Claudian: Claudianus minor contains the mythological epic Raptus Proserpinae (“The Rape of Proserpine”), on which Claudian’s medieval fame largely depended. The second book of the epic has an elegiac epistle addressed to Florentinus, the city prefect, and reflects Claudian’s interest in the Eleusinian mysteries.

Claudian was the last important poet of the classical tradition. Coming to Italy and abandoning Greek, he showed his mastery of Latin in a poem celebrating the consulship (395) of Probinus and Olybrius. An epigram on his superior, the Greek Hadrianus, Deprecatio ad Hadrianum, jeopardized his civil

Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus: …rivals of the Scipios, the Claudii Pulchri, through Tiberius’s wife, Claudia, daughter of Appius Claudius Pulcher, the contemporary head of the house and princeps senatus, who had the honour of speaking first in all discussions in the Senate.

Claudine, fictional character, the heroine of a series of novels by Colette, originally published in French as the work of her then husband, Henri Gauthier-Villars (“Willy”). The works include Claudine at School (1900), Claudine in Paris (1901), The Indulgent Husband (1902), and The Innocent Wife

Claudine: The works include Claudine at School (1900), Claudine in Paris (1901), The Indulgent Husband (1902), and The Innocent Wife (1903). Locked by Willy in a room so that she would write without distractions, the young Colette drew on her own experiences as a girl from the provinces and…

Claudine: …include Claudine at School (1900), Claudine in Paris (1901), The Indulgent Husband (1902), and The Innocent Wife (1903). Locked by Willy in a room so that she would write without distractions, the young Colette drew on her own experiences as a girl from the provinces and as a young married…

Claudine: The works include Claudine at School (1900), Claudine in Paris (1901), The Indulgent Husband (1902), and The Innocent Wife (1903). Locked by Willy in a room so that she would write without distractions, the young Colette drew on her own experiences as a girl from the provinces and…

Claudine: …include Claudine at School (1900), Claudine in Paris (1901), The Indulgent Husband (1902), and The Innocent Wife (1903). Locked by Willy in a room so that she would write without distractions, the young Colette drew on her own experiences as a girl from the provinces and as a young married…

Much Ado About Nothing: …a contrast between the conventional Claudio and Hero, who have the usual expectations of each other, and Beatrice and Benedick, who are highly skeptical of romance and courtship and, seemingly, each other. Claudio is deceived by the jealous Don John into believing that Hero is prepared to abandon him for…

Measure for Measure: …passes the death sentence on Claudio, a nobleman convicted for impregnating his betrothed, Juliet. Claudio’s sister Isabella, a novice in a nunnery, pleads his case to Angelo. This new deputy ruler, a man of stern and rigorous self-control, finds to his consternation and amazement that he lusts after Isabella; her…

Aḥmad Grāñ: …with the new Ethiopian ruler, Galawdewos (Claudius), were soon able to rearm themselves and rally a large number of Ethiopians. Aḥmad Grāñ, who had sent most of his Turkish troops back, was killed in the crucial battle that followed, and Galawdewos was able to regain his kingdom in 1543, though…

Claudius, usurping king of Denmark, uncle-stepfather of Hamlet, and second husband to Gertrude in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The play is a tragedy in five acts, written about 1599–1601 and published in a quarto edition in 1603 from an unauthorized text, with reference to an earlier play. The

Claudius was a Roman emperor (41–54 ce), who extended Roman rule in North Africa and made Britain a province. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus, a popular and successful Roman general, and the younger Antonia, he was the nephew of the emperor Tiberius and a grandson of Livia Drusilla, the wife of the

Appius Claudius Caecus was an outstanding statesman, legal expert, and author of early Rome who was one of the first notable personalities in Roman history. A member of the patrician class, Appius embarked on a program of political reform during his censorship, beginning in 312 bce. Elements of

Claudius II Gothicus was a Roman emperor in 268–270, whose major achievement was the decisive defeat of the Gothic invaders (hence the name Gothicus) of the Balkans in 269. Claudius was an army officer under the emperor Gallienus from 260 to 268—a period of devastation of much of the Roman Empire

Julian was a Roman emperor from ad 361 to 363, nephew of Constantine the Great, and a noted scholar and military leader who was proclaimed emperor by his troops. A persistent enemy of Christianity, he publicly announced his conversion to paganism in 361, thus acquiring the epithet “the Apostate.”

