A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

0-9

Alain ... alb

Alain French philosopher whose work profoundly influenced several generations of readers. Alain de Lille theologian and poet so celebrated for his varied learning that he was known as "the universal doctor." Alain-Fournier French writer whose only completed novel, Le Grand Meaulnes (1913; The Wanderer, or The Lost Domain), is a modern classic. Alajuela city, northwestern Costa Rica. It lies in the Valle Central at an elevation of 3,141 feet (957 metres). Known in colonial days as Villahermosa, the town was active in support of independence from Spain in 1821; five years later it suffered from a plot to restore Spanish control over Costa ... Alakol, Lake salt lake in Kazakhstan, 110 miles (180 km) east of Lake Balqash, near the border with the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China. Lake Alakol has a drainage basin of about 26,500 square miles (68,700 square km), an area of 1,025 square miles, reaches a depth of about 148 feet ... Alalakh ancient Syrian city in the Orontes (Asi) valley, southern Turkey. Excavations (1936-49) by Sir Leonard Woolley uncovered numerous impressive buildings, including a massive structure known as the palace of Yarim-Lim, dating from c. 1780 BC, when Alalakh was the chief city of the district of Mukish and was incorporated within ... Alaman, Lucas politician and historian, the leader of Mexican conservatives for nearly 30 years and the spokesman for a strong, centralized government that would support industrialization, educational expansion, and agricultural modernization. Living during a corrupt and brutal period of Mexican politics, he stood out as an honest and honourable political figure. Alameda city, Alameda county, California, U.S. It lies on a 6.5-mile- (11-km-) long by 1-mile- (1.6-km-) wide island in San Francisco Bay, across the Oakland Harbor Channel from Oakland, with which it is connected by bridges and underground tunnels. The site was originally a peninsula that was part of Rancho San ... Alamein, El- coastal town in northwestern Egypt, about 60 miles (100 km) west of Alexandria, that was the site of two major battles between British and Axis forces in 1942 during World War II. El-Alamein is the seaward (northern) end of a 40-mile-wide bottleneck that is flanked on the south by the ... Alamgir II Mughal emperor of India who disgraced his reign (1754-59) by his weakness and his disregard for his subjects' welfare. Alamo 18th-century Franciscan mission in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., that was the site of a historic resistance effort by a small group of determined fighters for Texan independence (1836) from Mexico. Alamogordo city, seat (1899) of Otero county, southern New Mexico, U.S. It lies at the western base of the Sacramento Mountains and east of the Tularosa Basin. Founded by John A. and Charles B. Eddy in 1898 and named for its large cottonwood trees (Spanish: alamo "cottonwood," gordo "fat"), it became ... Alamosa city, seat (1913) of Alamosa county, southern Colorado, U.S. It lies along the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley, on the western flank of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Founded as Garland City near the site of a small encampment outside the gates of Fort Garland (1858), a cavalry ... Alanbrooke, Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount British field marshal and chief of the Imperial General Staff during World War II. Aland Islands archipelago constituting Aland (Ahvenanmaa) autonomous territory, southwestern Finland. The islands lie at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia, 25 miles (40 km) east of the Swedish coast, at the eastern edge of the Aland Sea. The archipelago has a land area of 599 square miles (1,551 square km) and ... Alani an ancient nomadic pastoral people that occupied the steppe region northeast of the Black Sea. The Alani were first mentioned in Roman literature in the 1st century AD and were described later as a warlike people that specialized in horse breeding. They frequently raided the Parthian empire and the Caucasian ... alanine either of two amino acids, one of which, L-alanine, or alpha-alanine (alpha-alanine), is a constituent of proteins. An especially rich source of L-alanine is silk fibroin, from which the amino acid was first isolated in 1879. Alanine is one of several so-called nonessential amino acids for birds and mammals; i.e., ... alapa in the art musics of South Asia, improvised melody structures that reveal the musical characteristics of a raga. Variant forms of the word-alap in northern Indian music and alapana in Karnatak