- atypical mycobacteria (bacteria)
tuberculosis: Other mycobacterial infections: …nontuberculosis mycobacteria, atypical mycobacteria, and mycobacteria other than tuberculosis (MOTT). This group includes such Mycobacterium species as M. avium (or M. avium-intracellulare), M. kansasii, M. marinum, and M. ulcerans. These bacilli have long been known to infect animals and
- Atypidae (arachnid)
spider: Annotated classification: Family Atypidae (purse-web spiders) 43 species of Europe, North America, Japan, Myanmar, and Java. 3 tarsal claws; 6 spinnerets; less than 3 cm long; live in closed silk tubes partly below ground; bite prey through tube and pull it in. Suborder Mesothelae (segmented spiders) About 100…
- Atyrau (Kazakhstan)
Atyrau, city, western Kazakhstan. It is a port on the Ural (Zhayyq) River near its mouth on the Caspian Sea. Founded as a fishing settlement in the mid-17th century by the fishing entrepreneur Mikhail Guryev, it soon became a fort on the Ural fortified line manned by the Ural Cossacks. Fishing and
- Atyraū (Kazakhstan)
Atyrau, city, western Kazakhstan. It is a port on the Ural (Zhayyq) River near its mouth on the Caspian Sea. Founded as a fishing settlement in the mid-17th century by the fishing entrepreneur Mikhail Guryev, it soon became a fort on the Ural fortified line manned by the Ural Cossacks. Fishing and
- Atys (Phrygian deity)
Attis, mythical consort of the Great Mother of the Gods (q.v.; classical Cybele, or Agdistis); he was worshipped in Phrygia, Asia Minor, and later throughout the Roman Empire, where he was made a solar deity in the 2nd century ad. The worship of Attis and the Great Mother included the annual
- Atzcapotzalco (Mexico)
Atzcapotzalco, delegación (administrative subdivision), northwestern Federal District, central Mexico. Situated approximately 7,350 feet (2,240 metres) above sea level in the Valley of Mexico, it was founded in the 12th century and given the Aztec name meaning “anthill” because of its large
- Atzerodt, George (German-born American conspirator)
assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Planning the attack: George Atzerodt, a German immigrant who had acted as a boatman for Confederate spies, was to kill Johnson. Booth himself was to assassinate Lincoln. All three attacks were to occur at the same time (about 10:00 pm) that night.
- Atzmaut (political party, Israel)
Ehud Barak: Later career: …Knesset, form a breakaway party, Atzmaut (“Independence”), that was expected to remain in Netanyahu’s ruling coalition. The Labour Party—a key member of the coalition—had been in the grips of a struggle: members who were critical of the government’s handling of the peace process pushed for the party to leave the…
- Au (chemical element)
gold (Au), chemical element, a dense lustrous yellow precious metal of Group 11 (Ib), Period 6, of the periodic table of the elements. Gold has several qualities that have made it exceptionally valuable throughout history. It is attractive in colour and brightness, durable to the point of virtual
- au (unit of measurement)
astronomical unit (AU, or au), a unit of length effectively equal to the average, or mean, distance between Earth and the Sun, defined as 149,597,870.7 km (92,955,807.3 miles). Alternately, it can be considered the length of the semimajor axis—i.e., the length of half of the maximum diameter—of
- AU (intergovernmental organization, Africa)
African Union (AU), intergovernmental organization, established in 2002, to promote unity and solidarity of African states, to spur economic development, and to promote international cooperation. The African Union (AU) replaced the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which had been founded in
- AU (unit of measurement)
astronomical unit (AU, or au), a unit of length effectively equal to the average, or mean, distance between Earth and the Sun, defined as 149,597,870.7 km (92,955,807.3 miles). Alternately, it can be considered the length of the semimajor axis—i.e., the length of half of the maximum diameter—of
- Au Bonheur des Dames (work by Zola)
Émile Zola: Les Rougon-Macquart: Au Bonheur des Dames (1883; Ladies’ Delight) depicts the mechanisms of a new economic entity, the department store, and its impact on smaller merchants. The sweeping descriptions of crowds and dry-goods displays justify Zola’s characterization of the novel as “a poem of modern activity.”