Rutilius Claudius Namatianus was a Roman poet who was the author of an elegiac poem, De reditu suo, describing a journey from Rome to his native Gaul in the autumn of ad 417. The poem is chiefly interesting for the light it throws on the ideology of the pagan landowning aristocracy of the rapidly

Appius Claudius Pulcher was a Roman politician, father-in-law of the agrarian reformer Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. Claudius served on the Gracchan land commission from 133 until his death. He was consul in 143 and censor in 136. His prestige as princeps senatus (“senior senator”) enabled him to

Appius Claudius Pulcher was a Roman politician, a leading member of the senatorial party opposed to the powerful general Julius Caesar. From 72 to 70 Claudius served in Anatolia under his brother-in-law, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, in the war against Mithradates VI, king of Pontus. He was praetor in

Publius Claudius Pulcher was the son of Appius Claudius Caecus and commander of the fleet that suffered the only serious Roman naval defeat of the First Punic War (264–241 bc). The setback occurred in 249, when Claudius was consul. He attacked the Carthaginian fleet in the harbour of Drepanum

Appius Claudius Sabinus Inregillensis was the traditional founder of the Claudii, one of the most distinguished gentes (“clans”) of ancient Rome. About 504 bc he migrated from Regillum (or Regilli) in Sabine territory to Rome, where he received patrician rank. His followers were granted Roman

Robert Graves: …ancient Mediterranean civilizations and including Claudius the God (1934), which extends Claudius’s narrative to his own reign as emperor; Count Belisarius (1938), a sympathetic study of the great and martyred general of the Byzantine Empire; and The Golden Fleece (1944; U.S. title Hercules, My Shipmate). Graves’s researches for The Golden…

human ear: Organ of Corti: …called the cells of Hensen, Claudius, and Boettcher, after the 19th-century anatomists who first described them. Their function has not been established, but they are assumed to help in maintaining the composition of the endolymph by ion transport and absorptive activity.

Matthias Claudius was a German poet, most notable for Der Mond ist aufgegangen (“The Moon Has Risen”) and editor of the journal Der Wandsbecker Bothe. After studying at Jena, Claudius held a series of editorial and minor official positions in Copenhagen and Darmstadt until in 1788 he acquired a

sulfur: Commercial production: …to elemental sulfur by the Claus process, which involves the partial burning of hydrogen sulfide to sulfur dioxide, with subsequent reaction between the two to yield sulfur. Another important source is the sulfur dioxide emitted into the atmosphere by coal-fired steam power plants. In the early 1970s techniques to collect…

Karl Karlovich Klaus was a Russian chemist (of German origin) credited with the discovery of ruthenium in 1844. Klaus was educated at Dorpat, where he became a pharmacist; later he taught chemistry and pharmacy at the universities of Dorpat and Kazan. Klaus was noted for his researches on the

Hugo Claus was a Belgian poet, novelist, playwright, screenwriter, director, and painter renowned for his prolific energy and the versatility of his politically and socially challenging work. Many consider him to be Belgium’s greatest writer. Claus was the son of a painter. He attended Roman

Santa Claus, legendary figure who is the traditional patron of Christmas in the United States and other countries, bringing gifts to children. His popular image is based on traditions associated with Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint who is typically depicted in red bishop’s robes. The

Bertrand, Count Clauzel was a marshal of France and governor of Algeria (1835–37). After service in the eastern Pyrenees, northwestern France, and Italy, he rose to general of division in 1802 and distinguished himself during the Peninsular War (1809–12). Having crushed the Bordeaux royalists

John F. Clauser is an American physicist who was awarded the 2022 Nobel Prize for Physics for his experiments with quantum entanglement. He shared the prize with French physicist Alain Aspect and Austrian physicist Anton Zeilinger. What happens to one particle in an entangled pair determines what

Carl von Clausewitz was a Prussian general and military thinker, whose work Vom Kriege (1832; On War) has become one of the most respected classics on military strategy. Clausewitz enlisted in the Prussian army in 1792, and in 1793–95 he took part (and was commissioned) in the campaigns of the