music (where the term ragam improvisation is also used)-are often found. Alapayevsk city, Sverdlovsk oblast (province), west-central Russia, on the Neyva River. It is one of the oldest centres of the iron and steel industry in the Urals (an ironworks was established there in 1704). It also has machine-tool, timbering, and metalworking industries. Pop. (2006 est.) 42,920. Alappuzha city, southern Kerala state, southwestern India. It lies on a narrow land spit between the Arabian Sea and Vembanad Lake, south of Kochi (Cochin), and is on the main road between Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum). Alappuzha's port was opened to foreign trade by the British in the late 18th century ... Alarcon y Ariza, Pedro Antonio de writer remembered for his novel El sombrero de tres picos (1874; The Three-Cornered Hat). Alarcos, Battle of (July 18, 1195), celebrated Almohad victory in Muslim Spain over the forces of King Alfonso VIII of Castile. In 1190 the Almohad caliph Abu Yusuf Ya'qub forced an armistice on the Christian kings of Castile and Leon, after repulsing their attacks on Muslim possessions in Spain. At the expiration of ... Alaric chief of the Visigoths from 395 and leader of the army that sacked Rome in August 410, an event that symbolized the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Alaric II king of the Visigoths, who succeeded his father Euric on Dec. 28, 484. He was married to Theodegotha, daughter of Theodoric, the Ostrogothic king of Italy. alarm signal in zoology, a ritualized means of communicating a danger or threat among the members of an animal group. In many cases the signal is visual or vocal, but some animals-ants, bees, and certain fishes, for example-secrete chemical substances. Alarm communications frequently cross species boundaries. The hawking alarm calls of many ... Alas, Leopoldo novelist, journalist, and the most influential literary critic in late 19th-century Spain. His biting and often-bellicose articles, sometimes called paliques ("chitchat"), and his advocacy of liberalism, anticlericalism, and literary naturalism not only made him Spain's most feared critical voice but also created many enemies who later obscured his fame. Alasehir town, western Turkey. It lies in the Kuzu River valley, at the foot of the Boz Mountain. Founded about 150 BC by a king of Pergamum, it became an important town of the Byzantine Empire. It was not taken by the Ottomans until after all other cities of Asia Minor ... Alaska constituent state of the United States of America. It was admitted to the union as the 49th state on January 3, 1959. Alaska lies at the extreme northwest of the North American continent and is the largest peninsula in the Western Hemisphere. (Because the 180th meridian passes through the state's ... Alaska blackfish (species Dallia pectoralis), Arctic freshwater fish, assigned by most authorities to the family Umbridae but by others to the separate family Dalliidae. The fish is about 20 cm (8 inches) long, with a dark, streamlined body, protruding lower jaw, and two large opposed fins near the tail. Locally important as ... Alaska Current surface oceanic current, a branch of the West Wind Drift that forms a counterclockwise gyre in the Gulf of Alaska. In contrast to typical sub-Arctic Pacific water, Alaska Current water is characterized by temperatures above 39 F (4 C) and surface salinities below 32.6 parts per thousand. Alaska earthquake of 1964 earthquake that occurred in south-central Alaska on March 27, 1964, with a Richter scale magnitude of 9.2. It released at least twice as much energy as the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 and was felt on land over an area of almost 502,000 square miles (1,300,000 square km). The death ... Alaska Highway road (1,523 miles [2,451 km] long) through the Yukon, connecting Dawson Creek, B.C., with Fairbanks, Alaska. It was previously called the Alaskan International Highway, the Alaska Military Highway, and the Alcan (Alaska-Canadian) Highway. It was constructed by U.S. Army engineers (March-November 1942) at a cost of $135 million as an ... Alaska Peninsula stretch of land extending southwest from mainland Alaska, U.S. It spreads for 500 miles (800 km) between the Pacific Ocean (southeast) and Bristol Bay, an arm of the Bering Sea. The volcanic Aleutian Range runs along its entire length; the majestic Pavlof Volcano, near the peninsula's southwestern edge, rises to ... Alaska Purchase (1867), acquisition by the United States from Russia of 586,412 square miles (1,518,800 square km) of land at the northwestern tip of the North American continent, comprising the current U.S. state of Alaska. Alaska Range segment