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rosary

(Encyclopedia)rosary [rose garden], prayer of Roman Catholics, in which beads are used as counters. The term, applied also to the beads, is extended to Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist prayers that use beads. The tradit...

Helios

(Encyclopedia)Helios hēˈlēŏs [key] [Gr.,=sun], in Greek religion and mythology, the sun god, son of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. Each morning he left a palace in the east and crossed the sky in a golden chari...

Ghost Dance

(Encyclopedia)Ghost Dance, central ritual of the messianic religion instituted in the late 19th cent. by a Paiute named Wovoka. The religion prophesied the peaceful end of the westward expansion of whites and a ret...

Robinson, Boardman

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Boardman, 1876–1952, American painter, illustrator, and cartoonist, b. Somerset, N.S., studied at the Massachusetts School of Art, Boston, and in Paris. After four years of painting in San...

sky

(Encyclopedia)sky, apparent dome over the earth, background of the clouds, sun, moon, and stars. The blue color of the clear daytime sky results from the selective scattering of light rays by the minute particles o...

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...

Piazzetta, Giovanni Batista

(Encyclopedia)Piazzetta, Giovanni Batista jōvänˈnē bätēsˈtä pēätsĕtˈtä [key], 1682–1754, Italian painter. An exponent of the Venetian school, Piazzetta combined soft colors with a dramatic, chiaroscu...

Nicolson, Marjorie Hope

(Encyclopedia)Nicolson, Marjorie Hope, 1894–1981, American educator, b. Yonkers, N.Y., grad. Univ. of Michigan (B.A., 1914; M.A., 1918) and Yale (Ph.D., 1920). She was dean and professor at Smith from 1929 to 194...

Vreeland, Diana

(Encyclopedia)Vreeland, Diana, 1906–89, American fashion editor and consultant, b. Paris as Diana Dalziel. In 1937, she joined Harper's Bazaar, becoming fashion editor in 1939. In 1963, she moved to Vogue magazin...

Catton, Bruce

(Encyclopedia)Catton, Bruce, 1899–1978, American historian, b. Petoskey, Mich. He studied at Oberlin College and then entered upon a varied career as a journalist (1926–42) and public official (1942–52). His ...