Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Hai San ... Halas, George

Hai San: Chinese secret society that was influential in commerce and tin mining in 19th-century Malaya. The Hai San had its origins in southern China and was transmitted to Malaya by immigrant labourers. Cantonese originally dominated the society, but, between 1845 and ...
Hai-k'ou: city in Hainan sheng (province), southern China. Hai-k'ou is the provincial capital of Hainan sheng. It is situated on the north coast of Hainan Island, facing the Luichow Peninsula, across the Hainan Strait (9.5 miles [15 km] wide). Hai-k'ou originally ...
Hai-nan: sheng (province) of China. The province, whose name means "South of the Sea," is coextensive with Hai-nan Island. Hai-nan is located in the South China Sea, separated from Kwangtung's Lei-chou Peninsula to the north by a shallow ...
Haida: Indians of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, and the southern part of Prince of Wales Island, Alaska (the Alaskan Haida are called Kaigani) who speak Haida, a language believed to be related to Athabascan. Numbering only about 2,000 in ...
Haifa: city, northwestern Israel. The principal port of the country, it lies along the Bay of Haifa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Haifa is first mentioned in the Talmud (c. 1st-4th century AD). Eusebius, the early Christian theologian and biblical topographer, referred ...
Haig, Douglas Haig, 1st Earl, Viscount Dawick, Baron Haig of Bemersyde: British field marshal, commander in chief of the British forces in France during most of World War I. His strategy of attrition (tautly summarized as "kill more Germans") resulted in enormous numbers of British casualties but little immediate gain in ...
Haight-Ashbury: district within the city of San Francisco, California, U.S., adjacent to Golden Gate Park. The district became famous as a bohemian enclave in the 1950s and '60s and was the centre of a large African American population. By the mid-1960s ...
haikai: a comic renga, or Japanese linked-verse form. The haikai was developed as early as the 16th century as a diversion from the composition of the more serious renga form.
haiku: Japanese poetic form consisting of 17 syllables arranged in three lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables each. Originating in the first three lines of the traditional 31-syllable tanka, or short poem, haiku began to rival the older form in ...
hail: precipitation of balls or pieces of ice with a diameter of 5 mm to 10 cm (about 0.2 to 4 inches). Small hail (also called sleet, or ice pellets) has a diameter of less than 5 mm. Because the formation ...
Hail Mary: a principal prayer of the Roman Catholic Church, comprising three parts addressed to the Virgin Mary. The following are the Latin text and an English translation:Ave Maria, gratia plena;Dominus tecum:Benedicta tu in mulieribus et benedictusfructus ventris tui [Jesus].Sancta Maria, Mater ...
Hailar: city, Inner Mongolia autonomous ch'u (region), China. It lies on the south bank of the Hai-la-erh River, which flows west into the Argun River at its junction with the I-min River.
Haile Selassie I: emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 who sought to modernize his country and who steered it into the mainstream of post-World War II African politics. He brought Ethiopia into the League of Nations and the United Nations and made ...
Hainan: sheng (province) and island of China. Hainan sheng also includes the Paracel Islands and the Spratly Islands (qq.v.), which are claimed by China.
Haines: city, southeastern Alaska, U.S. Located at the northern end of North America's longest fjord, it also lies at the northern end of the Alexander Archipelago on a peninsula between the Chilkoot and Chilkat rivers. Situated near the point where the ...
Haines, Jackson: American skater known as the father of figure skating. A ballet dancer, he adapted ballet styles and techniques to a sport that had previously comprised a limited number of figures executed in a tight, awkward manner.
Hainisch, Michael: Austrian economist and statesman who served as first president of the federal republic of Austria (1920-28).
Haiphong: city, northern Vietnam. It lies on the northeastern edge of the Red River delta, beside a distributary of the Thai Binh River, 10 miles (16 km) from the Gulf of Tonkin. It is the outport of the capital, Hanoi, 37 ...
hair: in mammals, the characteristic threadlike outgrowths of the outer layer of the skin (epidermis) that form an animal's coat, or pelage. Hair is present in differing degrees on all mammals. On adult whales, elephants, sirenians, and rhinoceroses body hair is ...
hair-cap moss: any of the plants of the genus Polytrichum (order Bryales) with more than 100 species; it often forms large mats in peat bogs, old fields, and areas with high soil acidity. About 10 species are found in North America. The ...
hairdressing: custom of cutting and arranging the hair, practiced by men and women from ancient times to the present. Early records indicate that the ancient Assyrians wore elaborate curly hair styles; by contrast, the ancient Egyptians, men and women alike, shaved ...
hairstreak: any member of the insect subfamily Theclinae, belonging to the widely distributed Lycaenidae family of common butterflies (order Lepidoptera). Adult lycaenids, sometimes known as gossamer-winged butterflies, are small and delicate, with an 18- to 38-millimetre (0.75- to 1.5-inch) wingspan. They ...
hairy fungus beetle: any member of the approximately 200 species of the insect family Mycetophagidae (order Coleoptera). They are small, oval, hairy beetles found on fungi or under bark. Hairy fungus beetles are black or brown and often have orange or red markings. ...
Haise, Fred W, Jr.: American astronaut, participant in the Apollo 13 mission (April 11-17, 1970), in which an intended Moon landing was canceled because of a rupture in a fuel-cell oxygen tank in the Service Module. The crew, consisting of Haise, John L. Swigert, ...
Haiti: country of the Caribbean Sea that includes the western third of the island of Hispaniola and such smaller islands as Gonave, Tortue (Tortuga), Grande Caye, and Vache. Its land area is 10,714 square miles (27,750 square km)-roughly threefold larger than ...