of the Pacific mountain system that extends generally northward and eastward in an arc for about 400 miles (650 km) from the Aleutian Range to the Yukon boundary in southern Alaska, U.S. Mount McKinley, which reaches an elevation of 20,320 feet (6,194 metres), near the centre of the range, ... Alaska, flag of U.S. state flag consisting of a dark blue field (background) showing Polaris (the North Star) and the Ursa Major (Great Bear) constellation in gold or yellow. Alaska, Gulf of broad inlet of the North Pacific on the south coast of Alaska, U.S. Bounded by the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island (west) and Cape Spencer (east), it has a surface area of 592,000 square miles (1,533,000 square km). The coast is deeply indented by fjords and other inlets, including Cook ... Alaska, University of system of public land-, sea-, and space-grant universities in Alaska, U.S., with campuses (regional university centres) in Fairbanks (main campus), Anchorage, and Juneau (known as the University of Alaska Southeast). The university traces its origins to 1917, two years after the U.S. Congress set aside land for the creation of ... Alaskan Malamute sled dog developed by the Malemiut, an Eskimo (Inupiat) group from which it takes its name. The Alaskan Malamute is a strongly built dog, with a broad head, erect ears, and a plumelike tail carried over its back. Its thick coat is usually gray and white or black and white, ... Alaskan mountains three principal mountain groups-the Brooks Range, Alaska Range, and Aleutian Range-found in Alaska. Alastor any of certain avenging deities or spirits, especially in Greek antiquity. The term is associated with Nemesis, the goddess of divine retribution who signified the gods' disapproval of human presumption. Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem Alastor; or, The Spirit of Solitude (1816) was a visionary work in which he warned idealists ... Alatri town, Lazio (Latium) regione, central Italy. It lies in the Cosa River valley, at 1,647 feet (502 m) above sea level, just north of Frosinone city. Said to have been founded in 1830 BC as Alatrium (mentioned by the Greek geographer Strabo), it belonged to the confederation of the Hernici, ... Alauddin sultan of the Malay kingdom of Johor (Johore) from 1528. He is sometimes considered the cofounder of the kingdom with his father, Mahmud Shah, the last sultan of Melaka (Malacca), who established Johor on the island of Bintan (southeast of Singapore) in 1512-13. Sometime after his father's death (1528), Sultan ... Alaungpaya king (1752-60) who unified Myanmar (Burma) and founded the Alaungpaya, or Konbaung, dynasty, which held power until the British annexed Upper (northern) Burma on Jan. 1, 1886. He also conquered the independent Mon kingdom of Pegu (in the Irrawaddy River delta). Alaungpaya Dynasty the last ruling dynasty (1752-1885) of Myanmar (Burma). The dynasty's collapse in the face of British imperial might marked the end of Myanmar sovereignty for more than 60 years. (Some authorities limit the name Konbaung dynasty to the period beginning with King Bodawpaya in 1782 and continuing to 1885.) The ... Alava provincia, northern Spain. Alava is the southernmost of the three Basque Country provincias of northern Spain and is located mainly on the southern slope of the Pyrenees Range. It is bounded by the Ebro River (southwest) and surrounds the enclaves of Trevino and Orduna belonging to Burgos and Vizcaya provincias, ... Alava y Esquivel, Miguel Ricardo de soldier in the Napoleonic Wars and statesman. Alava was an aide-de-camp to the duke of Wellington and the Spanish commissary at the duke's headquarters during the Peninsular War. On the restoration of Ferdinand VII to the throne of Spain, he lost favour because of his liberal ideas but was appointed ... Alavi, Bozorg one of the leading prose writers of 20th-century Persian literature. Alawite any member of a minority sect of Shi'ite Muslims living chiefly in Syria. alaya-vijnana key concept of the Vijnanavada ("Consciousness-affirming") or Yogachara school of Mahayana Buddhism. Since that school maintains that no external reality exists, while retaining the position that knowledge, and therefore a knowable, exists, it assumes that knowledge itself is the object of consciousness. It therefore postulates a higher storage consciousness, the ... alb liturgical vestment worn in some services by Roman Catholic officiants, some Anglicans, and some Lutherans. A symbol of purity, it is a full-length, long-sleeved, usually white linen tunic secured at the waist by a cord or belt called a cincture. The equivalent vestment in the Eastern churches is the sticharion.