Children in England celebrate the end of winter and the arrival of spring on May 1 each year. The festivities center around a huge striped maypole that’s decorated with flowers and streamers.…
Pagan festivals, Christian saints, Chaucer's love birds, and the Greeting Card Association of America by Borgna Brunner Roman Roots The history of Valentine's Day is obscure, and further…
(Encyclopedia) Greenaway, Kate, 1846–1901, English illustrator and watercolorist. She is famous for her fanciful, humorous, delicately colored drawings of child life. She influenced children's…
(Encyclopedia) Kölreuter or Koelreuter, Joseph GottliebKölreuter or Koelreuter, Joseph Gottliebboth: yōˈzĕf gôtˈlēp kölˈroiˌtər [key], 1733–1806, German botanist. In 1764 he became professor of…
(Encyclopedia) Santa PaulaSanta Paulasănˈtə pôlˈə [key], city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables,…
(Encyclopedia) daisy [O.E.,=day's eye], name for several common wildflowers of the family Asteraceae (aster family). The daisy of literature, the true daisy, is Bellis perennis, called in the United…
(Encyclopedia) hawthorn, any species of the genus Crataegus of the family Rosaceae (rose family), shrubs and trees widely distributed in north temperate climates and especially common in E North…
(Encyclopedia) Nolde, EmilNolde, Emilāˈmēl nôlˈdə [key], 1867–1956, German expressionist painter and graphic artist. His original name was Emil Hansen. After teaching in Switzerland (1892–98), Nolde…
(Encyclopedia) lilac, any plant of the genus Syringa, deciduous Old World shrubs or small trees of the family Oleaceae (olive family), widely cultivated as ornamentals. Since colonial days, the…