Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Godoy Cruz ... Gold, Thomas

Godoy Cruz: suburb immediately south of the city of Mendoza in northern Mendoza provincia (province), western Argentina. Originally an agricultural oasis supplying wine grapes, fruit, potatoes, and alfalfa, Godoy Cruz has become an important manufacturing and industrial centre within ...
Godoy, Manuel de: Spanish royal favourite and twice prime minister, whose disastrous foreign policy contributed to a series of misfortunes and defeats that culminated in the abdication of King Charles IV and the occupation of Spain by the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte.
godparent: one who stands surety for another in the rite of Christian baptism. In the modern baptism of an infant or child the godparent or godparents make profession of faith for the person being baptized (the godchild) and assume an obligation ...
Godunov, Boris: Russian statesman who was chief adviser to Tsar Fyodor I (reigned 1584-98) and was himself elected tsar of Muscovy (reigning 1598-1605) after the extinction of the Rurik dynasty. His reign inaugurated the devastating Time of Troubles (1598-1613) in the Russian ...
Godwin, Edward: British architect, designer, and writer notable for his contributions to the English Aesthetic movement in design, which drew its inspiration mainly from East Asia, particularly from Japan.
Godwin, Francis: bishop and historian who wrote the first story of space travel in English literature, The Man in the Moone: or A Discourse of a Voyage Thither by Domingo Gonsales, the Speedy Messenger. The tale was begun in about 1603-06 and ...
Godwin, Gail: American author of fiction about personal freedom in man-woman relationships and the choices women make.
Godwin, William: social philosopher, political journalist, and religious dissenter who anticipated the English Romantic literary movement with his writings advancing atheism, anarchism, and personal freedom.
Godwine: also spelled Godwin earl of Wessex, the most powerful man in England during the opening years of the reign of Edward the Confessor.
godwit: any of four species of large, long-billed shorebirds of the genus Limosa, family Scolopacidae, named for its whistling call. Godwits are generally reddish brown in summer and grayish in winter; all nest in the Northern Hemisphere. The black-tailed godwit (L. ...
Goebbels, Joseph: minister of propaganda for the German Third Reich under Adolf Hitler, generally accounted responsible for presenting a favourable image of the Nazi regime to the German people.
Goebel, Karl von: German botanist whose Organographie der Pflanzen (1898-1901; Organography of Plants, 1900-05) clarified the principles of the science of plant morphology in relation to form and structure.
Goeben, August Karl von: a victorious and exceptionally able Prussian general in the wars of 1864, 1866, and 1870-71.
Goeje, Michael Jan de: Dutch scholar who edited many Arabic works, most important of which was the medieval history, Annals of Tabari, 13 vol. (1879-1901).
Goenka, Ramnath: Indian newspaper publisher and crusader against government corruption.
Goerdeler, Karl Friedrich: conservative German municipal administrator and prominent figure in the resistance movement and in an unsuccessful coup against Adolf Hitler. A long-time mayor of Leipzig, he was to have been chancellor of the new government if the coup had succeeded.
Goes, Hugo van der: one of the greatest Flemish painters of the second half of the 15th century, whose strange, melancholy genius found expression in religious works of profound but often disturbing spirituality.
Goetel, Ferdynand: Polish novelist and essayist noted primarily for his memoirs and his novels about exotic countries.
Goethals, George Washington: U.S. Army officer and engineer who directed the building of the Panama Canal.
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von: German poet, novelist, playwright, and natural philospoher, the greatest figure of the German Romantic period and of German literature as a whole.
goethite: a widespread iron oxide mineral [alpha-FeO(OH)] and the most common ingredient of iron rust. It was named in 1806 for J.W. von Goethe, a German poet and philosopher with a keen interest in minerals. The name was originally applied to ...
Gog: in the Bible, a hostile power that is ruled by Satan and will manifest itself immediately before the end of the world (Revelation 20). In the biblical passage in Revelation and in other Christian and Jewish apocalyptic literature, Gog is ...
Gogarty, Oliver St. John: writer associated with the Irish literary renaissance whose memoirs vividly re-create the Dublin of his youth.
Gogh, Vincent van: Dutch painter, generally considered the greatest after Rembrandt, and one of the greatest of the Post-Impressionists. The striking colour, emphatic brushwork, and contoured forms of his work powerfully influenced the current of Expressionism in modern art. Van Gogh's art became ...
Gogol, Nikolay: Ukrainian-born Russian humorist, dramatist, and novelist, whose novel Myortvye dushi (Dead Souls) and whose short story "Shinel" ("The Overcoat") are considered the foundations of the great 19th-century tradition of Russian realism.
Gogunda, Battle of: battle fought in Rajasthan, northwestern India, between Pratap Singh of Mewar, the senior Rajput chief, and a Mughal army led by Raja Man Singh of Jaipur. It represented an attempt by the Mughal emperor Akbar to subdue the last of ...
gohei: in the Shinto religion of Japan, a kind of paper or cloth offering made to a god. The gohei consists of an upright stick to which is attached a strip of paper or cloth folded in such a way that ...
