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solstice

(Encyclopedia)solstice sŏlˈstĭs [key] [Lat.,=sun stands still], in astronomy, either of the two points on the ecliptic that lie midway between the equinoxes (separated from them by an angular distance of 90°). ...

Waitangi, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Waitangi, Treaty of (Feb. 6, 1840), a pact between some Maori tribes of New Zealand and the British Gov. William Hobson. The treaty protected Maori land interests in exchange for recognition of Britis...

O'Neill, Eugene (Gladstone)

(Encyclopedia)O'Neill, Eugene (Gladstone), 1888–1953, American dramatist, b. New York City. He is widely acknowledged as America's greatest playwright. Near the end of his life O'Neill renounced his daughter Oo...

Patti, Adelina

(Encyclopedia)Patti, Adelina ădəlēˈnə pătˈē [key], 1843–1919, coloratura soprano, b. Madrid, of Italian parents. She was trained in New York City, where she made her debut in 1859, thereafter singing with...

Good Thief

(Encyclopedia)Good Thief or Penitent Thief, in the New Testament, the malefactor crucified with Jesus who did not revile Him; Jesus promised him Paradise that day. In the Roman martyrology his feast is Mar. 25. His...

Vendémiaire

(Encyclopedia)Vendémiaire väNdāmyĕrˈ [key], first month of the French Revolutionary calendar. 13 Vendémiaire of the year iv (Oct. 5, 1795) was the day when Napoleon Bonaparte, until then an obscure general, w...

Hicks, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Hicks, Thomas, 1823–90, American portrait painter, b. Newtown, Pa. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and abroad, where he lived for several years. He settled in New York City i...

Coos

(Encyclopedia)Coos kōˈŏs [key], in the New Testament, island in the Aegean Sea, the present-day Kós. ...

harvest customs

(Encyclopedia)harvest customs, practices associated with the celebration of the gathering of agricultural crops. The gathering of the harvest—the climax of the year's labors wherever the soil is cultivated—has ...

Crespi, Juan

(Encyclopedia)Crespi, Juan krāsˈpē [key], 1721–82, Spanish explorer in the Southwest, a Franciscan. He came to America in 1749, and in 1767 he went to the peninsula of California in charge of Mission Purísim...