(Encyclopedia) Gunpowder Plot, conspiracy to blow up the English Parliament and King James I on Nov. 5, 1605, the day set for the king to open Parliament. It was intended to be the beginning of a…
(Encyclopedia) Aymer of ValenceAymer of Valenceāˈmər, vəlĕnsˈ, väläNsˈ [key], d. 1260, bishop of Winchester; son of Isabella (widow of King John of England) and Hugh X, count of La Marche. He was…
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CE5
Precession of the equinoxes (the points at which the earth's celestial equator intersects its ecliptic) is due to the slow rotation of the earth's axis around a perpendicular to…
(Encyclopedia) air, law of the, in the broadest sense, all law connected with the use of the air, including radio and satellite transmissions; more commonly, it refers to laws concerning civil…
(Encyclopedia) Bel and the Dragon, customary name for chapter 14 of the Book of Daniel, a passage included in the Septuagint and the Apocrypha. It was written possibly in the 1st cent. b.c. as a…
(Encyclopedia) Roses, Wars of the, traditional name given to the intermittent struggle (1455–85) for the throne of England between the noble houses of York (whose badge was a white rose) and…
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CE5
Congo, Republic of the, republic (2015 est. pop. 4,996,000), 132,046 sq mi (342,000 sq km), W central Africa; also known as the Congo Republic. Congo is bordered on the west by…
(Encyclopedia) Acts of the Apostles, book of the New Testament. It is the only 1st-century account of the expansion of Christianity in its earliest period. It was written in Greek anonymously as…
(Encyclopedia) sea, law of the, international agreement regulating the use and exploitation of the world's oceans. The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) calls for limited, and strictly…
(Encyclopedia) Star-Spangled Banner, The, American national anthem, beginning, “O say can you see by the dawn's early light.” The words were written by Francis Scott Key, a young Washington attorney…