Encyclopædia Britannica Australia -

Encyclopedias since 1768

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Tairov, Aleksandr Yakovlevich ... Talaud Islands

Tairov, Aleksandr Yakovlevich: original name Aleksandr Kornblit founder and producer-director (1914-49) of the Kamerny (Chamber) Theatre in Moscow, which, during the era of the Revolution, rivaled the Moscow Art Theatre in professional competence.
Taisho: the 123rd ruling descendant of the Japanese imperial family, the emperor who reigned from 1912 to 1926 during a period in which Japan continued the modernization of its economy.
Tait, Archibald Campbell: archbishop of Canterbury, remembered primarily for his efforts to moderate tension in the Church of England at the height of the Oxford Movement.
Tait, Peter Guthrie: Scottish physicist and mathematician who helped develop quaternions, an advanced algebra that gave rise to vector analysis and was instrumental in the development of modern mathematical physics.
Taitai Series: lowermost major division of Cretaceous rocks and time in New Zealand (144 to 66.4 million years ago). The Taitai Series underlies rocks of the Clarence Series.
Taiwan: island, located about 100 miles (161 km) off the southeast coast of the China mainland. It is approximately 245 miles (394 km) long (north-south) and 90 miles across at its widest point. The largest city, Taipei, is the seat of ...
Taiwan Strait: arm of the Pacific Ocean, 100 miles (160 km) wide at its narrowest point, lying between the coast of China's Fukien province and the island of Taiwan (Formosa). The strait extends from southwest to northeast between the South and East ...
Taiyetos Mountains: mountain range, southern Peloponnese, Greece. The maximum elevation is approximately 7,905 feet (2,371 m) in the range, which imposes a barrier between the regions of Laconia and Messina. Called the five-fingered mountain by the ancient epic poet Homer, the Taiyetos ...
Taiyo: Japanese magazine published from 1895 to 1928 and especially known for its literary criticism, Japanese literature, and translations of Western authors.
taj: brimless hat, usually conical or curved on top, worn by men and women in Muslim countries. The taj (from the Persian and Arabic words for crown) developed out of the ancient tiaras (see tiara) worn in the Mesopotamian valley. A ...
Taj Mahal: mausoleum complex in Agra, northern India, on the southern bank of the Yamuna (Jumna) River. In its harmonious proportions and its fluid incorporation of decorative elements, the Taj Mahal is distinguished as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a blending ...
Tajik: the original Iranian population of Afghanistan and Turkistan. The Tajiks constitute almost four-fifths of the population of Tajikistan. In the early 21st century there were more than 5,200,000 Tajiks in Tajikistan and more than 1,000,000 in Uzbekistan. There were about ...
Tajikistan: country lying in the heart of Central Asia. It is bordered by Kyrgyzstan on the north, China on the east, Afghanistan on the south, and Uzbekistan on the west and northwest. Tajikistan includes the Gorno-Badakhshan ("Mountain Badakhshan") autonomous region, with ...
Tajimi: city, Gifu ken (prefecture), central Honshu, Japan. It lies along the Toki River, northeast of Nagoya.
Tajong-gyo: modern Korean millenarian sect that originated in the late 19th century. Tajong-gyo was formulated by Na Chul. It worships the Lord, the Light, or the Progenitor of the Heaven. The triune deity consists of Great Wisdom, Power, and Virtue, which ...
Tajumulco Volcano: mountain peak in southwestern Guatemala. The highest peak in Central America, Tajumulco rises essentially from sea level to an elevation of 13,845 feet (4,220 m). The peak is part of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas, a mountain range that extends ...
Takacs, Karoly: Hungarian athlete who twice won Olympic gold medals in rapid-fire pistol shooting despite having his shooting hand maimed by a hand grenade.
Takahama Kyoshi: haiku poet, a major figure in the development of haiku literature in modern Japan.
takahe: (species Notornis mantelli), rare flightless bird of New Zealand that was thought to have become extinct in the late 1800s but that was rediscovered in 1948 in several remote valleys on South Island. Related to the gallinules (family Rallidae), it ...
Takakkaw Falls: cataract on the Yoho River, and a major feature in the northern part of Yoho National Park in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The Takakkaw (Cree Indian for "wonderful") Falls is formed by meltwater from the Daly Glacier in the Waputik ...
Takamatsu: city and capital of Kagawa ken (prefecture), Shikoku, Japan, facing the Inland Sea. It was a castle town of the Tokugawa family from 1642 to 1868. A railway ferry was opened in 1910 between Takamatsu and Uno, in Okayama prefecture, ...
Takamine, Jokichi: biochemist and industrial leader whose most important achievement was the isolation of the chemical adrenalin (now called epinephrine) from the suprarenal gland (1901). This was the first pure hormone to be isolated from natural sources.
Takamura Koun: given name Nakajima Kozo Japanese sculptor who worked to preserve the art of wood carving.
Takaoka: city, Toyama ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the lower reaches of the Sho River. The city was founded with the construction of Takaoka Castle in 1609. It became a trade centre, known for its manufacture of metalware. Based on the ...
Takarazuka: city, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the northeastern slope of Mount Rokko. The city is a hot-springs resort and is renowned for its female opera company. The opera house, which has been operated by the Railway Society since 1919, ...
Takasago: city, Hyogo ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the Inland Sea. It long served as a collection and distribution centre for the rice that was produced in the hinterland of the Harima Sea, a portion of the Inland Sea. In the ...
Takasaki: city, Gumma ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It is situated northwest of Tokyo along the Karasu River, a tributary of the Tone River. A typical castle town, Takasaki became increasingly important as a commercial and transport centre with the expansion of ...
