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Halcyone
(Encyclopedia)Halcyone ăl– [key], in Greek mythology, daughter of Aeolus and wife of Ceyx. When her husband drowned, Halcyone threw herself into the sea. Out of pity the gods changed the pair into kingfishers or...New Year's Day
(Encyclopedia)New Year's Day, among ancient peoples the first day of the year frequently corresponded to the vernal or autumnal equinox, or to the summer or winter solstice. In the Middle Ages it was celebrated amo...day
(Encyclopedia)day, period of time for the earth to rotate once on its axis. The ordinary day, or solar day, is measured relative to the sun, being the time between successive passages of the sun over a stationary o...Hanukkah
(Encyclopedia)Hanukkah khäˈnəkə, –no͝okä [key], in Judaism, the Festival of Lights, the Feast of Consecration, or the Feast of the Maccabees; also transliterated Chanukah. According to tradition, it was ins...tropics
(Encyclopedia)tropics, also called tropical zone or torrid zone, all the land and water of the earth situated between the Tropic of Cancer at lat. 231⁄2°N and the Tropic of Capricorn at lat. 231⁄2°S. Every po...Gemini
(Encyclopedia)Gemini jĕmˈənī, –nē [key] [Lat.,=the twins], northern constellation lying on the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path through the heavens) between Taurus and Cancer, N of Canis Minor; it is one of...Stonehenge
(Encyclopedia)Stonehenge stōnˈhĕnjˌ [key], group of standing stones on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, S England. Preeminent among megalithic monuments in the British Isles, it is similar to an older and larger mon...Oates, Joyce Carol
(Encyclopedia)Oates, Joyce Carol, 1938–, American author, b. Lockport, N.Y., B.A. Syracuse Univ., 1960, M.A. Univ. of Wisconsin, 1961. She taught English at the Univ. of Detroit and the Univ. of Windsor, Ontario,...Christmas
(Encyclopedia)Christmas [Christ's Mass], in the Christian calendar, feast of the nativity of Jesus, celebrated in Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches on Dec. 25. In liturgical importance it ranks after Easter, P...calendar
(Encyclopedia)calendar [Lat., from Kalends], system of reckoning time for the practical purpose of recording past events and calculating dates for future plans. The calendar is based on noting ordinary and easily o...Browse by Subject
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