Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Ramsay, Allan ... Randolph, Edward

Ramsay, Allan: Scottish poet and literary antiquary who maintained national poetic traditions by writing Scots poetry and by preserving the work of earlier Scottish poets at a time when most Scottish writers had been Anglicized. He was admired by Robert Burns as ...
Ramsay, Bertram Home: British naval officer who, during World War II, oversaw the evacuation of British forces from Dunkirk in 1940 and then commanded the naval forces used in the Normandy Invasion (1944).
Ramsay, Sir William: British chemist whose discovery of four of the noble gases (neon, argon, krypton, and xenon) earned him the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1904.
Ramsden, Jesse: British pioneer in the design of precision tools.
Ramses I: king of Egypt (reigned 1292-90 BC), founder of the 19th dynasty of Egypt.
Ramses II: third king of the 19th dynasty of Egypt, whose reign (1279-13 BC) was the second longest in Egyptian history. In addition to his wars with the Hittites and Libyans, he is known for his extensive building programs and for the ...
Ramses III: king of Egypt (reigned 1187-56 BC), who defended his country against foreign invasion in three great wars, thus ensuring tranquillity during much of his reign. In his final years, however, he faced internal disturbances and an attempted coup d'etat.
Ramses IV: king of Egypt (reigned 1156-50 BC) who strove through extensive building activity to maintain Egypt's prosperity in an era of deteriorating internal and external conditions.
Ramses IX: king of Egypt (reigned 1126-08 BC), during whose reign serious civil problems troubled Egypt.
Ramses V: king of Egypt (reigned 1150-45 BC) who died of smallpox, perhaps after his successor dethroned him.
Ramses VI: king of Egypt (reigned 1145-37 BC), who may have seized power after deposing his predecessor during a dynastic struggle.
Ramses VII: king of Egypt (reigned 1137-29 BC), whose reign is known chiefly from several important economics papyri.
Ramses VIII: king of Egypt (reigned 1128-26 BC) whose ephemeral reign occurred immediately after that of Ramses VII and is poorly documented.
Ramses X: king of Egypt (reigned 1108-04 BC), during whose poorly documented reign disorders that had become endemic under his predecessor continued.
Ramses XI: king of Egypt (reigned 1104-1075? BC), last king of the 20th dynasty, whose reign was marked by civil wars involving the high priest of Amon and the viceroy of Nubia. At the end of his reign, new dynasties were founded ...
Ramsey: town ("parish"), Huntingdonshire district, administrative county of Cambridgeshire, historic county of Huntingdonshire, England. The town serves an intensively cultivated hinterland on the southwest border of the Fens, a reclaimed region adjoining the North Sea. Ramsey developed around a 10th-century Benedictine ...
Ramsey, Michael, Baron Ramsey Of Canterbury: archbishop of Canterbury (1961-74), theologian, educator, and advocate of Christian unity. His meeting with Pope Paul VI (March 1966) was the first encounter between the leaders of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches since their separation in 1534.
Ramsey, Norman Foster: American physicist who received one-half of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1989 for his development of a technique to induce atoms to shift from one specific energy level to another. (The other half of the prize was awarded to ...
Ramsgate: town, Thanet district, administrative and historic county of county of Kent, England. It lies on the east coast and is the reputed landing place of the invading Anglo-Saxon warriors Hengist and Horsa (449 CE) and of the Christian missionary St. ...
Ramu River: one of the longest rivers in Papua New Guinea, rising in the southeast on the Kratke Range and flowing northwest through the great Central Depression, where it receives numerous streams draining the Bismarck (south) and Finisterre and Adelbert (north) ranges. ...
Ramus, Petrus: French philosopher, logician, and rhetorician.
Ramusio, Giovanni Battista: Italian geographer who compiled an important collection of travel writings, Delle navigationi et viaggi (1550-59; "Some Voyages and Travels"), containing his version of Marco Polo's journey and the Descrittione de l'Africa ("Description of Africa") by the Moor Leo Africanus.
Ramuz, Charles-Ferdinand: Swiss novelist whose realistic, poetic, and somewhat allegorical stories of man against nature made him one of the most prominent French-Swiss writers of the 20th century.
Rana: geographic region, Nordland fylke (county), northern Norway, surrounding the Rana channel and the Nordrana Fjord. It is centred on the industrial town of Mo (Mo i Rana) at the mouth of the Rana River, along which run ...
Ranade, Mahadev Govind: one of India's Citpavan Brahmans of Maharashtra who was a judge of the High Court of Bombay, a noted historian, and an active participant in social and economic reform movements.
Ranaivo, Flavien: lyric poet deeply influenced by Malagasy ballad and song forms, in particular the hain-teny, a poetic dialogue usually on the subject of love. Ranaivo also held a number of important civic and government posts.