Haitian Creole: French-based creole language spoken on the island of Hispaniola, in the Caribbean Sea. An official language of Haiti since 1987, Creole is spoken by more than 90 percent of that nation's population; only 10 percent speak French, Haiti's other official ...
Haitink, Bernard: Dutch conductor best known for his interpretations of Gustav Mahler, Anton Bruckner, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Franz Liszt. His conducting, which continued the tradition of Willem Mengelberg, was noted for its careful attention to detail combined with an uncommon strength ...
Hajar, al-: mountain chain in northern Oman, paralleling the coast of the Gulf of Oman and stretching in an arc southeastward from the Musandam Peninsula almost to Ra's (cape) al-Hadd on the extreme northeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. From northwest to ...
Hajdu-Bihar: megye (county), eastern Hungary. It occupies an area of 2,398 square miles (6,212 square km) in the Tiszantul, a part of the Great Hungarian Plain, and consists mainly of sandy soils where most of the natural vegetation cover has been ...
haji ware: Japanese earthenware developed in the 4th century AD (during the Tumulus period) from the Yayoi ware of the preceding period. Great amounts of this everyday ware were produced into the Heian period (794-1185). A rust-red earthenware, haji ...
Haji, Raja: Buginese soldier and statesman under whose leadership Buginese adventurers spread throughout the Malay Peninsula. The power of the Buginese (a people originally from the southern Celebes) dated from the early 1700s, when Buginese adventurers, cut off from their homeland by ...
hajib: in Muslim Spain and Mamluk Egypt, a high government official. The term originally designated a chamberlain, but under the Spanish Umayyads (756-1031) the hajib functioned as a chief minister, paralleling the position of vizier (wazir) in the eastern caliphates. He ...
Hajipur: town, north-central Bihar state, northeastern India. Hajipur lies in the northern Bihar Plains, which are part of the Middle Ganges Plains. It is located on the land route from Vaishali, which was the capital of one of the states in ...
hajj: in Islam, the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, which every adult Muslim of either sex must make at least once in his or her lifetime. The hajj is the fifth of the fundamental Muslim practices ...
Hajjaj, al-: one of the most able of provincial governors under the Umayyad caliphate (661-750). He played a critical role in consolidating the administrative structure of the Umayyad dynasty during its early years.
Hajos, Alfred: Hungarian swimmer who won three Olympic medals and was the first Olympic swimming champion.
hake: (genus Merluccius), any of several large marine fishes of the cod family, Gadidae. They are sometimes classed as a separate family, Merlucciidae, because of skeletal differences in the skull and ribs. Hakes are elongated, largeheaded fishes with large, sharp teeth. ...
Hakim, al-: sixth ruler of the Egyptian Shi'ite Fatimid dynasty, noted for his eccentricities and cruelty, especially his persecutions of Christians and Jews. He is held by adherents of the Druze religion to be a divine incarnation.
Hakim, Tawfiq al-: founder of contemporary Egyptian drama and a leading figure in modern Arabic literature.
Hakka: group of North Chinese who migrated to South China, especially Kwangtung, Fukien, and Kwangsi provinces, during the fall of the Southern Sung dynasty in the 1270s. Their origins remain obscure, but the people who became the Hakka are thought to ...
Hakkari: city, capital of Hakkari il (province), southeastern Turkey. It lies at an altitude of about 5,500 feet (1,700 metres), surrounded by mountains and overlooked by a medieval fortress, the former residence of its Kurdish rulers. A market ...
Hakluyt, Richard: British geographer noted for his political influence, his voluminous writings, and his persistent promotion of Elizabethan overseas expansion, especially the colonization of North America. His major publication, The principall Navigations, Voiages and Discoveries of the English nation, provides almost everything ...
Hakodate: city, southern Hokkaido Prefecture (ken), Japan, on the Tsugaru-kaikyo (Tsu garu Strait) between Hokkaido and Honshu. The city is built along the northwestern base of a rocky promontory that forms the eastern boundary of a spacious, naturally sheltered harbour. Until ...
Hakone: town, Kanagawa ken (prefecture), south-central Honshu, Japan. It lies on the southern bank of Lake Ashino, in the caldera of the extinct volcano Mount Hakone. The town, a post station during the Tokugawa period (1603-1868), is now the tourist base ...
Hakuin: priest, writer, and artist who helped revive Rinzai Zen Buddhism in Japan.
Hakulinen, Veikko: Finnish cross-country skier who earned seven Olympic medals in three Olympic competitions between 1952 and 1960. He also won world championships in the 15-km event in 1954 and 1958.
hal: in Sufi Muslim mystical terminology, a spiritual state of mind that comes to the Sufi from time to time during his journey toward God. The ahwal are graces of God that cannot be acquired or retained through an individual's own ...
Halaf, Tall: archaeological site of ancient Mesopotamia, on the headwaters of the Khabur River near modern Ra's al-'Ayn, northeastern Syria. It is the location of the first find of a Neolithic culture characterized by glazed pottery painted with geometric and animal designs. ...
Halakhah: in Judaism, the totality of laws and ordinances that have evolved since biblical times to regulate religious observances and the daily life and conduct of the Jewish people. Quite distinct from the Law of the Pentateuch (the first five books ...
Halang language: language spoken chiefly in the central highlands of south-central Vietnam near Kon Tum. The number of speakers in Vietnam is estimated at some 10,000. Halang is a member of the North Bahnaric subbranch of the Mon-Khmer language family, which is ...
Halas, George: founder, owner, and head coach of the Chicago Bears gridiron football team in the U.S. professional National Football League (NFL). Halas revolutionized American football strategy in the late 1930s when he, along with assistant coach Clark Shaughnessy, revived the T ...