Raj Kapoor: R.K. Films: The studio’s first production was Aag (1948; “Fire”), which marked his debut as both a director and a producer. At the age of 24, he became India’s youngest filmmaker. Aag, costarring actress Nargis, was well received by critics but was not a commercial success. The production house’s first hit film…

All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL), American sports organization that, between 1943 and its dissolution in 1954, grew from a stopgap wartime entertainment to a professional showcase for women baseball players. From the time of its inception in 1943 until the time of its demise

Laayoune, town, northern Western Sahara, 8 miles (13 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean and situated in the geographic region of Saguia el-Hamra. It was the capital of Western Sahara from 1940 to 1976 (when Western Sahara was a northwest African overseas province of Spain known as Spanish Sahara);

Laayoune, town, northern Western Sahara, 8 miles (13 km) inland from the Atlantic Ocean and situated in the geographic region of Saguia el-Hamra. It was the capital of Western Sahara from 1940 to 1976 (when Western Sahara was a northwest African overseas province of Spain known as Spanish Sahara);

Mendenhall Glacier, blue ice sheet, 12 miles (19 km) long, southeastern Alaska, U.S. It was originally named Sitaantaagu (“the Glacier Behind the Town”) or Aak’wtaaksit (“the Glacier Behind the Little Lake”) by the Tlingit Indians. Naturalist John Muir later called it Auke (Auk) Glacier, for the

Jeppe Aakjær was a poet and novelist, leading exponent of Danish regional literature and of the literature of social consciousness. Aakjær grew up in the Jutland farming area and so was well aware of the harsh conditions endured by farm labourers in his country. His early novels deal primarily with

alap, in the art musics of South Asia, improvised melody structures that reveal the musical characteristics of a raga. Variant forms of the word—alap in northern Indian music and alapana in Carnatic music (where the term ragam improvisation is also used)—are often found. Alap ordinarily constitutes

Ålborg, city and port, northern Jutland, Denmark, on the south side of Limfjorden. Ålborg has existed since about ad 1000 and is one of the oldest towns in Denmark. Chartered in 1342, it became a bishop’s see in 1554. The town recovered slowly from the Count’s War (a religious civil war, 1533–36)

Aalen, city, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southern Germany, on the Kocher River, at the northern foot of the Schwäbische Alb (Swabian Alps), 30 miles (48 km) north of Ulm. It originated around a large Roman fort, much of which remains; nearby are the remains of the Roman limes (frontier wall).

Aalenian Stage, lowest of the four divisions of the Middle Jurassic Series, representing all rocks formed worldwide during the Aalenian Age, which occurred between 174.1 million and 170.3 million years ago during the Jurassic Period. The Aalenian Stage underlies the Bajocian Stage and overlies the

Aalsmeer, gemeente (municipality), western Netherlands, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Amsterdam, on the Ring Canal and Westeinder Lake, a remnant of Haarlem Lake. The older part of the town is on peaty soil at about sea level, surrounded by polders with loamy soil 9–15 feet (3–5 metres) below sea

Aalst, municipality, Flanders Region, north-central Belgium, on the Dender River, 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Brussels. The town hall (begun in the middle of the 12th century), with its 52-bell carillon, is the oldest in Belgium, and its archives include 12th-century manuscripts. Ravaged by fire

Alvar Aalto: Early work: In 1925 he married Aino Marsio, a fellow student, who served as his professional collaborator until her death in 1949. The couple had two children.

Alvar Aalto was a Finnish architect, city planner, and furniture designer whose international reputation rests on a distinctive blend of modernist refinement, indigenous materials, and personal expression in form and detail. His mature style is epitomized by the Säynätsalo, Fin., town hall group

Alvar Aalto was a Finnish architect, city planner, and furniture designer whose international reputation rests on a distinctive blend of modernist refinement, indigenous materials, and personal expression in form and detail. His mature style is epitomized by the Säynätsalo, Fin., town hall group

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), political party in India formed by Arvind Kejriwal in November 2012, in the wake of the 2011 anti-corruption movement in India. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP; “Common Man’s Party”) is headquartered in New Delhi. It has served as the ruling party in the national capital territory

