Basellaceae: Madeira-vine, or mignonette-vine (Anredera cordifolia or Boussingaultia baselloides), and Malabar nightshade (several species of Basella) are cultivated as ornamentals. Malabar spinach (Basella alba) is a hot-weather substitute for spinach.

Hinduism: Ethical and social doctrines: …one could be guilty of anrita—i.e., infidelity to fact, or departure from what is true and real or from what constitutes the established order—whether or not one had deliberately committed a crime. Other transgressions included making mistakes in sacrifices and coming into contact with corpses, ritually impure persons, or persons…

autonomic nervous system, in vertebrates, the part of the nervous system that controls and regulates the internal organs without any conscious recognition or effort by the organism. The autonomic nervous system comprises two antagonistic sets of nerves, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous

news agency: A few, like the Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata of Italy, have expanded coverage abroad in a limited degree to supplement their domestic service but still depend on Reuters and Agence France-Presse for much of their foreign news. Germany since 1949 has built Deutsche-Presse Agentur into one of the more…

Akwamu: …1681 under their king (Akwamuhene), Ansa Sasraku. They also extended their influence over the state of Ladoku in the east (1679) and, under Ansa’s successor, over the Fante state of Agona in the west (1689). In 1702 they crossed the Volta River to occupy Whydah, a coastal state of Dahomey…

Igor Moiseyev: …festival, he founded (1937) the State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble, which featured 35 dancers, principally amateurs, and dances from the 11 republics then forming the U.S.S.R. Subsequently he built a company of about 100 professional dancers trained by either the Bolshoi Theatre School or its National Dance Department, which Moiseyev…

Mahdist, (Arabic: “Helper”), follower of al-Mahdī (Muḥammad Aḥmad ibn al-Sayyid ʿAbd Allāh) or of his successor or descendants. Ansar is an old term applied to some of the companions of the prophet Muḥammad; it was revived for the followers and descendants of al-Mahdī, the Sudanese who in the late

Rashidun: …large and influential body of anṣār (companions of the Prophet) kept close watch on the caliphs to ensure their strict adherence to divine revelation (the Qurʾān) and the Sunnah. The Rashidun thus assumed all of Muhammad’s duties except the prophetic: as imams, they led the congregation in prayer at the…

2012 Benghazi attacks: Reactions and investigation: …act by the al-Qaeda-affiliated group Ansar al-Sharia. Several investigations into the incident faulted insufficient bureaucratic measures responsible for the failure to prevent and respond properly to the attacks. As the 2012 U.S. presidential election loomed, outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton assumed responsibility for the bureaucratic failures as head of…

ʿAlawite, any member of a minority sect of Shīʿite Muslims living chiefly in Syria. The roots of ʿAlawism lie in the teachings of Muḥammad ibn Nuṣayr an-Namīrī (fl. 850), a Basran contemporary of the 10th Shīʿite imam, and the sect was chiefly established by Ḥusayn ibn Ḥamdān al-Khaṣībī (d. 957 or

Anousheh Ansari: …was used to fund the Ansari X Prize, a cash award of $10 million for the first private company to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into space twice within two weeks. In 2004 the aerospace development company Scaled Composites of Mojave, California, won the Ansari X Prize with SpaceShipOne, a…

North Africa: From the Arab conquest to 1830: …was initiated by ʿUqbah’s successor, Abū al-Muhājir Dīnār al-Anṣārī, the Arabs had to fight semisettled Berber communities that had developed some tradition of centralized political authority. In the course of his campaign, Abū al-Muhājir Dīnār prevailed on the Berber “king” Kusaylah to become Muslim. From his base in Tlemcen, Kusaylah…

Anousheh Ansari is an Iranian-born American businesswoman who was the first female space tourist, the first person of Iranian descent, and the first Muslim woman to go into space. Ansari emigrated from Iran to the United States in 1984 as a teenager. She earned a bachelor’s degree in electronics

Spike Jonze: …directed the televised comedy performance Aziz Ansari: Right Now (2019), and in 2020 he helmed the documentary Beastie Boys Story.