- Au Co (Chinese mythology)
Vietnam: Legendary kingdoms: …Chinese, Lac Long Quan married Au Co, a Chinese immortal, who bore him 100 eggs, from which sprang 100 sons. Later, the king and queen separated; Au Co moved with 50 of her sons into the mountains, and Lac Long Quan kept the other 50 sons and continued to rule…
- Au Duong (ruler of Au Lac)
Vietnam: Legendary kingdoms: …bce by a neighbouring warlord, Thuc Phan, who invaded and conquered Van Lang, united it with his kingdom, and called the new state Au Lac, which he then ruled under the name An Duong. Au Lac existed only until 207 bce, when it was incorporated by a former Chinese general,…
- Au hasard Balthasar (film by Bresson)
Robert Bresson: …of this first-person technique was Au hasard Balthasar (1968), in which the “person” was a donkey. Bresson’s own devout Catholicism was also woven into his works; several films, notably Pickpocket (1959) and Le Procès de Jeanne d’Arc (1962; The Trial of Joan of Arc), abruptly concluded with the leading character…
- Au Lac (historical kingdom, Vietnam)
Vietnam: Legendary kingdoms: …and called the new state Au Lac, which he then ruled under the name An Duong. Au Lac existed only until 207 bce, when it was incorporated by a former Chinese general, Trieu Da (Chao T’o in Chinese), into the kingdom of Nam Viet (Nan Yue in Chinese).
- Au pays (book by Ben Jelloun)
Tahar Ben Jelloun: Au pays (2009; A Palace in the Old Village) explores Muslim identity through the struggles of a Moroccan French retiree who returns to his homeland and begins building an enormous house in an effort to entice his family to join him. The unconventionally structured Le…
- Au pied du Sinaï (work by Clemenceau)
Georges Clemenceau: Early political career: …Au pied du Sinaï (At the Foot of Mount Sinai, 1922), illustrated by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, was a volume of sketches on the history of the Jewish people. He also tried his hand at writing a play.
- Au revoir les enfants (film by Malle [1987])
Louis Malle: …conversation between two characters; and Au revoir les enfants (1987), an autobiographical reminiscence of life in a Roman Catholic boys’ school in occupied France during World War II. Malle’s last film was Vanya on 42nd Street (1994), in which a theatre ensemble gives a reading of Anton Chekhov’s play Uncle…
- Au Salon de la rue des Moulins (work by Toulouse-Lautrec)
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: The documenter of Montmartre: …la rue des Moulins (At the Salon). This painting evokes sympathy from the spectator as he observes the women’s isolation and loneliness, qualities which the young Toulouse-Lautrec had so often experienced himself. At the Salon is a brilliant demonstration, therefore, of his stated desire to “depict the true and…
- AUA
Unitarianism and Universalism: American Unitarianism: In 1825 the American Unitarian Association (AUA), an association of individuals, was organized.
- AUB (university, Beirut, Lebanon)
American University of Beirut, private, nondenominational, coeducational international and intercultural university in Beirut, Lebanon, chartered in 1863 by the state of New York, U.S., as the Syrian Protestant College. Classes started in 1866. Although founded by the American Protestant Mission to
- Aub, Max (Spanish writer)
Spanish literature: The novel: Max Aub analyzed the civil conflict in the artistically and thematically impressive cycle of novels El laberinto mágico (1943–68; “The Magic Labyrinth”). Ramón José Sender, whose pre-Civil War novels had been realistic and overtly sociopolitical, developed an interest in the mysterious and irrational. While Crónica…
- aubade (music)
alba, in the music of the troubadours, the 11th- and 12th-century poet-musicians of southern France, a song of lament for lovers parting at dawn or of a watchman’s warning to lovers at dawn. A song of the latter type sometimes takes the form of a dialogue between a watchman and a lover. Some
- Aubagne (France)
Aubagne, town, Bouches-du-Rhône département, Provence–Alpes–Côte d’Azur région, southeastern France. Aubagne lies about 10 miles (16 km) east of Marseille. It was the site of the Gallo-Roman Pagus Lucreti and derived its name from its health springs (Ad Bainea). Aubagne sits amidst an agricultural
- Aube (department, France)
Champagne-Ardenne: …the northern départements of Haute-Marne, Aube, Marne, and Ardennes and was roughly coextensive with the historical province of Champagne.