Carl von Clausewitz was a Prussian general and military thinker, whose work Vom Kriege (1832; On War) has become one of the most respected classics on military strategy. Clausewitz enlisted in the Prussian army in 1792, and in 1793–95 he took part (and was commissioned) in the campaigns of the

gastropod: Classification: Superfamily Clausiliacea Elongated shells of West Indian shore salt-spray zone (Cerionidae) or Andean mountains of South America and Eurasia (Clausiliidae). Superfamily Strophocheilacea Large helicoidal to elongated shells of South America (Strophocheilidae) or southwestern

gastropod: Classification: …South America and Eurasia (Clausiliidae). Superfamily Strophocheilacea Large helicoidal to elongated shells of South America (Strophocheilidae) or southwestern Africa (Dorcasiidae). Order Sigmurethra Ureter originates near anterior margin

Rudolf Clausius was a German mathematical physicist who formulated the second law of thermodynamics and is credited with making thermodynamics a science. Clausius was appointed professor of physics at the Artillery and Engineering School at Berlin in 1850, the same year in which he presented a

Rudolf Clausius was a German mathematical physicist who formulated the second law of thermodynamics and is credited with making thermodynamics a science. Clausius was appointed professor of physics at the Artillery and Engineering School at Berlin in 1850, the same year in which he presented a

thermodynamics: The Clausius-Clapeyron equation: Phase changes, such as the conversion of liquid water to steam, provide an important example of a system in which there is a large change in internal energy with volume at constant temperature. Suppose that the cylinder contains both water and steam in…

Sophus Claussen was one of Scandinavia’s foremost lyric poets. He was influenced by the French Symbolists and in turn greatly influenced Danish modernist poets of the 1940s and 1960s. Claussen’s family was devoted to farming and politics, and he was intensely interested in the latter. After

claustrophobia, persistent extreme irrational fear of enclosed or confined spaces. The word claustrophobia is derived from the Latin claustrum, meaning “a place shut in” or “a confined place,” and from the Greek phobos, meaning “fear.” Persons who are affected by claustrophobia experience

clausula, in Greek and Latin rhetoric, the rhythmic close to a sentence or clause, or a terminal cadence. The clausula is especially important in ancient and medieval Latin prose rhythm; most of the clausulae in Cicero’s speeches, for example, follow a specific pattern and distinctly avoid certain

clausula, in music, a 13th-century polyphonic genre featuring two strictly measured parts: notable examples are the descant sections based on the Gregorian chant melisma (several notes to a syllable), which in the organa of the Notre-Dame school alternated with sections featuring coloratura-like

Bertrand, Count Clauzel was a marshal of France and governor of Algeria (1835–37). After service in the eastern Pyrenees, northwestern France, and Italy, he rose to general of division in 1802 and distinguished himself during the Peninsular War (1809–12). Having crushed the Bordeaux royalists

mushroom: Other mushrooms: …Ramaria), are shrublike, clublike, or coral-like in growth habit. One club fungus, the cauliflower fungus (Sparassis crispa), has flattened clustered branches that lie close together, giving the appearance of the vegetable cauliflower.

magnoliid clade: Evolution: …pollen grain is known as Clavatipollenites, which recent studies suggest is probably most closely related to the order Laurales, although it shows some links to the Magnoliales. It first appeared in the rocks of the Barremian (129.4 million to 125.0 million years ago) or in those of the slightly earlier…

Enrique Flórez: …España sagrada, Flórez wrote the Clave historial (1743; “Key to Historical Methodology”), a discourse on methods of writing history; the Memorias de las reynas católicas (1761; “Memoirs of the Catholic Queens”), a genealogical account of Catholic queens in the Castilian line from the Goths until the reign of Charles III;…

Manuel Vilar: …academy recruited Vilar and painter Pelegrín Clavé, a fellow Catalonian who also worked in a Purist style, in the hopes of revitalizing the school. Together, Vilar and Clavé directed the school’s training toward a conservative, deeply religious art. Students began to produce emotionally intense biblical scenes that reflected their teachers’…

Novartis AG: …a silk-dyeing business owned by Alexander Clavel, who began manufacturing the synthetic dye fuchsine in 1859. In 1873 Clavel sold his business to a partnership, Bindschedler & Busch, which expanded the range of dyestuffs produced. In 1884 the firm was transformed into a limited-liability company called the Gesellschaft für Chemische…

