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felt

(Encyclopedia)felt, fabric made by matting or felting together wool, hair, or fur, most of which have a natural tendency to snarl or cling together owing to their notched or scaly surfaces. Processes of manufacture...

ephors

(Encyclopedia)ephors ĕfˈərz [key] [Gr.,=overseers], in ancient Greece, magistrates in several Dorian states. In Sparta they comprised an executive, legislative, and judicial board of five Spartan citizens. This ...

Epirus, despotate of

(Encyclopedia)Epirus, despotate of. When, in 1204, the army of the Fourth Crusade set up the Latin Empire of Constantinople on the ruins of the Byzantine Empire, an independent Greek state emerged in Epirus under M...

Valerian, Roman emperor

(Encyclopedia)Valerian (Publius Licinius Valerianus) vəlērˈēən [key], d. after 260, Roman emperor (253–60). He held important posts, both civil and military, under the emperors Decius and Gallus. After the s...

poison hemlock

(Encyclopedia)poison hemlock, lethally poisonous herbaceous plant (Conium maculatum) of the family Umbelliferae (parsley family). It has rank, finely divided foliage, flat-topped clusters of small white flowers, an...

portico

(Encyclopedia)portico pôrˈtĭkō [key], roofed space using columns or posts, generally included between a wall and a row of columns or between two rows of columns. In Greece the stoa was a portico of the first ty...

Papadopoulos, George

(Encyclopedia)Papadopoulos, George (Georgios Papadopoulos) päˌpədŏpˈəlĭs [key], 1919–99, Greek colonel and political leader. A career army officer, he was the strongman of the military junta that seized po...

Passarowitz, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Passarowitz, Treaty of päsäˈrōvĭts [key], 1718, peace treaty signed at Požarevac (Ger. Passarowitz), E Serbia. It was concluded between the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) on the one side and Austria an...

Hephaestus

(Encyclopedia)Hephaestus hĕfĕsˈtəs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, Olympian god. According to Homer he was the son of Hera and Zeus, but Hesiod states that he was conceived and borne by Hera alone. Orig...

Insull, Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Insull, Samuel ĭnˈsəl [key], 1859–1938, American public utilities financier, b. London. He arrived in the United States in 1881 and was employed by Thomas A. Edison as a private secretary. He lat...