French genre painter whose brilliant depictions of fetes galantes, or scenes of courtly amusements taking place in Arcadian settings, reflected the society of his time.
any of several isthmuses that have connected the Earth's major landmasses at various times, with the result that many species of plants and animals have extended their ranges to new areas. A land bridge that had a profound effect on ...
any crab of the family Gecarcinidae (order Decapoda of the class Crustacea), typically terrestrial, square-bodied crabs that only occasionally, as adults, return to the sea. They occur in tropical America, West Africa, and the Indo-Pacific region. All species feed on ...
Irish agrarian organization that worked for the reform of the country's landlord system under British rule. The league was founded in October 1879 by Michael Davitt, the son of an evicted tenant farmer and a member of the Fenian (Irish ...
in west-central Kentucky, U.S., area of numerous sinkholes and caves in the Pennyrile (or Pennyroyal) region. The area includes the interconnected caves of Mammoth Cave National Park and Flint Ridge Cave System. Abundant surface and underground water together with limestones ...
a purposive change in the way in which agricultural land is held or owned, the methods of cultivation that are employed, or the relation of agriculture to the rest of the economy. Reforms such as these may be proclaimed by ...
any of the approximately 22,000 species of snails adapted to life away from water. Most are members of the subclass Pulmonata (class Gastropoda); a few are members of the subclass Prosobranchia. Typically, land snails live on or near the ground, ...
westernmost peninsula of the county of Cornwall, England. Composed of a granite mass, its tip is the southwesternmost point of England and lies about 870 miles (1,400 km) by road from John o' Groats, traditionally considered the northernmost point of ...
American inventor and physicist whose one-step process for developing and printing photographs culminated in a revolution in photography unparalleled since the advent of roll film.
any of numerous American institutions of higher learning that were established under the first Morrill Act (1862). This act was passed by the U.S. Congress and was named for the act's sponsor, Vermont congressman Justin Smith Morrill.
four-wheeled carriage, invented in Germany, seating four people on two facing seats with an elevated front seat for the coachman. It was distinguished by two folding hoods, one at each end, which met at the top to form a boxlike ...
city, Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), southwestern Germany. Its location is picturesque, along the Queich River in the Haardt Mountains. The settlement was first mentioned in 1106, and an Augustinian monastery was founded there in 1276. Landau became a ...
Soviet physicist who worked in such fields as low-temperature physics, atomic and nuclear physics, and solid-state, stellar-energy, and plasma physics. Several physics terms bear his name. He was awarded the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physics.
city, seat (1884) of Fremont county, west-central Wyoming, U.S., on the Popo Agie River, east of the Wind River Range, at an elevation of 5,360 feet (1,634 metres). Part of the traditional territory of the Shoshone people, the area was ...
county, central Nevada, U.S. It is drained by the Humboldt and Reese rivers. The county is arid and is covered by the Shoshone and Toiyabe mountains, which include large segments of Toiyabe National Forest in the south. The county seat, ...
forest region bordering the Bay of Biscay in the Aquitaine Basin of southwestern France, extending northward to the Garonne Estuary and southward to the Adour River. With an area of 5,400 square miles (14,000 square km), Landes occupies three-quarters of ...
any conspicuous topographic feature on the Earth or a similar planetary body or satellite. Familiar examples are mountains (including volcanic cones), plateaus, and valleys. Comparable structures have been detected on Mars, Venus, the Moon, and certain satellites of Jupiter and ...
a title of nobility in Germany and Scandinavia, dating from the 12th century, when the kings of Germany attempted to strengthen their position in relation to that of the dukes (Herzoge). The kings set up "provincial counts" (Landgrafen) over whom ...
small naval vessel used primarily to transport and tactically deploy soldiers, equipment, vehicles, and supplies from ship to shore for the conduct of offensive military operations. During World War II the British and Americans mass-produced landing craft, modifying them throughout ...
naval ship specially designed to transport and deploy troops, vehicles, and supplies onto foreign shores for the conduct of offensive military operations. LSTs were designed during World War II to disembark military forces without the use of dock facilities or ...
leading composer of 14th-century Italy, famed during his lifetime for his musical memory, his skill in improvisation, and his virtuosity on the organetto, or portative organ, as well as for his compositions. He also played the flute and the rebec.
