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Scilly Islands

(Encyclopedia)Scilly Islands sĭlˈē [key], officially Isles of Scilly, archipelago and unitary authority (2001 pop. 2,153), encompassing more than 150 isles and rocky islets, off Cornwall, SW England, 28 mi (45 k...

Shelley, Percy Bysshe

(Encyclopedia)Shelley, Percy Bysshe bĭsh [key], 1792–1822, English poet, b. Horsham, Sussex. He is ranked as one of the great English poets of the romantic period. Most of Shelley's poetry reveals his philos...

Tsien, Roger Yonchien

(Encyclopedia)Tsien, Roger Yonchien, 1952–2016, American biochemist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1977. Tsien was a researcher at Cambridge (1977–81) and a professor at the Univ. of California, Berkeley (...

Eddington, Sir Arthur Stanley

(Encyclopedia)Eddington, Sir Arthur Stanley, 1882–1944, British astronomer and physicist. He was chief assistant (1906–13) at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, and was from 1913 Plumian professor of astronomy a...

taboo

(Encyclopedia)taboo or tabu both: tăbo͞oˈ, tə– [key], prohibition of an act or the use of an object or word under pain of punishment. Originally a Polynesian word, taboo can apply to the sacred or consecrated...

Leith

(Encyclopedia)Leith lēth [key], former town, Edinburgh, SE Scotland, on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. It was incorporated into Edinburgh in 1920. As a strategically located port, Leith was the object of c...

Reutlingen

(Encyclopedia)Reutlingen roitˈlĭng-ən [key], city (1994 pop. 107,607), Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany. Manufactures include textiles, paper, leather goods, iron, and machinery. Reutlingen was a free imperial cit...

Victoria, empress of Germany

(Encyclopedia)Victoria (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa), 1840–1901, empress of Germany, daughter of Victoria of England. In 1858 she married the German crown prince (later Emperor Frederick III). After her husband...

Collier, Jeremy

(Encyclopedia)Collier, Jeremy, 1650–1726, English clergyman. Collier was imprisoned as one of the nonjurors, who refused to pledge allegiance to William III and Mary II. He later was outlawed (1696) for absolving...

crèche

(Encyclopedia)crèche krĕsh, krāsh [key], representation of the Infant Jesus in the manger, usually surrounded by figures of Mary, Joseph, shepherds, animals, and the Wise Men; also called Christmas Crib. The cr�...