Islamic arts: The mystical poem: Khwajah ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī of Herāt (died 1088), a prolific writer on religious topics in both Arabic and Persian, first popularized the literary “prayer,” or mystical contemplation, written in Persian in rhyming prose interspersed with verses. Sanāʾī (died 1131?), at one time a court poet…

Mohammad Hamid Ansari is an Indian diplomat, politician, educator, and writer who served as vice president of India (2007–17). Ansari, who was born to a wealthy Muslim family, completed B.A. and M.A. degrees in political science from Aligarh Muslim University in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. In 1961 he

Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari was an Indian physician and nationalist who was a member of the Foundation Committee of Jamia Millia Islamia, a prominent Islamic university established in 1920 in Delhi. The institution’s formation, in which Ansari was heavily involved, was based on nationalist rejection of

ʿAlawite, any member of a minority sect of Shīʿite Muslims living chiefly in Syria. The roots of ʿAlawism lie in the teachings of Muḥammad ibn Nuṣayr an-Namīrī (fl. 850), a Basran contemporary of the 10th Shīʿite imam, and the sect was chiefly established by Ḥusayn ibn Ḥamdān al-Khaṣībī (d. 957 or

Syria: Relief: The Al-Anṣariyyah mountain range borders the coastal plain and runs from north to south. The mountains have an average width of 20 miles (32 km), and their average height declines from 3,000 feet (900 metres) in the north to 2,000 feet in the south. Their highest…

Ansbach, city, Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany. It lies on the Rezat River, southwest of Nürnberg. Ansbach originated around the Benedictine monastery of Onolzbach (founded 748) and was sold to a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern line (later margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth) in

Saint Ansgar ; canonized 865; feast day February 3) was a missionary of medieval Europe, the first archbishop of Hamburg, and the patron saint of Scandinavia. Of noble birth, Ansgar entered the Benedictine abbey of Corbie in Picardy, where he was educated. After 823 he taught in the monastic school

Rudolf Otto: Scholarly pursuits.: …reflected in his first book, Die Anschauung vom heiligen Geiste bei Luther (1898; “The Perception of the Holy Spirit by Luther”). He was to expand his inquiry in his book, Naturalistische und religiöse Weltansicht (1904; Naturalism and Religion, 1907), in which he contrasted the naturalistic and the religious ways of…

Anschluss, political union of Austria with Germany, achieved through annexation by Adolf Hitler in 1938. Mooted in 1919 by Austria, Anschluss with Germany remained a hope (chiefly with Austrian Social Democrats) during 1919–33, after which Hitler’s rise to power made it less attractive. In July

gyroscope: Mechanical gyroscopes: … was developed by German inventor H. Anschütz-Kaempfe for use in a submersible. In 1909 American inventor Elmer A. Sperry built the first automatic pilot using a gyroscope to maintain an aircraft on course. The first automatic pilot for ships was installed in a Danish passenger ship by a German company…

motion-picture technology: Introduction of colour: In 1936 Germany produced Agfacolor, a single-strip, three-layer negative film and accompanying print stock. After World War II Agfacolor appeared as Sovcolor in the Eastern bloc and as Anscocolor in the United States, where it was initially used for amateur filmmaking. The first serious rival to Technicolor was the…

Eritrea: Drainage: …are the Baraka and the Anseba. Both of these rivers flow northward into a marshy area on the eastern coast of Sudan and do not reach the Red Sea. Several seasonal streams that flow eastward from the plateau reach the sea on the Eritrean coast.

Ansel Adams (1902–84) was the most important landscape photographer of the 20th century and perhaps America’s most beloved. He was also a Britannica contributor, authoring the following excerpt from his entry “Photographic Art” for Britannica’s four-volume set 10 Eventful Years: A Record of Events

Roncesvalles: …seneschal Eggihard, the count palatine Anselm, and Roland, prefect of the March of Brittany. The battle forms the basis of the legend of the hero Roland recounted in the epics La Chanson de Roland and Roncesvalles.

Alexander II was the pope from 1061 to 1073. At Bec in Normandy he studied under the Benedictine scholar Lanfranc, who later became archbishop of Canterbury. As bishop of Lucca, Anselm worked for the abolition of simony and the enforcement of clerical celibacy. His election as Pope Alexander II was

St. Anselm of Canterbury ; feast day April 21) was an Italian-born theologian and philosopher, known as the father of Scholasticism, a philosophical school of thought that dominated the Middle Ages. He was recognized in modern times as the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of

Anselm Of Laon was a theologian who became eminent in early Scholasticism. Anselm apparently studied at Bec, Fr., under St. Anselm of Canterbury. In the final quarter of the 11th century, he taught with distinction at Paris, where with William of Champeaux he supported realism. About 1100 he