American federal judge who, as the first commissioner of organized professional baseball, was noted for his uncompromising measures against persons guilty of dishonesty or other conduct he regarded as damaging to the sport.
traditional couple dance of Bavaria and Alpine Austria. To lively music in 34 time, the dancers turn under each other's arms using complicated arm and hand holds, dance back to back, and grasp each other firmly to turn around and ...
the parties to the leasing of real estate, whose relationship is bound by contract. The landlord, or lessor, as owner or possessor of a property-whether corporeal, such as lands or buildings, or incorporeal, such as rights of common or of ...
unique Icelandic genealogical record, probably originally compiled in the early 12th century by, at least in part, Ari Thorgilsson the Learned, though it exists in several versions of a later date. It lists the names of nearly 400 prominent original ...
pope from July/August 913 to early 914. He reigned during one of the most difficult periods in papal history-from c. 900 to 950. The Holy See was then dominated by the relatives and dependents of the senior Theophylact.
also called L.e.l. English poet and novelist who, at a time when women were conventionally restricted in their themes, wrote of passionate love. She is remembered for her high-spirited social life and mysterious death and for verse that reveals her ...
a legislative response to widespread publicity about corruption and autocratic methods in certain American labour unions during the 1950s. Even though the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations) expelled three of the worst offenders (the Teamsters, the Bakery ...
American professional gridiron football coach, notably with the National Football League (NFL) Dallas Cowboys from 1960 to 1989. He molded the Cowboys into a dominant team from the late 1960s to the early '80s.
any of a series of unmanned U.S. scientific satellites. The first three Landsat satellites were launched in 1972, 1975, and 1978. These satellites were primarily designed to collect information about the Earth's natural resources, including the location of mineral deposits ...
the development and decorative planting of gardens, yards, grounds, parks, and other planned green outdoor spaces. Landscape gardening is used to enhance nature and to create a natural setting for buildings, towns, and cities. It is one of the decorative ...
city, Bavaria Land (state), southeastern Germany. It lies on the Isar River northeast of Munich. Named for its early position as the protector (Hut) of the neighbouring district, it was founded in 1204, when ...
traditional subdivision (province) of Sweden. The 25 landskaper (provinces) developed during the pre-Viking and Viking eras and were governed by councils that met outdoors. Although they no longer have any political or administrative significance, their names remain in common use ...
town and port, Skane lan (county), southern Sweden, on The Sound (Oresund), north-northwest of the city of Malmo. It has the only natural harbour on The Sound. The town was founded by Erik of Pomerania, king of Sweden, Denmark, and ...
the movement downslope of a mass of rock, debris, earth, or soil (soil being a mixture of earth and debris). Landslides occur when gravitational and other types of shear stresses within a slope exceed the shear strength (resistance to shearing) ...
Austrian American immunologist and pathologist who received the 1930 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the major blood groups and the development of the ABO system of blood typing that has made blood transfusion a routine ...
group of some 20,000 people located principally in Guinea, 30 to 60 miles (50 to 100 km) inland along the border of Guinea-Bissau. Their language, also called Landuma or Tyapi, belongs to the Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo family and ...
U.S. geologist and educator who originated, promoted, and directed research on the determination of the age of the Earth. He was petrographer, assistant state geologist, and state geologist for the Michigan State Geological Survey from 1889 to 1909. He served ...
U.S. astrophysicist who was the first to investigate mathematically the Sun as a gaseous body. His work demonstrated the interrelationships of pressure, temperature, and density inside the Sun and was fundamental to the emergence of modern theories of stellar evolution.
