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Diwali

(Encyclopedia)Diwali, the festival of lights, celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs; one of the most popular holidays in South Asia. Extending over five days, it marks the beginning of the new year in the Vikrama ...

Clavius, Cristoph

(Encyclopedia)Clavius, Cristoph krĭsˈtôf klāˈvēəs [key], 1537–1612, German astronomer and mathematician. He entered the Jesuit order in 1555 and studied at Coimbra and Rome. He taught mathematics at the Co...

Eudoxus of Cnidus

(Encyclopedia)Eudoxus of Cnidus yo͞odŏkˈsəs, nīˈdəs [key], 408?–355? b.c., Greek astronomer, mathematician, and physician. From the accounts of various ancient writers, he appears to have studied with Plat...

palmtop

(Encyclopedia)palmtop or hand-held personal computer, lightweight, small, battery-powered, general-purpose programmable computer. It typically had a miniaturized full-function, typewriterlike keyboard for input and...

Brumaire

(Encyclopedia)Brumaire brümârˈ [key], second month of the French Revolutionary calendar. The coup of 18 (actually 18–19) Brumaire (Nov. 9–10, 1799), engineered chiefly by Sieyès, overthrew the Directory and...

holiday

(Encyclopedia)holiday [altered from holy day], day set aside for the commemoration of an important event. Holidays are often accompanied by public ceremonies, such as parades and carnivals, and by religious observa...

Ingersoll, Charles Jared

(Encyclopedia)Ingersoll, Charles Jared ĭngˈgərsôl [key], 1782–1862, American political leader and author, b. Philadelphia; son of Jared Ingersoll (1749–1822). In several influential publications, including ...

Eilshemius, Louis Michel

(Encyclopedia)Eilshemius, Louis Michel īlshēˈmēəs [key], 1864–1941, American painter, b. near Newark, N.J. The son of a wealthy Dutch importer, he spent much of his youth abroad. After two years at Cornell h...

Dinaric Alps

(Encyclopedia)Dinaric Alps dīnârˈĭk [key], Ital. Alpi Dinariche, Serbo-Croatian Dinara Planina, mountain system, extending c.400 mi (640 km) along the east coast of the Adriatic Sea from the Isonzo River, NE It...

Tomonaga, Sinichiro

(Encyclopedia)Tomonaga, Sinichiro or Sin-Itiro, 1906–79, Japanese physicist, Ph.D. Kyoto Imperial Univ., 1939. He was a professor at Bunrika Univ. (now Tokyo Univ. of Education) from 1941 to 1956, then served pre...