in physics, first experimental verification of the existence of discrete energy states in atoms, performed (1914) by the German-born physicists James Franck and Gustav Hertz.
Protestant religious leader, educator, and social reformer who was one of the principal promoters of German Pietism, a movement of spiritual renewal that reacted to the doctrinal preoccupation of contemporary Lutheranism.
Spanish consort who was thought to be the force behind many of the religious and social strictures imposed on Spain during the repressive regime of her husband, Francisco Franco (1939-75).
general and leader of the Nationalist forces that overthrew the Spanish democratic republic in the Spanish Civil War (1936-39); thereafter he was the head of the government of Spain until 1973 and head of state until his death in 1975.
(Feb. 6, 1778), agreement by France to furnish critically needed military aid and loans to the 13 insurgent American colonies, often considered the turning point of the U.S. War of Independence. Resentful over the loss of its North American empire ...
the oldest and most complete of several traditions of Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) art that flourished in southwestern France and the northern Cantabrian Mountains region of Spain between about 40,000 and 10,000 BC. It is called a school because it ...
(July 19, 1870-May 10, 1871), war in which a coalition of German states led by Prussia defeated France. The war marked the end of French hegemony in continental Europe and resulted in the creation of a unified Germany.
style of musical composition that dominated European music from c. 1450 to c. 1550 and was so called because during that time most of the leading musicians were born or trained in the Netherlands, Flanders, and northern France. The music ...
any of a group of Romance dialects spoken in east-central France in a region roughly corresponding to Burgundy and in adjacent areas of Italy and Switzerland. Franco-Provencal is purely rural and nonstandardized, young speakers are few, and speech forms are ...
one of the five great stem, or Stamm (tribal), duchies-the other four being Saxony, Lotharingia (Lorraine), Swabia, and Bavaria-of early medieval Germany. Today it is divided between Rhenish Franconia, now located in the Lander (states) of Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Wurttemberg, and Hesse, ...
scenic pass between the towering peaks of the Franconia (east) and Kinsman (west) ranges in the White Mountains, northwestern New Hampshire, U.S. The pass is located in Grafton county just north of North Woodstock and is about 8 miles (13 ...
forested highland in extreme northeastern Bavaria Land (state), east-central Germany. It forms a physical and geological link between the highlands of the Fichtel Mountains and the Thuringian Forest. About 30 miles (50 km) long, the forest descends gently north and ...
Lebanese politician who, as a leader of one of Lebanon's powerful Maronite Christian clans and president of Lebanon (1970-76), was considered to be in large part responsible for the country's descent into civil war in the mid-1970s.
member of a Germanic-speaking people who invaded the western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Dominating present-day northern France, Belgium, and western Germany, the Franks established the most powerful Christian kingdom of early medieval western Europe. The name France ...
German philosopher whose writings played a role in the emergence of the German existential movement. Neither an idealist nor a constructivist, as were his contemporaries, he believed philosophy's role was to seek "faith" through understanding rather than religious spirituality or ...
Soviet winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1958 jointly with Pavel A. Cherenkov and Igor Y. Tamm, also of the Soviet Union. He received the award for his work in explaining the phenomenon of Cherenkov radiation.
Jewish false messiah who claimed to be the reincarnation of Shabbetai Tzevi (1626-76). The most notorious of the false messiahs, he was the founder of the antirabbinical Frankist, or Zoharist, sect.
German Expressionist novelist and playwright who used sensationalism and a compact and austere prose to dramatize a favourite theme-the destruction of the individual spirit by bourgeois society.
the title character in Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's novel Frankenstein, the prototypical "mad scientist" who creates a monster by which he is eventually killed. The name Frankenstein has become popularly attached to the creature itself, who has become the best-known monster ...
city, Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), southwestern Germany. It lies just northwest of Mannheim. First mentioned as Franconodal, a fishing settlement, in 772, it was the site of a powerful Augustinian monastery from 1119 until it passed to the Palatinate in 1562 ...
capital (since 1792) of Kentucky, U.S., and seat of Franklin county, located 50 miles (80 km) east of Louisville and 26 miles (42 km) northwest of Lexington. Frankfort was founded in 1786 on the Kentucky River by General James Wilkinson. ...
American archaeologist who completed a well-documented reconstruction of ancient Mesopotamian culture, established the relation between Egypt and Mesopotamia, and discovered much new information on both civilizations.
city, Hessen Land (state), western Germany. The city lies along the Main River about 19 miles (30 km) upstream from its confluence with the Rhine River at Mainz. Pop. (2003 est.) city, 643,432; (2000 est.) urban aggl., ...
municipal zoological garden in Frankfurt am Main, Ger. It was founded in 1858 by the Frankfurt Zoological Society. Because the original site of the zoo was not large enough to allow for the expansion of the collection, in 1874 the ...
city, Brandenburg Land (state), eastern Germany. It lies on the west bank of the Oder River opposite the Polish town of Slubice, which before 1945 was the Frankfurt suburb of Dammvorstadt. An early medieval settlement of Franconian ...
group of researchers associated with the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt am Main, Ger., who applied Marxism to a radical interdisciplinary social theory. The Institute for Social Research (Institut fur Sozialforschung) was founded by Carl Grunberg in 1923 as ...
highly seasoned sausage, traditionally of mixed pork and beef. Frankfurters are named for Frankfurt am Main, Ger., the city of their origin, where they were sold and eaten at beer gardens.
associate justice of the United States Supreme Court (1939-62), a noted scholar and teacher of law, who was in his time the high court's leading exponent of the doctrine of judicial self-restraint. He held that judges should adhere closely to ...
aromatic gum resin containing a volatile oil that was valued in ancient times in worship and as a medicine and is still an important incense resin. Frankincense is obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia (family Burseraceae), and particularly from ...
city, seat of Venango county, northwest Pennsylvania, U.S., at the junction of French Creek and the Allegheny River, 70 miles (113 km) north of Pittsburgh. The site was early occupied by the Indian village of Venango and after 1750 by ...
city, seat of Williamson county, central Tennessee, U.S., on the Harpeth River, about 20 miles (32 km) south of Nashville. Settled in 1799 and named for Benjamin Franklin, it was a highly successful agricultural centre prior to the American Civil ...
city, Merrimack county, central New Hampshire, U.S., at the confluence of the Pemigewasset and Winnipesaukee rivers (there forming the Merrimack). The locality was settled in 1748 as Salisbury and was renamed for Benjamin Franklin when the present town was formed ...
county, northwestern Vermont, U.S. It is bordered by Quebec, Canada, to the north, Lake Champlain to the west, and the Green Mountains to the east. The lowlands of the west rise up into the foothills and mountains of the east. ...
county, northeastern New York state, U.S., bordered by Quebec, Canada, to the north and mostly occupied by Adirondack Park (1892), one of the largest parks in the United States and the nation's first forest preserve. The low hills in the ...
unofficial state (1785-90) of the United States of America, comprising the eastern portion of what is now Tennessee and extending to "unclaimed" lands to the west.
county, west-central Maine, U.S. It consists of a mountainous region bordered to the northwest by Quebec, Can. Some of the county's highest peaks-Mount Abraham and Sugarloaf, Crocker, and Saddleback mountains-are located along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. The chief waterways ...