- aube (music)
alba, in the music of the troubadours, the 11th- and 12th-century poet-musicians of southern France, a song of lament for lovers parting at dawn or of a watchman’s warning to lovers at dawn. A song of the latter type sometimes takes the form of a dialogue between a watchman and a lover. Some
- Aube le soir ou la nuit, L’ (work by Reza)
Yasmina Reza: …talent with the publication of L’Aube le soir ou la nuit (“Dawn Evening or Night”), a detailed biography of Nicolas Sarkozy as he ran for president of France. Reza was given almost unlimited access to a man she saw as talented and power-driven during the time she followed him on…
- Aube River (river, France)
Aube River, river, north central France, navigable tributary of the Seine, which it joins above Romilly. The Aube and its tributary, the Aujon, rise on the Langres Plateau, flowing northwest for 154 mi (248 km) in trenchlike valleys across the dry oolitic limestone country. In front of the Côte des
- Aubenton, Louis-Jean-Marie D’ (French naturalist)
Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton was a French naturalist who was a pioneer in the fields of comparative anatomy and paleontology. Daubenton was studying medicine when, in 1742, the renowned naturalist Georges Buffon asked him to prepare anatomical descriptions for an ambitious work on natural history
- Auber, Daniel-François-Esprit (French composer)
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber was a French composer who was prominent in the 19th-century cultivation of opera containing spoken as well as sung passages (comic opera). The great contemporary success of his works was due in part to the expertly tailored librettos of Eugène Scribe and in part to
- aubergine (plant)
eggplant, (Solanum melongena), tender perennial plant of the nightshade family (Solanaceae), grown for its edible fruits. Eggplant requires a warm climate and has been cultivated in its native Southeast Asia since remote antiquity. A staple in cuisines of the Mediterranean region, eggplant figures
- Aubert, Étienne (pope)
Innocent VI was the pope from 1352 to 1362. A professor of civil law at Toulouse, Fr., Innocent VI took holy orders and was appointed to the French bishoprics of Noyon (1338) and Clermont (1340). A cardinal priest in 1342, he was made cardinal bishop of Ostia, Papal States, in 1352 by Pope Clement
- Aubert, Jean (French artist)
Rococo: …Château at Chantilly, decorated by Jean Aubert, and the salons (begun 1732) of the Hôtel de Soubise, Paris, by Germain Boffrand. The Rococo style was also manifested in the decorative arts. Its asymmetrical forms and rocaille ornament were quickly adapted to silver and porcelain, and French furniture of the period…
- Auberval, Jean D’ (French dancer)
Jean Dauberval was a French ballet dancer, teacher, and choreographer often credited with establishing the comic ballet as a genre. In 1761 Dauberval made his debut at the Paris Académie (now Opéra) and became noted for his pantomimic dance ability; in 1773 he was made an assistant ballet master.
- Aubignac, François Hédelin, abbé d’ (French dramatist and critic)
François Hédelin, abbé d’Aubignac was an associate of the statesman Cardinal de Richelieu, playwright, and critic who influenced French 17th-century writing and encouraged dramatic standards based on the classics. He wrote plays, fiction, translations of Homer and Ovid, and, most important, studies
- Aubigné, Françoise de (untitled queen of France)
Françoise d’Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon was the second wife and untitled queen of King Louis XIV of France. She encouraged an atmosphere of dignity and piety at court and founded an educational institution for poor girls at Saint-Cyr (1686). She was born at Niort, in Poitou, perhaps in the same
- Aubigné, Théodore-Agrippa d’ (French soldier and author)
Théodore-Agrippa d’ Aubigné was a major late 16th-century poet, renowned Huguenot captain, polemicist, and historian of his own times. After studies in Paris, Orléans, Geneva, and Lyon, he joined the Huguenot forces and served throughout the Wars of Religion on the battlefield and in the council
- Aubigny (Quebec, Canada)
Lévis, city, Chaudière-Appalaches region, southern Quebec province, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite the city of Quebec, with which it is linked by ferry. The settlement, founded in 1647, was formerly called Aubigny in honour of the Duke of Richmond (who
- Aubigny, duc d’ (British politician [1735-1806])
Charles Lennox, 3rd duke of Richmond was one of the most progressive British politicians of the 18th century, being chiefly known for his advanced views on parliamentary reform. Richmond succeeded to the peerage in 1750 (his father, the 2nd duke, having added the Aubigny title to the Richmond and
- Aubigny, Louise-Renée de Kéroualle, Duchesse d’ (French noble)
Louise-Renée de Kéroualle, duchess of Portsmouth was a French mistress of Charles II of Great Britain. She was the least popular with his subjects but the ablest politician. The daughter of a Breton nobleman, Guillaume de Penancoet, Sieur de Kéroualle, she entered the household of Henrietta Anne,