Rancagua: capital of Cachapoal provincia and of O'Higgins region, northern central Chile. It lies in the Andean foothills along the Cachapoal River, south of Santiago. Founded as Villa Santa Cruz de Triana by Jose Antonio Manso de Velasco in 1743, the ...
Rance River: river, rising in the Landes du Mene, a chain of hills in Cotes-d'Armor departement, western France. It flows for 60 miles (97 km) past Dinan to form an estuary on the Brittany (Bretagne) coast of the English Channel at Saint-Malo, ...
Rance, Armand-Jean Le Bouthillier de: French abbot who revived the Cistercian abbey of La Trappe, influenced the establishment of several important monasteries, and founded the reformed Cistercians, called Trappists, a community practicing extreme austerity of diet, penitential exercises, and, except for chanting, absolute silence.
ranch: a farm, usually large, devoted to the breeding and raising of cattle, sheep, or horses on rangeland. Ranch farming, or ranching, originated in the imposition of European livestock-farming techniques onto the vast open grasslands of the New World. Spanish settlers ...
ranch house: type of residential building, characteristically built on one level, having a low roof and a rectangular open plan, with relatively little conventional demarcation of living areas.
Ranchi: city, capital of Jharkhand state, northeastern India, lying along the Subarnarekha River. With major rail and road connections, it is the centre of the region's agricultural, cotton, and tea trade. Silk production and the manufacture of shellac and heavy machine ...
Rancho Cucamonga: city, San Bernardino county, southern California, U.S. Part of the "Inland Empire" region (comprising San Bernardino and Riverside counties), it is located on an alluvial plain near the eastern end of the San Gabriel Mountains, 37 miles (60 km) east ...
rancidity: condition produced by aerial oxidation of unsaturated fat present in foods and other products, marked by unpleasant odour or flavour. When a fatty substance is exposed to air, its unsaturated components are converted into hydroperoxides, which break down into volatile ...
rand: monetary unit of South Africa. Each rand is divided into 100 cents. The South African Reserve Bank has the exclusive authority to issue coins and banknotes in the country. Coins range in denomination from 5 cents to 50 rand. Banknotes ...
Rand Daily Mail: former English-language newspaper published in Johannesburg. It crusaded against South Africa's racial segregation but, because of financial losses, ceased publication in 1985.
Rand McNally and Company: American publishers and printers of maps, atlases, globes, and tourist guidebooks; its headquarters are in Skokie, Ill. Founded in 1856 by William H. Rand and Andrew McNally and incorporated in 1873, it is the oldest firm of its kind in ...
Rand, Ayn: Russian-born American writer who, in commercially successful novels, presented her philosophy of objectivism, essentially reversing the traditional Judeo-Christian ethic.
Rand, Mary Denise: British track-and-field athlete, who won a gold medal in the long jump at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo to become the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field.
Rand, Paul: American graphic designer who pioneered a distinctive American Modernist style.
Rand, Sally: American actress and dancer who achieved fame as a fan dancer and bubble dancer.
Randall, John Herman, Jr.: American historian and philosopher who wrote a series of highly respected works on the history of philosophy.
Randall, Samuel J: U.S. congressman who served for nearly 30 years and who, as speaker of the House of Representatives (1876-81), codified the rules of the House and strengthened the role of speaker.
Randall-MacIver, David: British-born American archaeologist and anthropologist.
Randburg: residential town in Gauteng province, South Africa, bordering Johannesburg to the south. It consists of numerous suburbs that were officially proclaimed a town in 1962. The town has no heavy industries, and the few light-industrial concerns include printing plants, organ-building ...
Randers: city, Arhus amtskommune (county commune), eastern Jutland, Denmark. It lies at the mouth of the Guden River along Randers Fjord, northwest of Arhus. First mentioned in 1086, it was chartered in 1302 and became an important market and ecclesiastical centre ...
Randfontein: town, Gauteng province, South Africa. It lies west of Johannesburg and is centred on the gold mine first developed by Randfontein Estates Gold Mining Company in 1889. Originally a part of Krugersdorp, it became a separate municipality in 1929 and ...
Randolph: town (township), Norfolk county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., 15 miles (24 km) south of Boston. Settled in 1710 as Cochato (named for the Cochato Indians), it was part of Braintree until separately incorporated in 1793. The town was renamed for Peyton ...
Randolph, A. Philip: trade unionist and civil-rights leader who was a dedicated and persistent leader in the struggle for justice and parity for the black American community.
Randolph, Edmund Jennings: Virginia lawyer who played an important role in drafting and ratifying the U.S. Constitution and served as attorney general and later secretary of state in George Washington's cabinet.
Randolph, Edward: British royal agent, customs officer, and American colonial official.