Goiania: city, capital of Goias estado ("state"), south-central Brazil. It is situated in the Brazilian Highlands in the Meia Ponte River valley, southwest of Brasilia, the federal capital. The city lies at an elevation of 2,493 feet (760 m) above sea ...
Goias: estado ("state"), south-central Brazil. Goias is the site of the distrito federal ("federal district") and national capital, Brasilia. It is bounded by the states of Tocantins on the north, Bahia and Minas Gerais on the east, Minas Gerais and Mato ...
Goibhniu: ancient Celtic smith god. Goibhniu figured in Irish tradition as one of a trio of divine craftsmen; the other two were Luchta the wright and Creidhne the metalworker. Goibhniu was also the provider of the sacred otherworld feast, the Fled ...
Goidelic languages: one of two groups of the modern Celtic languages; the group includes Irish, Manx, and Scottish Gaelic. The Goidelic languages originated in Ireland and are distinguished from the other group of Insular Celtic tongues-the Brythonic-by the retention of the sound ...
Gois, Damiao de: leading Portuguese humanist, who had an encyclopaedic mind and was one of the most critical spirits of his age.
goitre: enlargement of the human thyroid gland, resulting in a prominent swelling at the front of the neck. A normal human thyroid gland weighs 20-30 g (about 0.75 ounce), a goitrous gland as much as 1 kg (more than 2 pounds). ...
Goitschel, Christine; and Goitschel, Marielle: French Alpine ski racing sisters who traded places winning gold and silver medals in the women's slalom and giant slalom events at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. In the slalom, Christine won the gold medal and her younger ...
Goizueta, Roberto Crispulo: Cuban-born American businessman who served as chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company. During his 16-year leadership he increased Coca-Cola's market value from $4 billion in 1981 to roughly $150 billion at the time of his death.
Gokalp, Ziya: sociologist, writer, and poet, one of the most important intellectuals and spokesmen of the Turkish nationalist movement.
Gokceada: island (adasi) in the Aegean Sea, northwestern Turkey. Commanding the entrance to the Dardanelles, the island is strategically situated 10 miles (16 km) off the southern end of the Gallipoli Peninsula. Herodotus and Homer mentioned Imbros as an abode of ...
Gokhale, Gopal Krishna: social reformer who founded a sectarian organization to work for relief of the underprivileged of India. He led the moderate nationalists in the early years of the Indian independence movement.
Golan Heights: hilly area overlooking the upper Jordan River valley on the west. The area was part of extreme southwestern Syria until 1967, when it came under Israeli military occupation, and in December 1981 Israel unilaterally annexed the part of the Golan ...
Golconda: fortress and ruined city lying 5 miles (8 km) west of Hyderabad in north-central Andhra Pradesh state, southern India. From 1512 to 1687 it was the capital of the Qutb Shahi kingdom, one of five Muslim sultanates of the Deccan. ...
gold: chemical element, a dense, lustrous, yellow precious metal of Group Ib, Period 6, of the periodic table. Gold has several qualities that have made it exceptionally valuable throughout history. It is attractive in colour and brightness, durable to the point ...
Gold Beach: the centre beach of the five designated landing areas of the Normandy Invasion of World War II. It was assaulted and taken from defending German troops on June 6, 1944 (D-Day of the invasion), by units of the British 50th ...
Gold Coast: section of the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, in Africa. It extends approximately from Axim, Ghana, or nearby Cape Three Points, in the west to the Volta River in the east and is so called because it was an ...
Gold Coast: city, extending for 25 miles (40 km) along the southern coastline of Queensland, Australia, from Paradise Point along the Pacific Highway to Coolangatta at the New South Wales border. Tweed Heads, across the border in New South Wales, is also ...
Gold Cup: premier annual motorboat-racing prize in the United States, instituted by the American Power Boat Association in 1904. The first race for the cup was held on the Hudson River and was won by C.C. Riotte's Standard with the fastest heat ...
gold leaf: extremely thin sheet of gold (about 0.1 micrometre, or 4 millionths of an inch, thick) used for gilding. Medieval illuminated manuscripts gleam with gold leaf, and it is still widely used for gilding ornamental designs, lettering and edgings on paper, ...
gold processing: preparation of the ore for use in various products.
gold reserve: a fund of gold bullion or coin held by a government or bank, as distinguished from a private hoard of gold held by an individual or nonfinancial institution.
gold rush: rapid influx of fortune seekers to the site of newly discovered gold deposits. Major gold rushes occurred in the United States, Australia, Canada, and South Africa in the 19th century.
gold standard: monetary system in which the standard unit of currency is a fixed quantity of gold or is kept at the value of a fixed quantity of gold. The currency is freely convertible at home or abroad into a fixed amount ...
Gold, Thomas: Austrian-born British astronomer who promulgated the steady-state theory of the universe, holding that, although the universe is expanding, a continuous creation of matter in intergalactic space is gradually forming new galaxies, so that the average number of galaxies in any ...