- Aubray, Marie-Madeleine-Marguérite d’ (French noblewoman)
Marie-Madeleine-Marguérite d’Aubray, marquise de Brinvilliers was a French noblewoman who was executed after poisoning numerous family members. She was the daughter of Antoine Dreux d’Aubray, a civil lieutenant of Paris, and in 1651 she married an army officer, Antoine Gobelin de Brinvilliers. An
- Aubrey Holes (archaeology)
Stonehenge: First stage: 3000–2935 bce: …enclosing 56 pits called the Aubrey Holes, named after John Aubrey, who identified them in 1666. The ditch of the enclosure is flanked on the inside by a high bank and on the outside by a low bank, or counterscarp. The diameters of the outer bank, the ditch, the inner…
- Aubrey, James (British actor)
Lord of the Flies: Ralph (played by James Aubrey), the elected leader of the group, symbolizes order and civilization. He must contend with Jack (Tom Chapin), the chief hunter of the group, whose descent into barbarism challenges Ralph’s civilizing influence. Paranoia ensues among the younger boys, a monstrous beast is envisioned, and…
- Aubrey, John (English writer)
John Aubrey was an antiquarian and biographer, best known for his vivid, intimate, and sometimes acid sketches of his contemporaries. Educated at Oxford at Trinity College, he studied law in London at the Middle Temple. He early displayed his interest in antiquities by calling attention to the
- aubrite (meteorite)
meteorite: Achondrites: …asteroidal achondrite groups are the aubrites, the howardite-eucrite-diogenite association, and the ureilites. Aubrites are also known as enstatite achondrites. Like the enstatite class of chondrites, the aubrites derive from parent bodies that formed under highly chemically reducing conditions. As a result, they contain elements in the form of less-common compounds—for…
- Aubry, Marie (French writer)
Olympe de Gouges was a French social reformer and writer who challenged conventional views on a number of matters, especially the role of women as citizens. Many consider her among the world’s first feminists. Marie was born to Anne Olympe Mouisset Gouze, who was married to Pierre Gouze, a butcher;
- Aubry, Martine (French politician)
François Hollande: Early life and political rise: …was defeated by Lille Mayor Martine Aubry. The arrest of Strauss-Kahn in May 2011 on charges of sexual assault, however, caused even more tension throughout the party’s ranks. Although the charges were eventually dropped, Strauss-Kahn, the presumptive Socialist nominee in the 2012 presidential election, resigned as director of the International…
- Auburn (New York, United States)
Auburn, city, seat (1805) of Cayuga county, west-central New York, U.S. It lies at the north end of Owasco Lake, in the Finger Lakes region, 22 miles (35 km) southwest of Syracuse. Founded in 1793 by John Hardenbergh, an officer in the American Revolution, on the site of a Cayuga Indian village
- Auburn (Alabama, United States)
Auburn, city, Lee county, eastern Alabama, U.S., adjacent to Opelika, about 60 miles (100 km) northeast of Montgomery. Founded in 1836 by John Harper and settlers from Georgia, its name was inspired by the “sweet Auburn” of Oliver Goldsmith’s poem The Deserted Village. Auburn University, opened as
- Auburn (Maine, United States)
Auburn, city, seat (1854) of Androscoggin county, southwestern Maine, U.S., on the Androscoggin River opposite Lewiston and part of the Lewiston-Auburn metropolitan area. Settled in 1786, Auburn was separated from Minot in 1842 and is supposed to have been named for the Auburn of Oliver Goldsmith’s
- Auburn (Washington, United States)
Auburn, city, King county, western Washington, U.S., in the White River valley, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Tacoma. It was laid out in 1887 by Levi W. Ballard, an early local settler, and named for W.A. Slaughter, an army officer killed in a conflict with area Indians 30 years earlier. Local
- Auburn State Prison (prison, Auburn, New York, United States)
Auburn State Prison, prison located in Auburn, New York. Opened in 1816, it established a disciplinary and administrative system based on silence, corporal punishment, and “congregate” (group) labour. In architecture and routine, Auburn became the model for prisons throughout the United States. In
- Auburn system (penology)
Auburn system, penal method of the 19th century in which persons worked during the day and were kept in solitary confinement at night, with enforced silence at all times. The silent system evolved during the 1820s at Auburn Prison in Auburn, N.Y., as an alternative to and modification of the
- Auburn University (university, Alabama, United States)
Auburn University, public, coeducational institution of higher education located in Auburn, Alabama, U.S. The university offers a broad range of undergraduate and graduate degree programs and is noted for its colleges of engineering and business. Degrees in nursing, pharmacy, and veterinary
- Aubusson (France)
Aubusson, town, Creuse département, Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou région, central France, on the Creuse River near the northern edge of the Plateau de Millevaches (highest part of the Monts du Limousin), northeast of Limoges. In the Middle Ages it was the seat of a viscounty from whose rulers descended
