Sasanian king (reigned 590-591). A general and head of the house of Mihran at Rayy (near modern Tehran), he performed, in gaining the throne, a feat exceptional for one not of Sasanian royal blood.
German Enlightenment writer, radical theologian, philosopher, and adventurer, best-known for his book Neuesten Offenbarungen Gottes in Briefen und Erzahlungen (1773-74; "Latest Revelations of God in Letters and Stories").
monetary unit of Thailand. Each baht is subdivided into 100 satang. The Bank of Thailand has the exclusive authority to issue currency in Thailand; banknotes are issued in amounts ranging from 10 to 1,000 baht. The obverse side of each ...
According to the traditions of the Indian religion Jainism, the son of the first Tirthankara (Ford-maker, i.e., saviour) Rishabhanatha. He is said to have lived many millions of years ago.
Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty (618-907) who used his elegantly simple verse to protest the social evils of his day, including corruption and militarism.
city, capital of Maramures judet (county), northwestern Romania. It is situated in the Sasar River valley, surrounded by mountains. This location affords the city protection from the cold northeastern winds and sustains a quasi-Mediterranean vegetation. Founded in the 12th century ...
ancient city of Campania, Italy, located on the west coast of the Gulf of Puteoli (Pozzuoli) and lying 10 miles (16 km) west of Naples and 212 miles (4 km) from Cumae, of which it was a dependency. According to ...
town, regional county municipality (RCM) of Cote-Nord region, east-central Quebec province, Canada. It lies on the north bank of the St. Lawrence River, near the mouth of the Manicouagan River. Named after Napoleon-Alexandre Comeau, a local naturalist, it was founded ...
lake located in the southern part of eastern Siberia within the republic of Buryatia and Irkutsk oblast (province) of Russia. It is the oldest existing freshwater lake on Earth (20-25 million years old), as well as the deepest continental body ...
natural area set aside for research in the natural sciences, on the southern shore of Lake Baikal, southeastern Russia. The reserve was established in 1969 and has an area of 640 square miles (1,657 square km). It includes part of ...
former Soviet and current Russian space centre in south-central Kazakstan. Baikonur was a Soviet code name for the centre, but American analysts often called it Tyuratam, after the railroad station at Tyuratam (Leninsk), the nearest large city. Baikonur lies on ...
procedure by which a judge or magistrate sets at liberty one who has been arrested or imprisoned, upon receipt of security to ensure the released prisoner's later appearance in court for further proceedings. Release from custody is ordinarily effected by ...
botanist whose systematic study of cultivated plants transformed U.S. horticulture from a craft to an applied science and had a direct influence on the development of genetics, plant pathology, and agriculture.
a minor court official with police authority to protect the court while in session and with power to serve and execute legal process. In earlier times it was a title of more dignity and power.
poet and prolific dramatist whose plays, mainly in verse, were highly praised at a period when serious drama was in decline. Her Plays on the Passions, 3 vol. (1798-1812), brought her fame but have long been forgotten. She is remembered, ...
Scottish pathologist whose Morbid Anatomy of Some of the Most Important Parts of the Human Body (1793) was the first publication in English on pathology as a separate subject and the first systematic study of pathology ever made.
Presbyterian minister and theological scholar who led the movement in Scotland to reject (1637) the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer. He was a member of the Glasgow Assembly (1638), at which the Church of Scotland broke away from ...
Scottish Presbyterian executed for allegedly conspiring to assassinate King Charles II of Great Britain. The evidence against him was inconclusive, and Scottish nationalist sentiment has regarded him as a martyr for the cause of religious liberty.
physician, founder of modern epidemiology, who revived Hippocratic medical practice in Renaissance Europe. Dean of the University of Paris medical faculty (1580), he compiled a clear account of epidemics between 1570 and 1579, the first comprehensive work of its kind ...
French astronomer noted for his computation of an orbit for Halley's Comet (1759) and for his studies of the four satellites of Jupiter then known. He was also a statesman who took part in the revolutionary events of his age.
in Anglo-American property law, delivery of specific goods by one person, called the bailor, to another person, called the bailee, for some temporary purpose such as storage, transportation, deposit for sale, pawn or pledge, repair or loan for use, with ...
arc of bright spots seen during a total eclipse of the Sun. They are named for Francis Baily, an English astronomer, who first called attention to them. Just before the Moon's disk completely covers the Sun, the narrow crescent of ...
astronomer who detected the phenomenon called "Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse of the Sun on May 15, 1836. His vivid description aroused new interest in the study of eclipses.
in Chinese painting, brush technique that produces a finely controlled, supple ink outline drawing without any colour or wash (diluted ink or paint applied in broad sweeps) embellishment. It is commonly used for figure painting, in which precise description is ...
city, seat (1823) of Decatur county, far southwestern Georgia, U.S. It lies along the Flint River, near the Florida border, about 40 miles (65 km) northwest of Tallahassee, Florida. The city was founded in 1823 near Fort Hughes, an earthwork ...