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tallit

(Encyclopedia)tallit tälētˈ [key], in Judaism, four-cornered, fringed shawl worn by males during the morning prayers. It is donned before putting on the phylacteries, except on Yom Kippur when it is worn all thr...

Tiw

(Encyclopedia)Tiw tür [key], ancient Germanic god. Originally a highly revered sky god, he was later worshiped as a god of war and of athletic events. He was identified with the Roman war god Mars, and among Germa...

Shrove Tuesday

(Encyclopedia)Shrove Tuesday, day before Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent). In the Latin countries it is the last day of the carnival, called by the French Mardi Gras. ...

Normandy campaign

(Encyclopedia)Normandy campaign, June to Aug., 1944, in World War II. The Allied invasion of the European continent through Normandy began about 12:15 a.m. on June 6, 1944 (D-day). The plan, known as Operation Over...

Epiphany

(Encyclopedia)Epiphany ĭpĭfˈənē [key] [Gr.,=showing], a prime Christian feast, celebrated Jan. 6, called also Twelfth Day or Little Christmas. Its eve is Twelfth Night. It commemorates three events—the bapti...

White, Ellen Gould (Harmon)

(Encyclopedia)White, Ellen Gould (Harmon), 1827–1915, leader of the Seventh-day Adventists, b. Gorham, Maine. Converted at the age of 15 to the beliefs of the Adventists, she began to receive visions accepted as ...

sidereal time

(Encyclopedia)sidereal time (ST), time measured relative to the fixed stars; thus, the sidereal day is the period during which the earth completes one rotation on its axis so that some chosen star appears twice on ...

Swithin, Saint

(Encyclopedia)Swithin or Swithun, Saint both: swĭᵺˈən [key], fl. 860, English bishop of Winchester. He was buried, according to his wishes, outside his church, but his relics were later removed to the new cath...

Ash Wednesday

(Encyclopedia)Ash Wednesday, in the Western Church, the first day of Lent, being the seventh Wednesday before Easter. On this day ashes are placed on the foreheads of the faithful to remind them of death, of the so...

Pollock, Jackson

(Encyclopedia)Pollock, Jackson, 1912–56, American painter, b. Cody, Wyo. He studied (1929–31) in New York City, mainly under Thomas Hart Benton, but he was more strongly influenced by A. P. Ryder and the Mexica...