- Aubusson carpet
Aubusson carpet, floor covering, usually of considerable size, handwoven at the villages of Aubusson and Felletin, in the département of Creuse in central France. Workshops were established in 1743 to manufacture pile carpets primarily for the nobility, to whom the Savonnerie court production was
- Aubusson, Pierre d’ (French cardinal)
Pierre d’ Aubusson was the grand master of the military-religious Order of St. John of Jerusalem, known for his defense of Rhodes against the Turks. The son of French nobility, Aubusson joined the Knights of St. John c. 1453. The Knights, with their headquarters at Rhodes, held the island as a bar
- Aucassin and Nicolette (French tale)
Aucassin et Nicolette, early 13th-century French chantefable (a story told in alternating sections of verse and prose, the former sung, the latter recited). Aucassin, “endowed with all good qualities,” is the son of the Count of Beaucaire and falls in love with Nicolette, a captive Saracen turned
- Aucassin et Nicolette (French tale)
Aucassin et Nicolette, early 13th-century French chantefable (a story told in alternating sections of verse and prose, the former sung, the latter recited). Aucassin, “endowed with all good qualities,” is the son of the Count of Beaucaire and falls in love with Nicolette, a captive Saracen turned
- Aucella (fossil mollusk genus)
Aucella, genus of clams characteristically found as fossils in marine rocks of the Jurassic Period (between about 176 million and 146 million years old). The shell has a distinctive teardrop shape and is ornamented with a concentric pattern of ribs; the apex of one valve (shell half) is often
- Auch (France)
Auch, town, capital of Gers département, Occitanie région, southwestern France. Auch is built on and around a hill on the west bank of the Gers River, west of Toulouse. The capital of the Celtiberian tribe of Ausci, it became important in Roman Gaul as Elimberris and, after Christianity was
- Auch eine Philosophie der Geschichte zur Bildung der Menschheit (work by Herder)
Johann Gottfried von Herder: Career at Bückeburg: …zur Bildung der Menschheit (1774; “Another Philosophy of History Concerning the Development of Mankind”), opposing Rationalism in historiography, were the first writings to show a deeper understanding of historical existence as the product of the contradiction between individuation and the whole of history; this contradiction itself forms the logical basis…
- Auch Einer (work by Vischer)
Friedrich Theodor von Vischer: (1879; The Humour of Germany).
- Auch, Lord (French author)
Georges Bataille was a French librarian and writer whose essays, novels, and poetry expressed his fascination with eroticism, mysticism, and the irrational. He viewed excess as a way to gain personal “sovereignty.” After training as an archivist at the school of paleography known as the École des
- Auchenorrhyncha (insect suborder)
homopteran: …of two large groups; the Auchenorrhyncha, which consists of the cicadas, treehoppers, froghoppers or spittlebugs, leafhoppers, and planthoppers or fulgorids; and the Sternorrhyncha, which includes aphids or
- Auchincloss, Louis (American author)
Louis Auchincloss was an American novelist, short-story writer, and critic, best known for his novels of manners set in the world of contemporary upper-class New York City. Auchincloss studied at Yale University from 1935 to 1939 and graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1941. He
- Auchincloss, Louis Stanton (American author)
Louis Auchincloss was an American novelist, short-story writer, and critic, best known for his novels of manners set in the world of contemporary upper-class New York City. Auchincloss studied at Yale University from 1935 to 1939 and graduated from the University of Virginia Law School in 1941. He
- Auchinleck, Sir Claude (British general)
Sir Claude Auchinleck was a British field marshal best known for his victory against Gen. Erwin Rommel in North Africa. Auchinleck was educated at Sandhurst military academy. He served in India and performed with distinction in the Middle East in World War I. He returned to India to command the
- Auckland (unitary authority, New Zealand)
Auckland, former region, northwestern North Island, New Zealand. It included the city of Auckland, its metropolitan area, and several outlying cities and towns. In November 2010 the greater Auckland region became a unitary authority that combined the governments of its constituent parts into one
- Auckland (New Zealand)
Auckland, city, north-central North Island, New Zealand. The country’s most populous city and its largest port, Auckland occupies a narrow isthmus between Waitematā Harbour of Hauraki Gulf/Tīkapa Moana (east) and Manukau Harbour (southwest). It was established in 1840 by Gov. William Hobson as the
- Auckland Harbour Bridge (bridge, Auckland, New Zealand)
Auckland: The Auckland Harbour Bridge (1959) crosses Waitematā Harbour and links Auckland’s central business district with North Shore.