Alexander II was the pope from 1061 to 1073. At Bec in Normandy he studied under the Benedictine scholar Lanfranc, who later became archbishop of Canterbury. As bishop of Lucca, Anselm worked for the abolition of simony and the enforcement of clerical celibacy. His election as Pope Alexander II was

Anselm Of Saint Mary was a genealogist and friar whose history of the French royal family and nobility is a valuable source of detailed and unusual information. Anselm entered the order of the Discalced Hermits of St. Augustine in 1644 and, remaining in their monastery (Couvent des Petits Pères),

Anselm Of Saint Mary was a genealogist and friar whose history of the French royal family and nobility is a valuable source of detailed and unusual information. Anselm entered the order of the Discalced Hermits of St. Augustine in 1644 and, remaining in their monastery (Couvent des Petits Pères),

Anselm Of Laon was a theologian who became eminent in early Scholasticism. Anselm apparently studied at Bec, Fr., under St. Anselm of Canterbury. In the final quarter of the 11th century, he taught with distinction at Paris, where with William of Champeaux he supported realism. About 1100 he

Anselm Of Saint Mary was a genealogist and friar whose history of the French royal family and nobility is a valuable source of detailed and unusual information. Anselm entered the order of the Discalced Hermits of St. Augustine in 1644 and, remaining in their monastery (Couvent des Petits Pères),

Baptiste was one of the leading actors of sentimental comedy (comédie larmoyante) in France. After two provincial engagements, Baptiste went to Paris in 1791. In 1793 he joined the Théâtre de la République and in 1799 the Comédie-Française, from which he retired in 1828. He was not successful in

Baptiste: …was survived by his brother Paul-Eustache Anselme, called Baptiste the Younger, who had made a name for himself as a comedian.

Anselm Of Saint Mary was a genealogist and friar whose history of the French royal family and nobility is a valuable source of detailed and unusual information. Anselm entered the order of the Discalced Hermits of St. Augustine in 1644 and, remaining in their monastery (Couvent des Petits Pères),

Alexander II was the pope from 1061 to 1073. At Bec in Normandy he studied under the Benedictine scholar Lanfranc, who later became archbishop of Canterbury. As bishop of Lucca, Anselm worked for the abolition of simony and the enforcement of clerical celibacy. His election as Pope Alexander II was

Alexander II was the pope from 1061 to 1073. At Bec in Normandy he studied under the Benedictine scholar Lanfranc, who later became archbishop of Canterbury. As bishop of Lucca, Anselm worked for the abolition of simony and the enforcement of clerical celibacy. His election as Pope Alexander II was

Anser, bird genus of the family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). For a general discussion of the genus, see goose; for A. Albifrons, see white-fronted goose; for A. anser, see greylag; for A. caerulescens, see snow

white-fronted goose, (species Anser albifrons), rather small, dark-bodied goose with white forehead, yellow bill, and irregular black patches on the belly; it is classified in the tribe Anserini of the family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). Breeding in the Arctic, the white-fronted goose, which

white-fronted goose: The European white-fronted goose (Anser a. albifrons) winters in western Europe, the British Isles, and Central Asia. The largest form, the tule goose (A. a. gambelli), winters only in the Sacramento Valley, California.

white-fronted goose: The largest form, the tule goose (A. a. gambelli), winters only in the Sacramento Valley, California.

greylag, (Anser anser), most common Eurasian representative of the so-called gray goose and ancestor of all Occidental domestic geese. It belongs to the subfamily Anserinae, family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). It nests in temperate regions and winters from Britain to North Africa, India, and

snow goose, (Chen caerulescens), a species of North American goose that may be either white or dark with black wingtips and pink legs and a bill with black gape (“grin”), belonging to the family Anatidae (order Anseriformes). Two subspecies are recognized. The lesser snow goose (Chen caerulescens

goose: …of northern Eurasia, and the swan goose (A. cygnoides), a wild goose from eastern Asia. Unlike its monogamous wild cousins, domestic geese are polygamous and thus more productive for commercial uses. The largest and most-popular domestic meat goose is the Toulouse. A by-product of goose-meat production especially important in Europe…

anseriform: Locomotion: …metres (10,000 feet), and the barheaded goose (Anser indicus), breeding in Tibet and wintering in India, must fly at 6,000 metres (20,000 feet) to get through the Himalayan passes.

