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gypsy moth

(Encyclopedia)gypsy moth, common name for a moth, Lymantria dispar, of the tussock moth family, native to Europe and Asia. Its caterpillars, or larvae, defoliate deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. Introduced...

Galicia, autonomous community, Spain

(Encyclopedia)Galicia gəlēˈshə, –shēə; Span., gälēˈthēä [key], autonomous community, 1...

Olivier, Laurence Kerr, Baron Olivier of Brighton

(Encyclopedia)Olivier, Laurence Kerr, Baron Olivier of Brighton ōlĭvˈē-āˌ [key], 1907–89, English actor, director, and producer. He made his stage debut at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1922 and soon achieved reno...

African music

(Encyclopedia)African music, the music of the indigenous peoples of Africa. Sub-Saharan African music has as its distinguishing feature a rhythmic complexity common to no other region. Polyrhythmic counterpoint, wh...

aerodynamics

(Encyclopedia)aerodynamics, study of gases in motion. As the principal application of aerodynamics is the design of aircraft, air is the gas with which the science is most concerned. Although aerodynamics is primar...

milling

(Encyclopedia)milling, mechanical grinding of wheat or other grains to produce flour. Milling separates the fine, mealy parts of grain from the fibrous bran covering. In prehistoric times grain was crushed between ...

Kiarostami, Abbas

(Encyclopedia)Kiarostami, Abbas ăbôˈsā kēyôˈrōmămēˌ [key], 1940–2016, Iranian filmmaker. Widely acclaimed as Iran's greatest film director, he typically explores the lives of ordinary Iranians in his f...

musical instruments

(Encyclopedia)musical instruments are classified in various ways, but the system devised in 1914 by Kurt Sachs and E. M. von Hornbostel has been accorded recognition by both anthropologists and musicologists becaus...

French Revolutionary calendar

(Encyclopedia)French Revolutionary calendar, the official calendar of France, Nov. 24, 1793–Dec. 31, 1805. Its introduction was decreed by the Convention on Oct. 5, 1793, but it was computed from Sept. 22, 1792, ...

Douglas-Home, Alexander Frederick, Baron Home of the Hirsel

(Encyclopedia)Douglas-Home, Alexander Frederick, Baron Home of the Hirsel dŭgˈləs-hyo͞om [key], 1903–95, British politician. Educated at Eton and Oxford, he was elected to the House of Commons in 1931 as a Co...