Lasse Kjus: …the father of his friend Kjetil Andre Aamodt. In 1990 either Kjus or the younger Aamodt, by then roommates, won every title at the world junior championships. The following year Kjus fell while training, severely injuring his shoulder. which kept him from competition for months. After Kjus joined Norway’s national…

Davidson Don Tengo Jabavu: …December 1935 he founded the All-African National Convention (AANC), which led the opposition to a series of bills whose purpose was to disfranchise Black Africans, prevent them from owning land, and keep them from selling their labor freely. The convention brought together the entire spectrum of opposition to the white…

Thomas Kingo: …were collected in two volumes, Aandelig sjunge-kor (1674 and 1681; “Spiritual Chorus”). In addition to the morning and evening songs, the best-known are “Far, Verden, Farvel” (“Fare, World, Farewell”) and “Sorrig og Glæde de vandre til Hobe” (“Sorrow and Joy They Wander Together”). He is remembered today mainly for what…

South Asian arts: Parsi theatre: …prostitute results in remorse; and Aankh ka Nasha (“The Witchery of the Eyes”), about the treachery of a prostitute’s love, with realistic dialogue of a brothel. Many of Hashr’s plays were adapted from Shakespeare: Sufayd Khūn (“White Blood”) was modelled on King Lear, and Khūn-e Nāḥaq (“The Innocent Murder”) on…

Elizabeth Kenny: …England, determined to join the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS). Although only registered nurses could join the AANS, after a monthlong trial period Kenny was accepted into the service. During World War I she served as a staff nurse on troopships carrying wounded soldiers back to Australia. In 1916–17 she…

Harry Mulisch: …his novel De aanslag (1982; The Assault; filmed 1985), in which one family betrays another during the war. The reason for that betrayal is revealed to the only surviving member of the betrayed family over the following 35 years.

Johan Rudolf Thorbecke: …Savigny, were expressed in his Aanteekening op de grondwet (1839; “A Note on the Constitution”). He was the chief author of the constitution of 1848, which transformed the Netherlands; instead of a constitutional monarchy in which an authoritarian king ruled with a parliament of limited powers, the nation was given…

aluminum: Compounds: Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO), typically produced via the electrochemical oxidation of aluminum, is a nanostructured aluminum-based material with a very unique structure. AAO contains cylindrical pores that provide for a variety of uses. It is a thermally and mechanically stable compound while also being optically…

Patricia Schroeder: …and chief executive of the Association of American Publishers in 1997 and served until 2008.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), political party in India formed by Arvind Kejriwal in November 2012, in the wake of the 2011 anti-corruption movement in India. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP; “Common Man’s Party”) is headquartered in New Delhi. It has served as the ruling party in the national capital territory

American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), professional organization founded in 1969 for political consultants, lobbyists, media producers, fund-raisers, and campaign workers at all levels of government. The American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC) is a multi-partisan

public opinion: Nonscientific polling: Interest groups such as the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), the European Society for Opinion Marketing and Research, and the World Association for Public Opinion Research serve a watchdog role regarding opinion polling. To assist reporters as well as the general public in their understanding of poll results,…

Aapravasi Ghat, former immigration depot in Port Louis, the capital city of Mauritius. It was the British government’s first site for processing indentured laborers as replacements for enslaved people. Aapravasi Ghat was used from 1849 to the mid-1920s as a depot that saw almost half a million

Al Franken: …2007, the host of the Air America radio program The Al Franken Show (originally called The O’Franken Factor, which was a play on Bill O’Reilly’s conservative show, The O’Reilly Factor). Conceived by Franken as a weapon in the fight to get Republican Pres. George W. Bush “unelected,” the program used…

mountain: The western segment of the system: … massifs in France and the Aare (or Aar) and Gotthard massifs in Switzerland. Moreover, with the elevation of the Alps above the Po plain of northern Italy, a southward overthrusting has carried the southern part of the Alps back onto the basin there as the Italian promontory has continued to…

Aare River, tributary of the Rhine and the longest stream (183 miles [295 km]) entirely within Switzerland; it drains an area of 6,865 square miles (17,779 square km). The river rises in the Aare Glacier of the Bernese Alps in Bern canton, below the Finsteraarhorn and west of the Grimsel Pass, in

Aarau, capital of Aargau canton, northern Switzerland, at the southern foot of the Jura Mountains, on the right bank of the Aare River, west of Zürich. Founded about 1240 by the counts of Kyburg, it passed to the Habsburgs in 1264 and was taken by the Bernese in 1415. In 1798 it became the capital