magpie goose, (Anseranas semipalmata), large unusual waterfowl of Australia and Papua New Guinea. Although classified by many ornithologists as the sole member of the subfamily Anseranatinae in family Anatidae (ducks, geese, and swans), it may merit recognition as a separate family in order

Anatidae: Classification: Anatidae Subfamily Anseranatinae Tribe Anseranatini (magpie goose) Subfamily Anserinae Tribe Dendrocygnini (whistling duck or tree duck) Tribe Anserini

anseriform, any of more than 160 species constituting the bird order Anseriformes, which comprises the ducks, geese, and swans (family Anatidae) and the screamers (the three species of family Anhimidae). Anatidae comprises about 147 species of medium to large birds, usually associated with

anseriform, any of more than 160 species constituting the bird order Anseriformes, which comprises the ducks, geese, and swans (family Anatidae) and the screamers (the three species of family Anhimidae). Anatidae comprises about 147 species of medium to large birds, usually associated with

Anatidae: Classification: goose) Subfamily Anserinae Tribe Dendrocygnini (whistling duck or tree duck) Tribe Anserini (goose; swan) Tribe Stictonettini (proposed) (freckled duck)

Ernest Ansermet was a Swiss conductor known for his authoritative interpretations of the works of 20th-century French and Russian composers and for his keen intellectual approach to problems of contemporary musical aesthetics. Ansermet studied at Lausanne and from 1906 to 1910 taught mathematics

Ansett Transport Industries Limited, former Australian conglomerate founded in 1936 (as Ansett Airways Proprietary Ltd.) by Reginald Ansett. It ceased operations in 2001. Ansett (Sir Reginald since 1969) began in 1931 with a motorcar passenger service in the Western District of the state of

Ansett Transport Industries Limited, former Australian conglomerate founded in 1936 (as Ansett Airways Proprietary Ltd.) by Reginald Ansett. It ceased operations in 2001. Ansett (Sir Reginald since 1969) began in 1931 with a motorcar passenger service in the Western District of the state of

Sir Reginald Myles Ansett was an Australian pilot and businessman who started his own airline and subsidiary services. Ansett was educated at Swinburne Technical College (now Swinburne University), Victoria, and, starting with one £A50 car, built up a taxi fleet in western Victoria. He also learned

Saint Ansgar ; canonized 865; feast day February 3) was a missionary of medieval Europe, the first archbishop of Hamburg, and the patron saint of Scandinavia. Of noble birth, Ansgar entered the Benedictine abbey of Corbie in Picardy, where he was educated. After 823 he taught in the monastic school

Anshan, city and territory of ancient Elam, north of modern Shīrāz, southwestern Iran. The city’s ruins, covering 350 acres, have yielded major archaeological finds, including examples of early Elamite writing. Anshan came to prominence about 2350 bc as an enemy of the Mesopotamian dynasty of

Anshan, city, central Liaoning sheng (province), China. It lies about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Shenyang (Mukden). Originally a post station on the road from northern China to Liaoyang in the Northeast, Anshan was made a town in 1379 and fortified as part of the defenses set up by the Ming

Anshar and Kishar, in Mesopotamian mythology, the male and female principles, the twin horizons of sky and earth. Their parents were either Apsu (the watery deep beneath the earth) and Tiamat (the personification of salt water) or Lahmu and Lahamu, the first set of twins born to Apsu and Tiamat.

Kneset ha-Gedola, (“Men of the Great Assembly”), assembly of Jewish religious leaders who, after returning (539 bc) to their homeland from the Babylonian Exile, initiated a new era in the history of Judaism. The assembly dates from the Persian period, of which very little factual history is known.

