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Plassey

(Encyclopedia)Plassey plăsˈē [key], anglicized name of Palashi, village, West Bengal state, NE India. In the battle of Plassey, Robert Clive decisively defeated (1757) the Nawab of Bengal, preparing the way for ...

Tiresias

(Encyclopedia)Tiresias tīrēˈshəs, –sēəs [key], in Greek mythology, a blind soothsayer who appears in many legends. According to one myth, when he saw Athena bathing she blinded him, but by way of compensati...

Punt

(Encyclopedia)Punt po͝ont [key], ancient land S of Egypt accessible by way of the Red Sea. Its exact location has not been identified, but it probably included the Somali coast. Temple reliefs at Deir el Bahari in...

Tanega-shima

(Encyclopedia)Tanega-shima tänāˈgä-shĭmä [key], island, 176 sq mi (456 sq km), off S Kyushu, Japan. Fishing and farming are important there. It is the site of Japan's main rocket launch center and a space sat...

Caledonian Canal

(Encyclopedia)Caledonian Canal, waterway, c.60 mi (100 km) long, cutting across Highland, N Scotland, from Moray Firth to Loch Linnhe by way of the Great Glen. It was built in two phases (1803–22 and 1843–47; o...

Gish, Lillian

(Encyclopedia)Gish, Lillian, 1896–1993, American stage and movie actress, b. Springfield, Ohio. In 1912 she began her film career with D. W. Griffith. A fragile, delicate beauty, Gish often played a heroine rescu...

fund-raising

(Encyclopedia)fund-raising, large-scale soliciting of voluntary contributions, especially in the United States. Fund-raising is widely undertaken by charitable organizations, educational institutions, and political...

Barton, Derek H. R.

(Encyclopedia)Barton, Derek H. R., 1918–98, British chemist, b. Gravesend, England, grad. Imperial College of Science and Technology (B.S. 1940, Ph.D. 1942, D.Sc. 1949). He was on the faculty of Imperial College ...

Trajan

(Encyclopedia)Trajan (Marcus Ulpius Trajanus) trāˈjən [key], c.a.d. 53–a.d. 117, Roman emperor (a.d. 98–a.d. 117). Born in Spain, he was the first non-Italian to become head of the empire. Trajan served in t...

Galileo

(Encyclopedia)Galileo (Galileo Galilei) gălˌĭlēˈō; gälēlĕˈō gälēlĕˈē [key], 1564–1642, great Italian astronomer, mathematician, and physicist. By his persistent investigation of natural laws he la...