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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...

atonement

(Encyclopedia)atonement, the reconciliation, or “at-one-ment,” of sinful humanity with God. In Judaism both the Bible and rabbinical thought reflect the belief that God's chosen people must be pure to remain in...

daylight saving time

(Encyclopedia)daylight saving time (DST), time observed when clocks and other timepieces are set ahead so that the sun will rise and set later in the day as measured by civil time. The amount of daylight on a given...

space medicine

(Encyclopedia)space medicine, study of the medical and biological effects of space travel on living organisms. The principal aim is to discover how well and for how long humans can withstand the extreme conditions ...

Tiw

(Encyclopedia)Tiw tür [key], ancient Germanic god. Originally a highly revered sky god, he was later worshiped as a god of war and of athletic events. He was identified with the Roman war god Mars, and among Germa...

Shrove Tuesday

(Encyclopedia)Shrove Tuesday, day before Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent). In the Latin countries it is the last day of the carnival, called by the French Mardi Gras. ...

Cambrian period

(Encyclopedia)Cambrian period [Lat. Cambria=Wales], first period of the Paleozoic geologic era (see Geologic Timescale, tablegeologic timescale, table) extending from approximately 570 to 505 million years ago. It ...

Normandy campaign

(Encyclopedia)Normandy campaign, June to Aug., 1944, in World War II. The Allied invasion of the European continent through Normandy began about 12:15 a.m. on June 6, 1944 (D-day). The plan, known as Operation Over...

Epiphany

(Encyclopedia)Epiphany ĭpĭfˈənē [key] [Gr.,=showing], a prime Christian feast, celebrated Jan. 6, called also Twelfth Day or Little Christmas. Its eve is Twelfth Night. It commemorates three events—the bapti...

White, Ellen Gould (Harmon)

(Encyclopedia)White, Ellen Gould (Harmon), 1827–1915, leader of the Seventh-day Adventists, b. Gorham, Maine. Converted at the age of 15 to the beliefs of the Adventists, she began to receive visions accepted as ...