Takashimaya Co., Ltd.: premier department-store company in Japan. The company traces its history back to a cotton-goods store founded in Kyoto in 1831; the modern limited-liability company was established in 1919. Today the company has department stores in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Rakusai, Sakai, ...
Takasugi Shinsaku: noted Japanese imperial loyalist whose restructuring of the military forces of the feudal fief of Choshu enabled that domain to defeat the armies of the Tokugawa shogun, the hereditary military dictator of Japan. That victory led to the Meiji Restoration ...
Takatsuki: city, Osaka fu (urban prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies along the Yodo River, midway between Osaka and Kyoto. During the late Muromachi period (1338-1573), Takatsuki became a castle town, and an army engineers' camp was established there in the late ...
Takayama: city, Gifu ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan, on the Miya River. It contains many old buildings and temples, including the Kokubun Temple (1588), and it was a castle town during the Tokugawa period (1603-1867). Takayama is a centre of the Hida ...
Takebe Katahiro: Japanese mathematician of the wasan ("Japanese calculation") tradition (see mathematics, East Asian: Japan in the 17th century) who extended and disseminated the mathematical research of his teacher Seki Takakazu (c. 1640-1708).
Takeda Shingen: one of the most famous of the military leaders who struggled for mastery of the strategic Kanto Plain in central Japan during the chaotic period of civil unrest in the 16th century. Takeda is especially well known for his series ...
Takefu: city, Fukui ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It is situated on the alluvial fan of the Hino River. During the Tokugawa period (1603-1867), it was a castle town and a provincial capital. The city's traditional industry is the manufacture of cutlery. ...
Takeshita Noboru: prime minister of Japan from November 1987 to June 1989, at which time he resigned because of his involvement in an influence-peddling scandal. A behind-the-scenes power broker, he continued to shape and control the country's government after leaving office.
takin: (species Budorcas taxicolor), heavily built hoofed mammal of Southeast Asia, belonging to the family Bovidae (order Artiodactyla). The takin lives in small herds in the mountains, often above the timberline. Robust and short-legged, it can move about quickly and easily ...
Takizawa Bakin: the dominant Japanese writer of the early 19th century, admired for his lengthy, serious historical novels that are highly moral in tone.
takkanah: in Judaism, a regulation promulgated by rabbinic authority to promote the common good or to foster the spiritual development of those under its jurisdiction. Takkanoth, which are considered extensions of Torah Law (that is, the Law of Moses given in ...
Takla Makan Desert: great desert of Central Asia and one of the largest sandy deserts in the world. The Takla Makan occupies the central part of the Tarim Basin in China. The desert area extends about 600 miles (960 kilometres) from west to ...
Takoma Park: city, Montgomery county, central Maryland, U.S., on Sligo Creek. It was founded in 1883 by real estate developer Benjamin F. Gilbert along the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad track as a northern residential development for Washington, D.C. The Seventh-day Adventists arrived ...
Taksin: also called Phraya Taksin, or Phya Tak Thai general, conqueror, and later king (1767-82) who reunited Thailand, or Siam, after its defeat at the hands of the Myanmar (Burmese) in 1767.
Takuma Shoga: original name Takuma Tamemoto member of a Japanese family of professional artists who specialized in Buddhist paintings (butsuga), creating a new style of religious painting that incorporated features of Chinese Southern Sung art.
Tal, Mikhail Nekhemyevich: Latvian chess grandmaster who in 1960, at the age of 23, became the youngest world chess champion when he upset the defending champion, Mikhail Botvinnik, by a score of 1212 to 812. See the table ...
tala: in the music of India and Pakistan, a metric cycle with a specific number of beats-from 3 to 128-that recur in the same pattern throughout a musical performance. Tala might generally be equated with rhythm or metre, although the tala ...
Talak: extensive sandy dune region of northwestern Niger, west of the Air massif. It covers about 40,000 square miles (100,000 square km) and is drained by a number of small, ephemeral watercourses, the longest of which, the Azaouak, eventually empties into ...
Talambo affair: (1862), attack by Peruvian workers on Spanish Basque immigrants on the hacienda (estate) of Talambo, in Peru; this incident led to the Spanish war against Peru (1864-66), the last attempt by Spain to reestablish hegemony over any of its former ...
talapoin: either of two small species of monkeys found in swamp forests on each side of the lower Congo River and neighbouring river systems. Talapoins are the smallest of the Old World monkeys, weighing less than 2 kg (4.4 pounds).
Talara: community, northwestern Peru, on the Pacific Ocean. Rebuilt and developed by the International Petroleum Company (which provided workers' housing, hospitals, and schools), it is a refining and shipping port for Peru's main oil-producing region. To the southwest, near the foot ...
Talas: oblasty (province), northwestern Kyrgyzstan, centred on the Talas River valley that follows an essentially east-west axis through the northern portion of the oblasty. Reconstituted in 1990, the oblasty was formed in 1944 and remained in existence until 1956. It was ...
Talat Pasa: leader of the Young Turks, Ottoman statesman, grand vizier (1917-18), and leading member of the Ottoman government from 1913 to 1918.
Talaud Islands: islands administered from Manado as part of northern Sulawesi Utara provinsi (North Celebes province), northern Indonesia. The group, with a total area of 495 square miles (1,281 square km), includes Karakelong (the largest), Salebabu, Kaburuang, and numerous ...