James Clavell was an Australian-born British author, director, and screenwriter best known for his popular action novels set within Asian cultures, in particular Shōgun (1975), which became an international bestseller and was adapted into a television miniseries (1980) that was a huge ratings

James Clavell was an Australian-born British author, director, and screenwriter best known for his popular action novels set within Asian cultures, in particular Shōgun (1975), which became an international bestseller and was adapted into a television miniseries (1980) that was a huge ratings

Warren Hastings: Political rivalries: …led by an army officer, Sir John Clavering, and included the immensely able and ambitious Philip Francis, immediately quarreled with Hastings. Hastings’s admirers have had little patience with Clavering and Francis; but it is possible to see that Francis had a genuine point of view in his opposition to Hastings…

claves, percussion instrument, a pair of cylindrical hardwood sticks about 8 inches (20 centimetres) long and one inch (2 12 centimetres) in diameter, one of which is held in the player’s fingertips over the cupped hand (a resonator). When struck together they produce a sharp ringing sound. Claves

plant disease: General characteristics: …plant pathogenic bacteria are Agrobacterium, Clavibacter, Erwinia, Pseudomonas, Xanthomonas, Streptomyces, and Xylella. With the exception of Streptomyces species, all are small, single, rod-shaped cells approximately 0.5 to 1.0 micrometre (0.00002 to 0.00004 inch) in width and 1.0 to 3.5

Ascomycota: The genus Claviceps includes C. purpurea, the cause of ergot of rye and ergotism in humans and domestic animals.

ergot: …of sorghum is caused by C. africana, while that of pearl millet is due to C. fusiformis.

ergot: …pearl millet is due to C. fusiformis.

Ascomycota: >C. purpurea, the cause of ergot of rye and ergotism in humans and domestic animals.

clavichord, stringed keyboard musical instrument, developed from the medieval monochord. It flourished from about 1400 to 1800 and was revived in the 20th century. It is usually rectangular in shape, and its case and lid were usually highly decorated, painted, and inlaid. The right, or treble, end

clavicle, curved anterior bone of the shoulder (pectoral) girdle in vertebrates; it functions as a strut to support the shoulder. The clavicle is present in mammals with prehensile forelimbs and in bats, and it is absent in sea mammals and those adapted for running. The wishbone, or furcula, of

clavicytherium, a type of vertically strung

clavier, any stringed keyboard musical instrument in Germany from the late 17th century. The harpsichord, the clavichord, and, later, the piano bore the name. The Anglicized form of the name is often used in English discussions of such instruments in German music. It is also used in place of

keyboard instrument: France: …fifth manual, it was a Clavier de Bombardes, consisting of 16-, 8-, and 4-foot trumpets and a cornet. Unlike its German counterpart, the main case housed all divisions except the Positif, which was in its usual location on the gallery railing.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Instrumental works: The second part of the Clavierübung, containing the Concerto in the Italian Style and the French Overture (Partita) in B Minor, appeared in 1735. The third part, consisting of the Organ Mass with the Prelude and Fugue [“St. Anne”] in E-flat Major (BWV 552), appeared in 1739. From c. 1729…

José Clavijo y Fajardo: …von Goethe in his tragedy Clavigo.

José Clavijo y Fajardo was a Spanish naturalist and man of letters known for his campaign against public performance of the Corpus Christi autos sacramentales, one-act, open-air dramas that portrayed the eucharistic mystery. From his position as editor of the literary periodical El pensador, he

electronic instrument: Post-World War II electronic instruments: The Hammond Solovox, Constant Martin’s Clavioline, and Georges Jenny’s Ondioline are examples of commercially produced monophonic (capable of generating only one note at a time) electronic instruments. These instruments used small keyboards and were designed to mount immediately under the keyboard of a piano. They were capable of simulating a…

William Oughtred: …famous under the title of Clavis Mathematicae (“The Key to Mathematics”), although it was not an easy text. It compressed much of contemporary European knowledge of arithmetic and algebra into less than 100 pages (in the first edition), while a somewhat obscure style and a penchant for excessive symbolism made…

