- madambo (grassland)
Malawi: Plant and animal life: Grass-covered broad depressions, called madambo (singular: dambo), dot the plateaus. Grasslands and evergreen forests are found in conjunction on the highlands and on the Mulanje and Zomba massifs.
- madame (French title)
mademoiselle: …identify themselves as married (madame) or unmarried (mademoiselle). No equivalent distinction existed for men, with appellation monsieur used universally. In 2012, after years of campaigning by feminist groups, the French government announced that it would phase out the use of mademoiselle in favour of madame in official documents, and…
- Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur (primate)
lemur: General features: 5 inches) in Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae) to nearly 70 cm (28 inches) for the indri (Indri indri). The bushy tails of lemurs can be longer than their bodies; the indri, however, has only a stub of a tail. Except for the aye-aye, lemurs have woolly…
- Madame Bovary (film by Minnelli [1949])
Vincente Minnelli: Films of the later 1940s: Meet Me in St. Louis, The Clock, and The Pirate: Flaubert’s novel Madame Bovary. The result, released in 1949, featured Jennifer Jones as the pretentious, adulterous Emma Bovary, Van Heflin as her cuckolded husband, Charles, and Louis Jourdan as her seducer, Rodolphe; James Mason played Flaubert himself, on trial on obscenity charges, in a framing sequence. The…
- Madame Bovary (novel by Flaubert)
Madame Bovary, novel by Gustave Flaubert, serialized in the Revue de Paris in 1856 and then published in two volumes the following year. Flaubert transformed a commonplace story of adultery into an enduring work of profound humanity. Madame Bovary is considered Flaubert’s masterpiece, and,
- Madame Bovary (film by Chabrol [1991])
Isabelle Huppert: Versatility in the 1990s and 2000s: …adaptation (1991) of Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary, she played the tragic Emma Bovary, an unhappy middle-class wife whose adulterous affairs eventually lead to her suicide. For her performance Huppert received some of the most notable reviews of her career. In 1994 she starred as a nun turned pornographer in Amateur.…
- Madame Celestin’s Divorce (short story by Chopin)
Kate Chopin: …stories, “Désirée’s Baby” and “Madame Celestin’s Divorce,” continue to be widely anthologized.
- Madame Chiang Kai-Shek on Chiang Kai-Shek
Madame Chiang Kai-shek (Soong Mei-ling) was a well-known Chinese political figure of the 20th century, who hailed from a prominent family. She was the second wife of Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek, head of the Nationalist government in China from 1928 to 1949; her sister Soong Ch’ing-ling was
- Madame Curie (film by LeRoy [1943])
Ève Curie: Early life: …was made into a Hollywood film (1943) starring British-American actress Greer Garson as Marie and Canadian-born American actor Walter Pidgeon as Pierre. Although the biography—and later the film adaptation—inspired many girls to pursue a career in science, it was criticized for leaving out both the sex discrimination that Marie had…
- Madame Curie (biography by Curie)
Ève Curie: …a biography of her mother, Madame Curie (1937).
- Madame Du Barry (film by Edwards [1917])
Theda Bara: Two Flags (1916), Camille (1917), Madame Du Barry (1917), Cleopatra (1917), Salome (1918), and Kathleen Mavourneen (1919). By the end of World War I, her popularity had declined. After an unsuccessful appearance on Broadway and an attempted Hollywood comeback, she retired from the screen in the late 1920s.
- Madame Elisabeth (princess of France)
Elizabeth Of France was a French princess, sister of King Louis XVI, noted for her courage and fidelity during the French Revolution, which sacrificed her to the guillotine. She was the youngest daughter of the dauphin Louis (d. 1765) and Maria Josepha of Saxony. Whereas her aunt and two of her
- Madame George (song by Morrison)
Van Morrison: …classic track, the nine-minute “Madame George,” in which Morrison achieves a sort of poetic trance wholly new to rock.
- Madame Jones (American opera singer)
Matilda Sissieretta Jones was an American opera singer who was among the greatest sopranos in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jones early revealed her talent as a singer, and for a time she studied at the Providence (Rhode Island) Academy of Music. She may have undertaken further studies at
- Madame Mere (mother of Napoleon)
Letizia Buonaparte was the mother of Napoleon I by Carlo Maria Buonaparte, whom she married in 1764. Simple and frugal in her tastes and devout in thought, she helped to bind her children to the life of Corsica. Although, during her son’s ascendance, she was endowed with immense wealth and
- Madame Nhu (South Vietnamese political figure)
Madame Nhu was a South Vietnamese political figure who was a significant force behind her bachelor brother-in-law Ngo Dinh Diem, who exercised dictatorial powers as president of South Vietnam from 1955 until his assassination in 1963. Tran Le Xuan was born into an aristocratic Buddhist family, but
- Madame Rosa (film by Mizrahi [1977])
- Madame Sarah (work by Skinner)
Cornelia Otis Skinner: …in the serious and moving Madame Sarah (1967), which chronicled the life of the French actress Sarah Bernhardt.