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)

fruit: Animal dispersal: …Africa a desert melon (Cucumis humifructus) participates in a symbiotic relationship with aardvarks—the animals eat the fruit for its water content and bury their own dung, which contains the seeds, near their burrows.

aardwolf, (Proteles cristatus), insectivorous carnivore that resembles a small striped hyena. The shy, mainly nocturnal aardwolf lives on the arid plains of Africa. There are two geographically separate populations, one centered in South Africa and the other in eastern Africa. The aardwolf is most

mountain: The western segment of the system: … massifs in France and the Aare (or Aar) and Gotthard massifs in Switzerland. Moreover, with the elevation of the Alps above the Po plain of northern Italy, a southward overthrusting has carried the southern part of the Alps back onto the basin there as the Italian promontory has continued to…

Aare River, tributary of the Rhine and the longest stream (183 miles [295 km]) entirely within Switzerland; it drains an area of 6,865 square miles (17,779 square km). The river rises in the Aare Glacier of the Bernese Alps in Bern canton, below the Finsteraarhorn and west of the Grimsel Pass, in

Swiss literature: …in the dialect of the Aargau (Duss und underm Rafe, 1891), and Meinrad Lienert wrote several poems in the dialect of Schwyz. Almost every canton has its Mundartdichter, or local poet. There are vigorous novels in the Bernese dialect by the 20th-century writers Rudolf von Tavel and Simon Gfeller. Schaffhausen…

Aargau, canton, northern Switzerland. It borders Germany to the north and is bounded by the demicanton of Basel-Landschaft and by the cantons of Solothurn and Bern to the west, Lucerne to the south, and Zug and Zürich to the east. It forms the northeastern section of the great Swiss Plateau between

Århus, city, eastern Jutland, Denmark. It lies along Århus Bay and has an extensive harbour. Its origin is unknown, although traces of a Viking settlement have been found near the outflow of the now-covered Århus stream. The oldest existing charter for the town (1441) refers to a still-earlier

Århus: In addition to Aarhus University (opened 1928), there are several specialized colleges and an academy of music in the city. The city’s main concert hall, Musikhuset Aarhus (1982), hosts opera and symphony concerts. Pop. (2022 est.) city, 285,273; mun., 355,238 .

Aaron was the traditional founder and head of the Israelite priesthood, who, with his brother Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt. The figure of Aaron as it is now found in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, is built up from several sources of traditions. In the Talmud and

Titus Andronicus: …lover a black man named Aaron the Moor; between them they produce a mulatto child of whom Aaron is intensely proud. Titus’s garish revenge begins as he puts on the guise of madness. He pretends to accept Demetrius and Chiron as the personifications of Rape and Murder, invites them into…

Yves Thériault: His works include Aaron (1954), which explored the problems faced by a Jewish family in a Gentile world; Ashini (1960), a lyrical tale of the last chief of the Innu (Montagnais) to live by ancestral customs; and N’Tsuk (1968), the life story of a 100-year-old Inuit woman. Thériault’s…

Aaron ben Elijah was a theologian of Constantinople (now Istanbul), and the only scholar to seek a philosophical basis for Karaite beliefs. Karaism, a Jewish movement originating in 8th-century Iran, rejected the oral tradition and challenged the authority of the Talmud, the rabbinical compendium

Saʿadia ben Joseph: Life: …conflict with the Palestinian scholar Aaron ben Meir, who had promulgated a far-reaching change in the Jewish calendrical computation. The conflict ended with no definite victory for either side. Yet, Saʿadia’s participation in it demonstrated his indomitable courage and his importance for the Jewish community in Babylonia. Throughout this period…

biblical literature: Masoretic texts: …with a Masoretic apparatus by Aaron ben Moses ben Asher about 930. Originally containing the entire Hebrew Bible in about 380 folios, of which 294 are extant, the Aleppo Codex remains the only known true representative of Aaron ben Asher’s text and the most important witness to that particular Masoretic…

Titus Andronicus: …lover a black man named Aaron the Moor; between them they produce a mulatto child of whom Aaron is intensely proud. Titus’s garish revenge begins as he puts on the guise of madness. He pretends to accept Demetrius and Chiron as the personifications of Rape and Murder, invites them into…