Arthur Collier: In his major work, Clavis Universalis (1713; “Universal Key”), he argued that men dare not conclude that what seems to perception to be external is actually external, for such objects as hallucinations, which seem external, are admitted to be internal. The difference between a seen and an imagined object,…

calendar: The Gregorian calendar: …bull that the Jesuit astronomer Christopher Clavius (1537–1612) began to draw up, using suggestions made by the astronomer and physician Luigi Lilio (also known as Aloysius Lilius; died 1576).

mola: …thick rudderlike structure called a clavus just behind the tall triangular dorsal and anal fins. The development of the clavus results from the folding of the mola’s back fin into its body as the fish grows. The fishes are also flattened from side to side and have tough skin, a…

claw, narrow, arched structure that curves downward from the end of a digit in birds, reptiles, many mammals, and some amphibians. It is a hardened (keratinized) modification of the epidermis. Claws may be adapted for scratching, clutching, digging, or climbing. By analogy, the appendages of other

glassware: The Roman Empire: …of the elaborate and fantastic Rüsselbecher (“elephant’s trunk, or claw beaker”) on which two superimposed rows of hollow, trunklike protrusions curve down to rejoin the wall of the vessel above a small button foot.

hand tool: Hammers and hammerlike tools: …name hammer is the carpenter’s claw type, but there are many others, such as riveting, boilermaker’s, bricklayer’s, blacksmith’s, machinist’s ball peen and cross peen, stone (or spalling), prospecting, and tack hammers. Each has a particular reason for its form. Such specialization was evident under the Romans, and a craftsperson of…

clam shrimp, any member of the crustacean order Conchostraca (subclass Branchiopoda), a group of about 200 species inhabiting shallow freshwater lakes, ponds, and temporary pools throughout the world. Clam shrimps are so called because their entire body is contained within a bivalved shell

clawed frog: …the African clawed frog, or platanna (X. laevis) of southern Africa, a smooth-skinned frog about 13 cm (5 inches) long. It is valuable for mosquito control, because it eats the eggs and young of those insects. Native to sub-Saharan Africa, X. laevis was introduced to the United States and Britain.…

clawed frog, (genus Xenopus), any member of 6 to 15 species of tongueless aquatic African frogs (family Pipidae) having small black claws on the inner three toes of the hind limbs. Xenopus species are generally dull-coloured. Their bodies are relatively flat and bear whitish fringelike mucous

mustelid: Natural history: Clawless otters (genus Aonyx) specialize in crustaceans (especially crabs) and mollusks, whereas other otters (genus Lutra) are primarily fish eaters. Among the weasels (genus Mustela), specialization occurs even between the sexes, such that males, owing to their larger size, consume larger prey than females do.

Laurence Claxton was a preacher and pamphleteer, leader of the radical English religious sect known as the Ranters. Originally a tailor by trade, Claxton sampled many Protestant denominations before joining the Baptists in 1644. His first tracts, The Pilgrimage of Saints and Truth Released,

mechanics’ institute: Timothy Claxton founded the Mechanical Institution in London in 1817; it offered lecture-discussions for three years, until Claxton left London in 1820. The New York Mechanic and Scientific Institution, founded in 1822, was the first of many short-lived efforts in New York.

Kle, town, western Liberia. It is a traditional trading centre among the Gola people. The B.F. Goodrich Company, Liberia, Inc., established a plantation, hospital, power plant, housing, schools, and roads to the west of the town, which began producing rubber in 1963. Pop. (2008)

clay, soil particles the diameters of which are less than 0.005 millimetre; also a rock that is composed essentially of clay particles. Rock in this sense includes soils, ceramic clays, clay shales, mudstones, glacial clays (including great volumes of detrital and transported clays), and deep-sea

Charleston: The Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of West Virginia includes an art museum, a performing arts centre, a discovery museum, and a planetarium. The University of Charleston (formerly Morris Harvey College) is a private coeducational university founded in 1888; West Virginia State College (1891),…

playa: Effects of wind action: …these features are sometimes called clay dunes. In Australia they are known as lunettes. James M. Bowler, an Australian Quaternary stratigrapher, produced a precise chronology of playa development and associated eolian activity in the desert of western New South Wales, Australia. There, numerous small lakes reached their maximum extent 32,000…

nodule: Clay ironstone, a mixture of clay and siderite (iron carbonate), sometimes occurs as layers of dark-gray to brown, fine-grained nodules overlying coal seams. Phosphorites, massive phosphate rocks, often occur in phosphate deposits, in some limestones and chalks, and on the present sea bottom as black,…