- Madame Sousatzka (film by Schlesinger [1988])
John Schlesinger: Films of the late 1960s and ’70s: …best reviews in years for Madame Sousatzka (1988), an indelible character sketch of a quirky London piano teacher (Shirley MacLaine) who helps her gifted 15-year-old Indian student (Navin Chowdhry) realize his full potential.
- Madame Web (film by Clarkson [2024])
Sydney Sweeney: Breakthrough parts and stardom: …starred alongside Dakota Johnson in Madame Web, a superhero film based on a Marvel character.
- Madame White Snake (opera by Zhou Long)
Zhou Long: …the music he created for Madame White Snake (2010), a vivid opera based on a Chinese folk tale, for which Zhou earned the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for music.
- Madame X (film by Wood [1937])
Sam Wood: Films with the Marx Brothers: Naval Academy, was formulaic, but Madame X (1937) was a fine adaptation of the Alexandre Bisson play, with Gladys George as the mother who sacrifices her own welfare to ensure the success of her son (John Beal). Woods then made the family drama Lord Jeff (1938), a showcase for MGM’s…
- Madame X (painting by John Singer Sargent)
Madame X, oil painting created by Italian-born American artist John Singer Sargent in 1884. Sargent, who was largely brought up and educated in Europe, painted this remarkable portrait near the start of his career, when he was living in Paris. He hoped that it would make his name and, indeed, it
- Madame X (album by Madonna)
Madonna: MDNA, Rebel Heart, and Madame X: …released her 14th studio album, Madame X, which was inspired by her 2017 move to Lisbon, Portugal, and contained music influenced by Latin pop, art pop, and hip-hop.
- Madamu to nyōbō (film by Gosho Heinosuke)
Shōchiku Co., Ltd.: …first successful Japanese talking film, Madamu to nyōbō (1931; “The Neighbour’s Wife and Mine”), directed by Gosho Heinosuke.
- Madan (people)
Iraq: Rural settlement: …the Shiʿi marsh dwellers (Madan) of southern Iraq. They traditionally have lived in reed dwellings built on brushwood foundations or sandspits, but the damage done to the marshes in the 1990s has largely undermined their way of living. Rice, fish, and edible rushes have been staples, supplemented by products…
- Madanapala (Gahadavala ruler)
Gahadavala dynasty: …the period of Chandradeva’s son Madanapala (reigned c. 1104–13), who was, in all probability, the Kannauj king imprisoned and later released during the period of Ghaznavid Sultan Masʿūd III. Despite the regularity of Muslim attacks, which were at least temporarily repulsed by Govindachandra (reigned c. 1113–15), the Gahadavalas endeavoured to…
- Madang (Papua New Guinea)
Madang, port on the northeastern coast of the island of New Guinea, Papua New Guinea. It lies along Astrolabe Bay of the Bismarck Sea, near the mouth of the Gogol River. Madang is the centre for a large timber industry based on the Gogol forest, about 25 miles (40 km) inland, and is the
- madang (Korean music)
pansori: Repertoire: …5 of an original 12 madang, or song cycles, are still performed in the 21st century. These madang address a variety of topics.