- Auckland Islands (islands, New Zealand)
Auckland Islands, outlying island group of New Zealand, in the South Pacific Ocean, 290 miles (467 km) south of South Island. Volcanic in origin, they comprise six islands and several islets, with a total land area of 234 square miles (606 square km), and have a cool, humid, and windy climate. The
- Auckland, George Eden, earl of, 2nd Baron Auckland, 2nd Baron Auckland of Auckland, Baron Eden of Norwood (governor general of India)
George Eden, earl of Auckland was the governor-general of India from 1836 to 1842, when he was recalled after his participation in British setbacks in Afghanistan. He succeeded to his father’s baronies in 1814. Auckland, a member of the Whig Party, served as Board of Trade president and as first
- Auckland, University of (university, Auckland, New Zealand)
Auckland: …the public library network, the University of Auckland (1957; from 1882 to 1957 Auckland University College, a constituent part of the University of New Zealand), Auckland University of Technology (2000; from 1963 to 2000 Auckland Technical Institute), and several teacher-training colleges. Also in the locality are swimming and surfing beaches,…
- auction (business)
auction, the buying and selling of real and personal property through open public bidding. The traditional auction process involves a succession of increasing bids or offers by potential purchasers until the highest (and final) bid is accepted by the auctioneer (who is usually an agent of the
- auction bridge (card game)
auction bridge, card game that was the third step in the historical progression from whist to bridge whist to auction bridge to contract bridge. See
- Auction Euchre (card game)
euchre: Auction euchre is played with five, six, or seven players and a three-card widow (cards dealt facedown). Each player in turn has one opportunity to bid at least three tricks using a named trump or to overcall a previous bid. A bid of five is…
- auction forty-fives (card game)
twenty-five: …derives the Canadian game of forty-fives.
- auction house (business)
art market: The rise of London: James Christie founded his auction house in 1766, and while he started out in the same part of London as Samuel Baker, he soon moved his business to the more aristocratic West End. There he gained a reputation as an auctioneer of fine arts. Christie handled the greatest country…
- Auction of Lives, The (work by Lucian)
Lucian: …to indict Lucian for writing The Auction of Lives, which was itself a lighthearted work in which Zeno, Epicurus, and others are auctioned by Hermes in the underworld but fetch next to nothing. Lucian’s defense is that he was attacking not the founders of the schools but their present unworthy…
- Aucuba japonica (plant)
Garryales: japonica (Japanese laurel) is an important ornamental shrub grown for its glossy green foliage, especially the showy yellow-spotted cultivar “Variegata.”
- Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream, The (book by Obama)
Barack Obama: Politics and ascent to the presidency of Barack Obama: His second book, The Audacity of Hope (2006), a mainstream polemic on his vision for the United States, was published weeks later, instantly becoming a major best seller. In February 2007 he announced at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln had served as a…
- Audaghost (historical town, Africa)
Audaghost, (fl. 9th–11th century), former Berber town in the southwest Sahara, northwest of Timbuktu. Audaghost was an important terminus of the medieval trans-Saharan trade route. The town was primarily a centre where North African traders could buy gold from the kings of ancient Ghana. Audaghost
- Aude (department, France)
Languedoc-Roussillon: Gard, Hérault, Aude, and Pyrénées-Orientales and was roughly coextensive with the former province of Languedoc. In 2016 the Languedoc-Roussillon région was joined with the région of Midi-Pyrénées to form the new administrative entity of Occitanie.