Anshun, city, west central Guizhou sheng (province), China. Anshun, a county-level municipality, is located along the strategic passage to Yunnan province to the west and has long been an important thoroughfare between Yunnan and Guizhou. Anshun, called Yelang state during the period of the Warring

drafting: Standards: …in the United States the American National Standards Institute and its predecessors have encouraged this process and published standards for projections, various types of sections, dimensioning and tolerancing, representation of screw threads, all types of fasteners, graphic symbols for various specialties, and a great deal more. In other industrialized nations,…

C, computer programming language developed in the early 1970s by American computer scientist Dennis M. Ritchie at Bell Laboratories (formerly AT&T Bell Laboratories). C was designed as a minimalist language to be used in writing operating systems for minicomputers, such as the DEC PDP 7, which had

The Clown, novel by Heinrich Böll, published in 1963 as Ansichten eines Clowns. Set in West Germany during the period of recovery following World War II, the novel examines the hypocrisy of contemporary German society in repressing memory of the historical past in order to concentrate on material

Liv Ullmann: …included Ansikte mot ansikte (1976; Face to Face), for which Ullmann received an Academy Award nomination, and the TV movie Saraband (2003). Ullmann also garnered an Oscar nod for her performance in the historical drama Utvandrarna (1971; The Emigrants), which was directed by Jan Troell.

Estonia: Independence restored: …Reform Party and Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, the government responded to the challenges of the European financial crisis with an austerity program that kept the country’s economy strong enough for Estonia to join the euro zone in 2011. Ansip, his personal popularity slipping, stepped down in February 2014. He was…

Germanic religion and mythology: Early medieval records: Ansgar (or Anskar), a 9th-century missionary and now patron saint of Scandinavia, who twice visited the royal seat, Björkö, in eastern Sweden, and noticed some religious practices, among them the worship of a dead king. Ansgar was well received by the Swedes, but it was much later…

Saint Ansgar ; canonized 865; feast day February 3) was a missionary of medieval Europe, the first archbishop of Hamburg, and the patron saint of Scandinavia. Of noble birth, Ansgar entered the Benedictine abbey of Corbie in Picardy, where he was educated. After 823 he taught in the monastic school

S. Ansky was a Russian Jewish writer and folklorist best known for his play The Dybbuk. Ansky was educated in a Ḥasidic environment and as a young man was attracted to the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) and to the populist doctrines of the Narodniki, a group of socialist revolutionaries. For a time

Buffalo: History: The Ansley Wilcox Mansion, where Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office following the assassination, was dedicated a national historic site in 1966. Niagara Square, dominated by the McKinley Monument and site of the City Hall (1932) and federal buildings, is the focus of the city.

Cap Anson was an American baseball player and manager who played professionally for 27 years and was still in his team’s regular lineup at the age of 45. He batted .300 or better for 23 seasons and was the most famous player of the 19th century. Anson played in the National Association, the first

Cap Anson was an American baseball player and manager who played professionally for 27 years and was still in his team’s regular lineup at the age of 45. He batted .300 or better for 23 seasons and was the most famous player of the 19th century. Anson played in the National Association, the first

George Anson, Baron Anson was a British admiral whose four-year voyage around the world is one of the great tales of naval heroism. The reforms he instituted as a naval administrator increased the efficiency of the British fleet and contributed to its success in the Seven Years’ War (1756–63)

Cap Anson was an American baseball player and manager who played professionally for 27 years and was still in his team’s regular lineup at the age of 45. He batted .300 or better for 23 seasons and was the most famous player of the 19th century. Anson played in the National Association, the first

Ansongo, town, southeastern Mali, West Africa, on the Niger River. It is a mining (antimony) and agricultural (grains, livestock) marketing centre. Prospecting for uranium began in the late 1970s. The Niger is navigable for about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) above Ansongo. Directly to the east is the

Ansonia, city, coextensive with the town (township) of Ansonia, New Haven county, southwestern Connecticut, U.S., on the Naugatuck River. The area was a part of the township of Derby until it was incorporated as a separate township in 1889. Ansonia’s separate identity had been established in 1843,

Ansonia Board of Education v. Philbrook, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on November 17, 1986, ruled (8–1) that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964—which bans religious and other forms of discrimination in employment and requires employers to “reasonably accommodate” the religious

Ansbach, city, Bavaria Land (state), southern Germany. It lies on the Rezat River, southwest of Nürnberg. Ansbach originated around the Benedictine monastery of Onolzbach (founded 748) and was sold to a Franconian branch of the Hohenzollern line (later margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Bayreuth) in

Christopher Anstey was a poet whose epistolary verse narrative, The New Bath Guide, went through more than 30 editions between 1766 and 1830. After an education at Eton and at King’s College, Cambridge, Anstey in 1754 inherited an independent income; and in 1770 he settled permanently at Bath, the

