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Homo erectus

(Encyclopedia)Homo erectus hōˈmō ērĕkˈtəs [key], extinct hominin living between 1.6 million and 250,000 years ago, possibly as late as c.110,000 years ago. Homo erectus is thought to have evolved in Africa f...

Monet, Claude

(Encyclopedia)Monet, Claude klōd mônāˈ [key], 1840–1926, French landscape painter, b. Paris. Monet was a founder of impressionism. He adhered to its principles throughout his long career and is considered the...

Neptune, in astronomy

(Encyclopedia)Neptune, in astronomy, 8th planet from the sun at a mean distance of about 2.8 billion mi (4.5 billion km) with an orbit lying between those of Uranus and the dwarf planet Pluto; its period of revolut...

Palm Sunday

(Encyclopedia)Palm Sunday, in the Christian calendar, the Sunday before Easter, sixth and last Sunday in Lent, and the first day of Holy Week. It recalls the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem riding upon an ass, when h...

Telemann, Georg Philipp

(Encyclopedia)Telemann, Georg Philipp gāˈôrk fēˈlĭp tĕlˈəmän [key], 1681–1767, German composer. From 1721 until his death he was director of music for the five major churches in Hamburg. Extremely proli...

pyrotechnics

(Encyclopedia)pyrotechnics pīˌrōtĕkˈnĭks, pīˌrə– [key], technology of making and using fireworks. Gunpowder was used in fireworks by the Chinese as early as the 9th cent., and it was they who brought fir...

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...

Husein, Muslim leader

(Encyclopedia)Husein –sānˈ [key], c.626–680, Muslim leader, second son of Ali and Fatima (daughter of Muhammad). With the assassination of his father in 661 and the acquiescence of his brother Hasan, the cali...

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