- Audelay, John (English writer)
English literature: Courtly poetry: …poems in this mode was John Audelay of Shropshire, whose style was heavily influenced by the alliterative movement. Literary devotion to the Virgin Mary was particularly prominent and at its best could produce masterpieces of artful simplicity, such as the poem “I sing of a maiden that is makeless [matchless].”
- Auden, W.H. (British poet)
W. H. Auden was an English-born poet and man of letters who achieved early fame in the 1930s as a hero of the left during the Great Depression. Most of his verse dramas of this period were written in collaboration with Christopher Isherwood. In 1939 Auden settled in the United States, becoming a
- Auden, Wystan Hugh (British poet)
W. H. Auden was an English-born poet and man of letters who achieved early fame in the 1930s as a hero of the left during the Great Depression. Most of his verse dramas of this period were written in collaboration with Christopher Isherwood. In 1939 Auden settled in the United States, becoming a
- Audenarde (Belgium)
Oudenaarde, municipality, Flanders Region, west-central Belgium. It lies along the Scheldt (Schelde) River south of Ghent. A prosperous tapestry-making centre in the Middle Ages, its industry declined in the 15th century with the success of the Gobelin tapestry weavers (trained in Oudenaarde), many
- Audhumla (Norse mythology)
Aurgelmir: A cow, Audumla, nourished him with her milk. Audumla was herself nourished by licking salty, rime-covered stones. She licked the stones into the shape of a man; this was Buri, who became the grandfather of the great god Odin and his brothers. These gods later killed Aurgelmir,…
- Audi filia (work by Saint John of Ávila)
St. John of Ávila: John’s Audi filia (“Listen, Daughter”), a treatise on Christian perfection addressed to the nun Doña Sancha Carillo, is considered to be a masterwork. His classical spiritual letters were edited by J.M. de Buck (Lettres de direction) in 1927. His complete works (Obras completas del B. Mtro.…
- Audiard, Jacques (French director and screenwriter)
Jacques Audiard is a French film director and screenwriter whose crime films have been acclaimed for their scripts and strong lead performances. Audiard is the son of noted screenwriter Michel Audiard, who is best known for his screenplays for crime films, particularly director Henri Verneuil’s
- Audiberti, Jacques (French playwright)
Jacques Audiberti was a poet, novelist, and, most importantly, playwright whose extravagance of language and rhythm shows the influence of Symbolism and Surrealism. A former clerk for the justice of the peace in Antibes, Audiberti began his writing career as a journalist, moving to Paris in 1925 to
- audience (communications)
United States: Audiences: Art is made by artists, but it is possible only with audiences; and perhaps the most worrying trait of American culture in the past half century, with high and low dancing their sometimes happy, sometimes challenging dance, has been the threatened disappearance of a…
- Audience, The (play by Morgan)
Stephen Daldry: …Mirren in Peter Morgan’s play The Audience, which imagined the private weekly conversations between Queen Elizabeth II and the succession of British prime ministers over six decades. He then oversaw a 2014 revival of David Hare’s Skylight. The critically acclaimed production, which starred Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy
- Audience, The (play by García Lorca)
Federico García Lorca: Later poetry and plays of Federico García Lorca: In Cuba, Lorca wrote El público (“The Audience”), a complex, multifaceted play, expressionist in technique, that brashly explores the nature of homosexual passion. Lorca deemed the work, which remained unproduced until 1978, “a poem to be hissed.” On his return to Spain, he completed a second play aimed at…
- audiencia (Spanish court)
audiencia, in the kingdoms of late medieval Spain, a court established to administer royal justice; also, one of the most important governmental institutions of Spanish colonial America. In Spain the ordinary judges of audiencias in civil cases were called oidores and, for criminal cases, alcaldes
- Audiencia of Charcas (government)
Bolivia: Early period: …foundation in 1559 as the Audiencia of Charcas. The audiencia was first placed under the Viceroyalty of Peru at Lima, but in 1776 it was finally shifted to the new Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata established at Buenos Aires (now in Argentina). With its academies and universities, Chuquisaca…
- Audimeter (electronic device)
A.C. Nielsen: …a small box, called an Audimeter, attached to the set, which recorded when the set was on and what channel was tuned in. These data were relayed to a computer centre, which also collected data from viewing diaries kept by a smaller sampling of households. Based on such information, the…