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Santa Rosa Island

(Encyclopedia)Santa Rosa Island, narrow barrier beach between the Gulf of Mexico and Santa Rosa Sound, NW Fla. in the vicinity of Pensacola, extending c.50 mi (80 km) parallel to the coast. It is the site of Fort P...

Salamis, island, Greece

(Encyclopedia)Salamis, island, E Greece, in the Saronic Gulf, W of Athens. It early belonged to Aegina but was later under Athenian control, except for a brief period after it was occupied (c.600 b.c.) by Megara. I...

Cape Breton Island

(Encyclopedia)Cape Breton Island, island, 3,970 sq mi (10,282 sq km), forming the northeastern part of N.S., Canada, and separated from the mainland by the narrow Gut...

Cape Sable Island

(Encyclopedia)Cape Sable Island, 7 mi (11.2 km) long and 3 mi (4.8 km) wide, SW N.S., Canada. It is connected to the mainland by a causeway over Barrington Passage. C...

Sicilian Vespers

(Encyclopedia)Sicilian Vespers, in Italian history, name given the rebellion staged by the Sicilians against the Angevin French domination of Sicily; the rebellion broke out at Palermo at the start of Vespers on Ea...

Lent

(Encyclopedia)Lent [Old Eng. lencten,=spring], Latin Quadragesima (meaning 40; thus the 40 days of Lent). In Christianity, Lent is a time of penance, prayer, preparation for or recollection of baptism, and preparat...

Heyerdahl, Thor

(Encyclopedia)Heyerdahl, Thor hāˈərdälˌ, hīˈ– [key], 1914–2002, Norwegian explorer and anthropologist, b. Larvik. He carried out research in the Marquesas Islands in 1937–38 and studied the indigenous ...

Lateran Council, Fourth

(Encyclopedia)Lateran Council, Fourth, 1215, 12th ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convened at the Lateran Palace, Rome, by Pope Innocent III to crown the work of his pontificate. It was one of the ...

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