Aaron’s Rod, novel by D.H. Lawrence, published in 1922. Lawrence constructed a parallel between the power that was miraculously manifested in the blossoming rod wielded by the biblical figure Aaron and the effect of the flute played by Aaron Sisson, the novel’s protagonist. Sisson, who works in a

Saint-John’s-wort: Creeping Saint-John’s-wort (H. calycinum), sometimes known as rose of Sharon or Aaron’s-beard, and goldencup Saint-John’s-wort (H. patulum) are both shrubby East Asian species. Creeping Saint-John’s-wort bears pale yellow flowers with orange stamens on 30-cm- (1-foot-) tall plants, while goldencup Saint-John’s-wort has slightly smaller deep yellow…

Hank Aaron was an American professional baseball player who surpassed batting records set by some of the greatest hitters in the game, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Stan Musial. Aaron played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1954 to 1976, mostly for the Braves in Milwaukee and Atlanta.

Hank Aaron was an American professional baseball player who surpassed batting records set by some of the greatest hitters in the game, including Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and Stan Musial. Aaron played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball, from 1954 to 1976, mostly for the Braves in Milwaukee and Atlanta.

benediction: The Aaronic benediction (Num. 6:24–26) was incorporated by Luther into his German Mass and is preserved by modern Lutherans because of its impressive dignity; it is also used in the Mozarabic liturgy of Spain before the reception of the Host. The Swedish liturgy appends a trinitarian…

Aaronic priesthood, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the lesser of the two categories of priests, concerned principally with church finances and administration. See

Judaism: Mosaic religion: …or clan, whose rivals, the Aaronites, exercised a monopoly on the priesthood. God, sometimes called “the warrior,” marched with the army; in war, part of the booty was delivered to his ministers.

American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to address the needs and interests of middle-aged and elderly people in the United States. Its membership is open to all persons age 50 or older, whether working or retired. It is headquartered in

arti, in Hindu and Jain rites, the waving of lighted lamps before an image of a god or a person to be honored. In performing the rite, the worshipper circles the lamp three times in a clockwise direction while chanting a prayer or singing a hymn. Arti is one of the most frequently observed parts of

Kriti Sanon: Rise to stardom: …Chuppi (“Hide and Seek”), costarring Kartik Aaryan; Arjun Patiala, costarring Diljit Dosanjh; Housefull 4, featuring an ensemble cast including Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol; Pati Patni Aur Woh (“Husband, Wife, and Her”), costarring Aaryan and Ananya Panday; and Panipat, with Arjun Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt in lead roles.

Margaret Burbidge: Cannon Prize from the American Astronomical Society (AAS) because, as it was an award for women only, it represented for her another facet of the same discrimination. Her action led to the formation of a standing AAS committee for the status of women in astronomy. Burbidge later became a…

Yevgeny Grishin: …race, this time with Norwegian Roald Aas. Grishin’s victory in the 500-metre race would have been in record time, but he stumbled near the finish line, losing at least one second. At the 1964 Games in Innsbruck, Austria, he was part of a three-way tie for the silver medal in…

Ivar Aasen was a language scholar and dialectologist, who created the written standard of Nynorsk (New Norwegian), one of the two official languages of Norway. After studying Old Norwegian, Aasen undertook a survey of the contemporary Norwegian dialects. These he judged to be the true offshoots of

unidentified flying object: Other investigations of UFOs: …of UFO sightings was the Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program (AATIP), a secret project that ran from 2007 to 2012. When the existence of the AATIP was made public in December 2017, the most newsworthy aspect of it was a report that the U.S. government possessed alloys and compounds purportedly…

Organization of African Trade Union Unity: …Unity and replacing the former All-African Trade Union Federation (AATUF; founded in 1961) and the African Trade Union Confederation (ATUC; founded in 1962). The ATUC from its founding had encouraged member affiliation with other international union organizations, while the more-militant AATUF had rejected such affiliation as incompatible with the development…

Amateur Athletic Union of the United States (AAU), alliance of national and district associations, amateur athletic groups, and educational institutions formed in the United States in 1888 for the purpose of certifying athletes as amateurs in various sports. The AAU now serves as the governing body