Valladolid: …1074 from Alfonso VI to Count Pedro Ansúrez granting him the lordship of the place. Under Ansúrez, Valladolid grew into a city of considerable importance. From the reign of Alfonso VII (12th century) to that of Philip II (and again from 1600 to 1606 under Philip III), it was the…

fugue: Elements of the fugue: …scale), and is called the answer; the third statement returns to the main key; the fourth statement, if there is one, typically is in the dominant key again. If the melody of the answer is an exact transposition of the subject, into the new key, it is a real answer;…

applied logic: Logic of questions and answers: The logic of questions and answers, also known as erotetic logic, can be approached in different ways. The most general approach treats it as a branch of epistemic logic. The connection is mediated by what are known as the “desiderata” of questions. Given a direct question—for example, “Who murdered Dick?”—its…

Taylor Caldwell: Her 1981 novel Answer as a Man made the New York Times best-seller list before its official publication date, and many of her books were dramatized for motion pictures or television.

Alex Trebek: Jeopardy!: …year Trebek published the memoir The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life. He died later that year.

motion-picture technology: Film processing and printing: …a composite print called the answer print. (The first answer print is rarely the same as the final release print.) After all colour-correction and timing takes place, the information is recorded on perforated paper tape that serves to control both the exposure for each shot and the louvered filters that…

Sir David Lyndsay: …king and court; and his An Answer quhilk Schir David Lyndsay maid to the Kingis Flyting (1536) is a ribald example of the game of poetic abuse (“flyting”) practiced by Celtic poets. The Complaynt and Publict Confessioun of the Kingis Auld Hound callit Bagsche (c. 1536) is a short didactic…

Allen Iverson is an American basketball player known for both explosive play on the court and controversy away from the game. He became the first great athlete to be strongly identified with the hip-hop movement. Athletic success and controversy came to Iverson at an early age. At Bethel High

Truman Capote: Answered Prayers: Capote and the swans: …masterpiece, a social satire entitled Answered Prayers, appeared in Esquire in 1975–76 and raised a storm among friends and foes who were harshly depicted in the work (under the thinnest of disguises). He became a social pariah, and his alcohol and drug problems worsened. (The fallout from the published excerpts…

Truman Capote: Answered Prayers: Capote and the swans: …masterpiece, a social satire entitled Answered Prayers, appeared in Esquire in 1975–76 and raised a storm among friends and foes who were harshly depicted in the work (under the thinnest of disguises). He became a social pariah, and his alcohol and drug problems worsened. (The fallout from the published excerpts…

voice mail: …mail is distinguished from an answering machine by its ability to provide service to multiple phone lines and by the more sophisticated functions that it offers in addition to recording messages.

Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, Viscount Northcliffe: …soon shortening the name to Answers. As the paper gained public favour, he was joined by his brother Harold, whose financial ability and capacity for attracting advertising, combined with Alfred’s genius for sensing the public taste, made it a success. Answers was followed by many other inexpensive popular periodicals, chief…

Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, Viscount Northcliffe: …soon shortening the name to Answers. As the paper gained public favour, he was joined by his brother Harold, whose financial ability and capacity for attracting advertising, combined with Alfred’s genius for sensing the public taste, made it a success. Answers was followed by many other inexpensive popular periodicals, chief…

American Negro Theatre (ANT), African American theatre company that was active in the Harlem district of New York City from 1940 to 1951. It provided professional training and critical exposure to African American actors, actresses, and playwrights by creating and producing plays concerning diverse

ant, (family Formicidae), any of approximately 10,000 species of insects that are social in habit and live together in organized colonies. Ants occur worldwide but are most numerous, both in numbers and in species, in tropical and subtropical regions. Ants are essential members of the ecosystems

anteater: The giant anteater: The giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), sometimes called the ant bear, is the largest member of the anteater family and is best known in the tropical grasslands (Llanos) of Venezuela, where it is still common. It was once found in the lowland forests of…

aardvark, (Orycteropus afer), stocky African mammal found south of the Sahara Desert in savanna and semiarid areas. The name aardvark—Afrikaans for “earth pig”—refers to its piglike face and burrowing habits. The aardvark weighs up to 65 kg (145 pounds) and measures up to 2.2 metres (7.2 feet)

aphid, (family Aphididae), any of a group of sap-sucking, soft-bodied insects (order Homoptera) that are about the size of a pinhead, most species of which have a pair of tubelike projections (cornicles) on the abdomen. Aphids can be serious plant pests and may stunt plant growth, produce plant