Millennium Problem: …problems designated such by the Clay Mathematics Institute (CMI) of Cambridge, Mass., U.S., each of which has a million-dollar reward for its solution. CMI was founded in 1998 by American businessman Landon T. Clay “to increase and disseminate mathematical knowledge.” The seven problems, which were announced in 2000, are the…

clay mineral, any of a group of important hydrous aluminum silicates with a layer (sheetlike) structure and very small particle size. They may contain significant amounts of iron, alkali metals, or alkaline earths. The term clay is generally applied to (1) a natural material with plastic

clay mineralogy, the scientific discipline concerned with all aspects of clay minerals, including their properties, composition, classification, crystal structure, and occurrence and distribution in nature. The methods of study include X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopic analysis, chemical

playa, flat-bottom depression found in interior desert basins and adjacent to coasts within arid and semiarid regions, periodically covered by water that slowly filtrates into the ground water system or evaporates into the atmosphere, causing the deposition of salt, sand, and mud along the bottom

Richard Fleischer: Early life and work: …who is framed for murder; The Clay Pigeon (1949), about a sailor (played by Bill Williams) who awakens from a coma only to learn that he is about to be court-martialed for treason; Follow Me Quietly (1949), a police procedural about a serial killer; and Trapped (1949), a pseudodocumentary about…

refractory: Clay-based refractories: In this section the composition and properties of the clay-based refractories are described. Most are produced as preformed brick. Much of the remaining products are so-called monolithics, materials that can be formed and solidified on-site. This category includes mortars for cementing bricks and…

Anatolian religion: Prehistoric periods: Though the Old Assyrian tablets are concerned exclusively with commercial matters, the seal impressions that they bear contain a new and elaborate system of religious symbolism (iconography) that later reached its maturity under the Hittites. Here a whole pantheon of deities, some recognizably Mesopotamian, others native Anatolian, are distinguished…

Octavia E. Butler: (1978), Wild Seed (1980), and Clay’s Ark (1984).

Cassius Marcellus Clay was an American antislavery leader who served the abolition movement in spite of his Southern background. Although he was the son of a slaveholder and a relative of the Kentucky senator Henry Clay, who—true to his byname (the Great Compromiser)—favoured only gradual

Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and social activist. Considered one of the greatest boxers in history, Ali was the first fighter to win the world heavyweight championship on three separate occasions; he successfully defended this title 19 times. (Read Gene Tunney’s 1929 Britannica

Henry Clay was an American statesman, U.S. congressman (1811–14, 1815–21, 1823–25), and U.S. senator (1806–07, 1810–11, 1831–42, 1849–52) who was noted for his American System (which integrated a national bank, the tariff, and internal improvements to promote economic stability and prosperity) and

Lucius D. Clay was a U.S. Army officer who became the first director of civilian affairs in defeated Germany after World War II. Clay graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York (1918), and served in army engineer assignments before becoming head of the first national civil

Lucius D. Clay was a U.S. Army officer who became the first director of civilian affairs in defeated Germany after World War II. Clay graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York (1918), and served in army engineer assignments before becoming head of the first national civil

trapshooting, sport in which participants use shotguns for shooting at saucer-shaped clay targets flung into the air from a spring device called a trap. A later variant, skeet shooting, is also included in trapshooting. Trapshooting originated in England in the late 18th century when marksmen, to

Arnold Bennett: …Old Wives’ Tale (1908), and Clayhanger (1910; included with its successors, Hilda Lessways, 1911, and These Twain, 1916, in The Clayhanger Family, 1925)—have their setting there, the only exception being Riceyman Steps (1923), set in a lower-middle-class district of London.

The Clayhanger Family, trilogy of semiautobiographical novels by Arnold Bennett. The first and best-known book of the three is Clayhanger (1910); it was followed by Hilda Lessways (1911) and These Twain (1915). They were published together in 1925. Set in the late 19th century in a drab potters’

Phil Knight: Nike: …animation that it dubbed “Claymation.” The company’s creations included iconic commercial characters, including the California Raisins and talking M&Ms. In 2002 Knight became a majority holder in the business and ousted founder Will Vinton the following year. Knight later renamed the company Laika, after the dog who was the…