American Association of University Professors (AAUP), organization of faculty and researchers employed at American colleges and universities, established in 1915. Among its primary goals are to promote and protect academic freedom and shared governance in institutions of higher learning, to ensure

American Association of University Women (AAUW), American organization founded in 1881 and dedicated to promoting “education and equity for all women and girls.” The AAUW was founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1881 by 17 college women. At the time, many barriers hindered women from pursuing

American Association of University Women: …1958 the AAUW created the Educational Foundation, which continued the work of a fellowship program that had been in place since 1888. One notable recipient was Marie Curie (1931) who used her $150,000 grant to purchase a gram of radium to further her scientific research. During the 1990s the Foundation…

American Association of University Women: The AAUW established its Legal Advocacy Fund in 1981 to promote equity by supplying financial and legal support to women in educational settings who have been harassed or discriminated against in any way on the basis of sex.

amphibious assault vehicle (AAV), an armed and armoured military vehicle designed to deliver assault troops and their equipment from ship to shore under combat conditions. As developed most fully by the United States Marine Corps, AAVs are tracked vehicles that transport troops and materiel over

African American Vernacular English (AAVE), variety of American English spoken by a large proportion of Black Americans. Many scholars hold that AAVE, like several English creoles, developed from contacts between nonstandard varieties of colonial English and African languages. Its exact origins

Maria Mitchell: …1869, she helped found the Association for the Advancement of Women (AAW; 1873) and served as its president (1875–76). Her involvement in the AAW reflected Mitchell’s support of women’s rights, including suffrage. She retired from Vassar in failing health in 1888 and died the next year.

Pac-12: History: …UCLA, and Washington formed the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU). After Washington State joined the new conference in 1962 and Oregon and Oregon State in 1964, the name was changed to the Pacific-8 Conference. The University of Arizona and Arizona State University were admitted in 1978, completing the renamed…

Absolutely Fabulous, British television situation comedy that was broadcast on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in five seasons (1992, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2003), along with several specials, and that built up a loyal following among both its British fans and American cable viewers, who

ab ovo, in literature, the practice of beginning a poetic narrative at the earliest possible chronological point. The Latin poet and critic Horace approvingly notes in Ars poetica that Homer does not begin a tale of the Trojan War with the twin egg from which Helen was born but rather in the middle

Panj River, headstream of the Amu Darya in Central Asia. It is 700 miles (1,125 km) long and constitutes part of the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The Panj River is formed between the Hindu Kush and the Pamir Mountains by the junction of the Vākhān River and the Pamir River along the

religious dress: Islam: …worn in association with an ʿabāʾ (a long, full garment), traditionally of camel hair and brown or black. This is sometimes secured by a ḥijām, or cummerbund. In this second regional variant, the ʿimāmah becomes a full turban replacing the cap, or fez. A green turban usually denotes a sharīf,…

American Basketball Association (ABA), former professional basketball league formed in the United States in 1967 to rival the older National Basketball Association (NBA). George Mikan, a former star player in the NBA, was the ABA’s first commissioner. The ABA fielded 11 teams in its first season

Aba, city, Abia state, southern Nigeria. It lies along the west bank of the Aba River at the intersection of roads from Port Harcourt, Owerri, Umuahia, Ikot Ekpene, and Ikot Abasi (Opobo). Aba was a traditional market town for the Igbo (Ibo) people of the tropical rainforest before the

American Bar Association (ABA), voluntary association of American lawyers and judges. The ABA was founded in 1878, and by the late 20th century it had about 375,000 members. Its headquarters are in Chicago, Ill. Nongovernmental in nature, the ABA seeks to encourage improvements in the legal

boxing: Amateur boxing: In 1880 the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA), the sport’s first amateur governing body, was formed in Britain, and in the following year the ABA staged its first official amateur championships.

