactions of ozone (q.v.) with other compounds. Organic ozonides, often made from olefins (q.v.), are unstable, most of them decomposing rapidly into oxygen compounds, such as aldehydes, ketones, and peroxides, or reacting rapidly with

ozonolysis, a reaction used in organic chemistry to determine the position of a carbon-carbon double bond in unsaturated compounds. It involves the reaction of the compound with ozone leading to the formation of an ozonide, and the ozonide yields on hydrogenation or treatment with acid a mixture

ozone layer, region of the upper atmosphere, between roughly 15 and 35 km (9 and 22 miles) above Earth’s surface, containing relatively high concentrations of ozone molecules (O3). Approximately 90 percent of the atmosphere’s ozone occurs in the stratosphere, the region extending from 10–18 km

Korean performing arts: Great Silla period: …an important dance play honouring Ozoyong, the son of the Dragon God of the Eastern Sea, dates from this period. Ozoyong showed such generosity toward the spirit of plagues that henceforth the spirit promised never to enter a household where a portrait of Ozoyong was hung. Originally derived from animistic…

Ozu Yasujirō was a motion-picture director who originated the shomin-geki (“common-people’s drama”), a genre dealing with lower-middle-class Japanese family life. Owing to the centrality of domestic relationships in his films, their detailed character portrayals, and their pictorial beauty, Ozu was

In the 19th century Britain became gripped by Egyptomania. Since 1798, when Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt kicked off a series of expeditions that scoured the country for antiquities, European interest in ancient Egyptian history had soared. Many plundered artifacts ended up in London’s British

Ozzy Osbourne: Ozzfest and reunion with Black Sabbath: Ozzfest, an annual summer music festival featuring heavy metal acts organized by Osbourne and his wife, began in 1996 and toured throughout the United States and, in some years, parts of Europe.

Ozzy Osbourne was a British musician who gained a loyal following as the vocalist for the 1970s heavy metal group Black Sabbath before embarking on a successful solo career in the 1980s. Cultivating a rebellious, satanic persona as “the Prince of Darkness,” Osbourne became the quintessential metal