| | - Zutphen
- gemeente (municipality), east-central Netherlands, at the confluence of the IJssel and Berkel rivers. Founded in the 11th century as Zuidveen (meaning "southern peat bog"), it became the seat of a line of independent counts until it passed to the counts of Gelderland in 1190. It was fortified in 1312 and ...
- Zuwarah
- Mediterranean port, northwestern Libya. First mentioned in a Catalan sailing manual (1375) as Punta dar Zoyara, it later served as the western outpost of Italian-controlled Libya (1912-43), being the terminus of the now-defunct railway from Tripoli 65 mi (105 km) east. Its artificial harbour shelters a motorized fishing fleet. Cereals, ...
- Zvenigorod
- city, Moscow oblast (region), western Russia, located on the Moskva River, 33 miles (53 km) west of Moscow. Archaeological excavations (1943-45 and 1954-57) have revealed the existence of settlement there from the 12th and 13th centuries. The first written mention of Zvenigorod appeared in the 1339 will of Ivan Kalita, ...
- Zveno Group
- small political organization that briefly formed a dictatorial regime in Bulgaria (1934-35); the name Zveno refers to a link in a chain. Founded in 1930, the Zveno Group was led by Col. Kimon Georgiev and was composed primarily of radical civilians, who had become disillusioned with a government hampered by ...
- Zvishavane
- town, south-central Zimbabwe. Its name is derived from shavani, a Sindebele word meaning "finger millet," or "trading together." Surrounded by low hills, it is on direct rail links to Harare (formerly Salisbury) and Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and to Maputo in Mozambique. The adjacent asbestos mine is its major economic asset. ...
- Zwaardecroon, Hendrick
- governor-general (1718-25) of the Dutch East Indies who introduced the cultivation of export crops there.
- Zwangendaba
- African king (reigned c. 1815-48) who led his Jere people on a monumental migration of more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) that lasted more than 20 years. A leader of incomparable stature, he took his initially small group (later called the Ngoni) from its original home near modern Swaziland to ...
- Zweig, Arnold
- German writer best known for his novel Der Streit um den Sergeanten Grischa (1927; The Case of Sergeant Grischa).
- Zweig, Stefan
- Austrian writer who achieved distinction in several genres-poetry, essays, short stories, and dramas-most notably in his interpretations of imaginary and historical characters.
- Zwelitsha
- town, Eastern Cape province, South Africa. It was the provisional capital (1981-94) of the republic of Ciskei. The town is located directly south of King William's Town. It was established in 1946 as a residential area for employees of the nearby Da Gama textile factory owned by the Good Hope ...
- Zwickau
- city, Saxony Land (state), Germany. It lies on the Zwickauer Mulde River, at the entrance to the western Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge), south of Leipzig. Slavic in origin, it was mentioned in 1118 as a trading centre. It developed as a German imperial city between 1135 and 1145 and became a ...
- Zwicky, Fritz
- Swiss astronomer and physicist who made valuable contributions to the theory and understanding of supernovas (stars that for a short time are far brighter than normal).
- Zwilich, Ellen Taaffe
- American composer, the first woman to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize in composition.
- Zwinger
- historical landmark complex in Dresden, Ger., that contains a group of galleries and pavilions housing a variety of objects and artwork. It is considered one of the best examples of Baroque architecture.
- Zwingli, Huldrych
- the most important reformer in the Swiss Protestant Reformation and the only major reformer of the 16th century whose movement did not evolve into a church. Like Martin Luther, he accepted the supreme authority of the Scriptures, but he applied it more rigorously and comprehensively to all doctrines and practices.
- Zwischengoldglaser
- (German: "gold between glasses"), drinking glasses decorated with engraving in gold leaf laminated between two pieces of glass. The term is usually applied to beakers, goblets, and tumblers produced in Bohemia during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, but examples have been found in Roman catacombs of the 3rd ...
- Zwolle
- gemeente (municipality), north-central Netherlands, on the Zwarte Water (river). Chartered in 1230, it was a member of the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages and a stronghold until its ramparts were destroyed in 1674 during the Anglo-Dutch Wars. It is now a commercial centre and rail junction at the intersection ...
- Zworykin, Vladimir Kosma
- Russian-born American electronic engineer, inventor, and the father of modern television.
- Zybina, Galina
- Soviet shot-putter and javelin thrower who set eight consecutive world records in the shot put between 1952 and 1956 and won three Olympic medals.
- zydeco
- Form of dance music from southwestern Louisiana, U.S., with roots in French, African American, and Afro-Caribbean styles. Similar to the music of the Cajuns (displaced French Canadians who settled in Louisiana), zydeco was created by the Creoles (those of African heritage in Louisianan French culture). Its name is thought to ...
- Zygmund, Antoni
- Polish-born mathematician who exerted a major influence on 20th-century mathematics, particularly in harmonic analysis, a field utilized in science and technology for the formulation of descriptions of periodic phenomena such as waves, vibrations, and regularly repeating structures.
- zygomatic arch
- bridge of bone extending from the temporal bone at the side of the head around to the maxilla (upper jawbone) in front and including the zygomatic (cheek) bone as a major portion. The masseter muscle, important in chewing, arises from the lower edge of the arch; another major chewing muscle, ...
- zygomatic bone
- diamond-shaped bone below and lateral to the orbit, or eye socket, at the widest part of the cheek. It adjoins the frontal bone at the outer edge of the orbit and the sphenoid and maxilla within the orbit. It forms the central part of the zygomatic arch by its attachments ...
- Zygopetalum
- genus of about 15 species of tropical American orchids, family Orchidaceae, that are cultivated as ornamentals. All species grow on other plants and have egg-shaped pseudobulbs (swollen stems) that bear two or more long, thin leaves. The flowering spike is often 60 cm (24 inches) tall.
- Zygophyllales
- the creosote bush order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, consisting of 2 families (Zygophyllaceae and Krameriaceae), 27 genera, and about 300 species. Members are herbs or shrubs, rarely hemiparasites, and largely restricted to tropical or temperate arid or saline regions. The flowers are showy and possess oil or nectar glands for ...
- zygote
- fertilized egg cell that results from the union of a female gamete (egg, or ovum) with a male gamete (sperm). In the embryonic development of humans and other animals, the zygote stage is brief and is followed by cleavage, when the single cell becomes subdivided into smaller cells.
- zymogen
- any of a group of proteins that display no catalytic activity but are transformed within an organism into enzymes, especially those that catalyze reactions involving the breakdown of proteins. Trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen, zymogens secreted by the pancreas, are activated in the intestinal tract to trypsin and chymotrypsin. Activation is effected ...
- Zyryanovsk
- city, eastern Kazakhstan, on the Beryozovka River in the southern Altai Mountains. Zyryanovsk is an important centre of the lead- and zinc-mining industry, which first came into being when rich deposits of polymetallic ores were discovered there in 1794 by the exile Gerasim Zyryanov. The city is linked by rail ...
- Zyuganov, Gennady Andreyevich
- Russian politician who served as leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) in the 1990s, following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, and into the 21st century.
- Zywiec
- town, Slaskie wojewodztwo (province), south-central Poland, in the Carpathian Mountains on the Sola River near the border with Slovakia. It lies at the foot of Grojec Mountain, which has made it an important tourist centre. The town is also known for its large breweries.
- ZZ Top
- American rock group famous for its rugged blues-driven guitar work, irreverent music videos, and embrace of its Texas roots, as well as for the musicians' distinctive facial hair. ZZ Top was formed in the Houston area in 1969 when singer-guitarist Billy Gibbons (b. December 16, 1949, Houston, Texas, U.S., ), ...
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