Vilmos Aba Novák was a painter and printmaker who was one of the most original and controversial talents in modern Hungarian painting. From 1912 to 1914, Aba Novák studied at the College of Fine Arts in Budapest. He then worked at the artists’ colonies in Szolnok and in Nagybánya (now Baia Mare,

Sichuan: Constitutional framework: The autonomous prefectures are the Aba Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, with its headquarters at Ma’erkang (Barkam); the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, with its capital at Kangding; and the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, with its capital at Xichang. As a rule, the autonomous prefectures represent little more than a symbolic cultural indulgence…

Paris attacks of 2015: The response to the Paris attacks: …where the plot’s suspected mastermind, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, had extensive ties. Belgian-born and of Moroccan descent, Abaaoud had grown up in the Brussels commune of Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, an area that drew the attention of counterterrorism experts as a potential hotbed of militant Islamist extremism. In Molenbeek Abaaoud had connected with several of…

Egypt: Ethnic groups: …are divided into two tribes—the ʿAbābdah and the Bishārīn. The ʿAbābdah occupy the Eastern Desert south of a line between Qinā and Al-Ghardaqah; there are also several groups settled along the Nile between Aswān and Qinā. The Bishārīn live mainly in Sudan, although some dwell in the ʿIlbah Mountain region,…

abaca, (Musa textilis), plant of the family Musaceae, and its fibre, which is second in importance among the leaf fibre group. Abaca fibre, unlike most other leaf fibres, is obtained from the plant leaf stalks (petioles). Although sometimes known as Manila hemp, Cebu hemp, or Davao hemp, the abaca

Genesis: …the successful albums Duke (1980), Abacab (1981), and Invisible Touch (1986) and scored a host of hit singles. Despite many successful side projects—most notably Rutherford’s pop combo Mike + the Mechanics—and the departure of Collins in 1995, the band continued to record with the 1997 release Calling All Stations. This…

Sani Abacha was a Nigerian military leader, who served as head of state (1993–98). Abacha received his formal military training at Nigerian and British military training colleges. He rose through the ranks in the Nigerian military and by 1983 had achieved the rank of brigadier when he assisted

abacus, calculating device, probably of Babylonian origin, that was long important in commerce. It is the ancestor of the modern calculating machine and computer. The earliest “abacus” likely was a board or slab on which a Babylonian spread sand in order to trace letters for general writing

algebra: Commerce and abacists in the European Renaissance: …“new” numerals became known as abacists, regardless of whether they used the numerals for calculating and recording transactions or employed an abacus for doing the actual calculations. Soon numerous abacist schools sprang up to teach the sons of Italian merchants the “new math.”

Abaco, island, The Bahamas, West Indies. It is located about 55 miles (90 km) north of Nassau, the capital, on New Providence Island. Abaco is the largest island of the Abaco and Cays, or Abacos, group; the other main island is Little Abaco, just to the northwest, from which Abaco is separated by a

capital: …square wooden block called an abacus, placed on the top of a post, and an oblong block called a billet, set with its greatest dimensions parallel to the beam above. Shaping the ends of such blocks produces a laterally spreading form of capital, which can be elaborated upon by multiplication…

abacus, calculating device, probably of Babylonian origin, that was long important in commerce. It is the ancestor of the modern calculating machine and computer. The earliest “abacus” likely was a board or slab on which a Babylonian spread sand in order to trace letters for general writing

abacus, calculating device, probably of Babylonian origin, that was long important in commerce. It is the ancestor of the modern calculating machine and computer. The earliest “abacus” likely was a board or slab on which a Babylonian spread sand in order to trace letters for general writing

Ābādān, city, extreme southwestern Iran. The city is situated in Khūzestān, part of the oil-producing region of Iran. Ābādān lies on an island of the same name along the eastern bank of the Shaṭṭ Al-ʿArab (river), 33 miles (53 km) from the Persian Gulf. The city thus lies along Iran’s border with

Ābādān: Ābādān lies on an island of the same name along the eastern bank of the Shaṭṭ Al-ʿArab (river), 33 miles (53 km) from the Persian Gulf. The city thus lies along Iran’s border with Iraq. Ābādān Island is bounded on the west by the Shaṭṭ…

Abaddon, the angel of the bottomless pit, referred to in the Revelation to John. John Milton extended the meaning of the term to include the pit (i.e., the abyss of hell) itself in his poem Paradise Regained (1671)

Ernesto Sábato: The Angel of Darkness) contains the ironic statements on literature, art, philosophy, and the excesses of rationalism that characterize his work.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Political beginnings: Ahmadinejad helped establish Ābādgarān-e Īrān-e Eslāmī (Developers of an Islamic Iran), which promoted a populist agenda and sought to unite the country’s conservative factions. The party won the city council elections in Tehrān in February 2003, and in May the council chose Ahmadinejad to serve as mayor. As…