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May Day

(Encyclopedia)May Day, first day of May. Its celebration probably originated in the spring fertility festivals of India and Egypt. The festival of the Roman goddess of spring, Flora, was celebrated from Apr. 28 to ...

Khambat

(Encyclopedia)Khambat kămbāˈ [key], town (1991 pop. 76,724), Gujarat state, W India, on the Mahi River estuary. Khambat is a trading center whose industries include textile weaving, carpet-making, petroleum, and...

Fukui

(Encyclopedia)Fukui fo͝oko͞oˈē, fo͝okˈo͞o-ē [key], city, capital of Fukui prefecture, centr...

Jacquard, Joseph Marie

(Encyclopedia)Jacquard, Joseph Marie zhôzĕfˈ märēˈ zhäkärˈ [key], 1752–1834, French inventor, whose loom is of the greatest importance in modern mechanical figure weaving. After several years of experime...

crepe

(Encyclopedia)crepe krāp [key], thin fabric of crinkled texture, woven originally in silk but now available in all major fibers. There are two kinds of crepe. The hard-finished, typically dyed black and used for m...

Rochdale

(Encyclopedia)Rochdale rŏchˈdāl [key], metropolitan borough (1991 pop. 97,282), NW England, located in the Manchester metropolitan area on the Roch River. The city's chief industry is the spinning and weaving of...

Sukkur

(Encyclopedia)Sukkur so͝okˈko͝or [key], city (1998 pop. 329,176), SE Pakistan, on the Indus River. It is an important commercial and industrial city and a center for trade with Afghanistan. Its industries produc...

Ado

(Encyclopedia)Ado äˈdō [key], city (1987 est. pop. 287,000), SW Nigeria. Located in a region where rice, corn, cassava, and yams are grown. Traditionally an important cotton-weaving town, Ado also manufactures b...

Bloomgarden, Solomon

(Encyclopedia)Bloomgarden or Blumengarten, Solomon, pseud. Yehoash yēhōˈäsh [key], 1870–1927, American writer in Yiddish, b. Lithuania. He emigrated to America in 1891 and, except for 10 years in Colorado (19...

Fortaleza

(Encyclopedia)Fortaleza fo͝ortəlĕˈzə [key], city, capital of Ceará state, NE Brazil, a port on the At...