- Madani, Abassi (Algerian religious and political leader)
Abbasi al-Madani was a cofounder, with Ali Belhadj, of the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front (Front Islamique du Salut; FIS). After earning a doctorate in London, he returned to Algeria to teach at the University of Algiers, where he became a leader of religious students. He traveled with other
- Madani, Abbasi al- (Algerian religious and political leader)
Abbasi al-Madani was a cofounder, with Ali Belhadj, of the Algerian Islamic Salvation Front (Front Islamique du Salut; FIS). After earning a doctorate in London, he returned to Algeria to teach at the University of Algiers, where he became a leader of religious students. He traveled with other
- Madani, Ibrahim al- (al-Qaeda terrorist)
Saif al-Adel is an Egyptian militant Islamist who served as a high-ranking member of al-Qaeda and head of Osama bin Laden’s personal security force. He was indicted by the U.S. for his alleged participation in the bombing of U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998. Little is known about al-Adel’s
- Madanī, ʿIzz al-Dīn al- (Tunisian writer)
Arabic literature: Modern Arabic drama: The Tunisian writer ʿIzz al-Dīn al-Madanī, one of the most fruitful contributors to the history of modern Arabic drama during the 20th century, composed a series of plays that were both experimental and popular; they included Thawrat ṣāḥib al-ḥimār (1971; “The Donkey Owner’s Revolt”) and Dīwān al-Zanj (1973;…
- Madanīn (Tunisia)
Medenine, town located in southern Tunisia. Medenine lies in the semiarid plain of Al-Jifārah (Jeffara). It was the capital of the Ouerghemma League of three Amazigh (Berber) groups and was the chief town of the Southern Military Territories during the French protectorate (1881–1955). The
- Madaniyyah (Islamic history)
surah: …either Makkiyyah (“of Mecca”) or Madaniyyah (“of Medina”). According to some Muslim scholars, these labels indicate whether the surah was revealed to Muhammad while he was preaching in one or the other of those cities. In some cases an intermixture of verses is similarly designated; modern critical scholarship, however, does…
- madar (plant fiber)
akund floss, downy seed fibre obtained from Calotropis procera and C. gigantea, milkweed plants of the Apocynaceae family (formerly in Asclepiadaceae). Small trees or shrubs, these two species are native to southern Asia and Africa and were introduced to South America and the islands of the
- Madariaga y Rojo, Salvador de (Spanish writer and diplomat)
Salvador de Madariaga y Rojo was a Spanish writer, diplomat, and historian, noted for his service at the League of Nations and for his prolific writing in English, German, and French, as well as Spanish. The son of a Spanish army officer, Madariaga was trained at his father’s insistence as an
- Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ (Saudi Arabia)
history of Arabia: Prehistory and archaeology: …Dedān (now Al-ʿUlā), Al-Ḥijr (now Madāʾin Ṣāliḥ, barely six miles north of Dedān), and Taymāʾ to the northeast of the other two, have long been known but not fully explored. In south-central Arabia, near Al-Sulayyil, a town site at Qaryat Dhāt Kāhil (now Qaryat al-Fāw) has yielded rich results from…
- Madāʾin, Al- (ancient urban complex, Middle East)
history of Mesopotamia: The Parthian period: …became an urban complex called Māḥōzē in Aramaic and Al-Madāʾin in Arabic; both names mean “The Cities.”
- Madcap Laughs, The (album by Barrett)
Syd Barrett: Solo career and later life: …Waters, Barrett released two albums: The Madcap Laughs and Barrett. Madcap peaked at number 40 on the U.K. charts; Barrett, however, was largely unsuccessful, failing even to chart. In late January 1972 Barrett formed a band known as Stars, which included Twink on drums and Jack Monck on bass. They…
- Mädchenfeinde, Die (work by Spitteler)
Carl Spitteler: …also wrote two masterly stories—Die Mädchenfeinde (1907; Two Little Misogynists, 1922), a childhood idyll derived from his own experience; and Conrad der Leutnant (1898), a dramatically finished Novelle in which he approached the Naturalism he otherwise hated. His novel Imago (1906) so sharply reflected his inner conflict between a…
- MaddAddam (novel by Atwood)
Margaret Atwood: Novels: MaddAddam (2013), which continues to pluck at the biblical, eschatological, and anticorporate threads running through the two previous novels, brings the satirical trilogy to a denouement. The Heart Goes Last (2015), originally published as a serial e-book (2012–13), imagines a dystopian America in which a…
- Maddalena Archipelago (islands, Italy)
Maddalena Island: …the principal island of the Maddalena Archipelago, which includes the islands of Maddalena, Caprera, Santo Stefano, Spargi, Budelli, Santa Maria, and Razzoli. Its port, La Maddalena, is the administrative centre of a commune that includes all the islands. The harbour of La Maddalena was an important Italian naval station until…
- Maddalena Island (Italy)
Maddalena Island, island. It lies in the Tyrrhenian Sea (of the Mediterranean) off the northeast coast of Sardinia. It has an area of 8 square miles (20 square km) and is the principal island of the Maddalena Archipelago, which includes the islands of Maddalena, Caprera, Santo Stefano, Spargi,
- Maddalena Pass (mountain pass, Europe)
Maddalena Pass, gap between the Cottian Alps (north) and the Maritime Alps (south). The pass lies at 6,548 feet (1,996 m) on the French-Italian border, 12 miles (19 km) east-northeast of Barcelonnette, Fr. A road (1870) across the pass connects Cuneo, Italy, with Barcelonnette. Hannibal reputedly
- Maddalena, Colle della (mountain pass, Europe)
Maddalena Pass, gap between the Cottian Alps (north) and the Maritime Alps (south). The pass lies at 6,548 feet (1,996 m) on the French-Italian border, 12 miles (19 km) east-northeast of Barcelonnette, Fr. A road (1870) across the pass connects Cuneo, Italy, with Barcelonnette. Hannibal reputedly
- Maddalena, La (harbor, Italy)
Maddalena Island: Its port, La Maddalena, is the administrative centre of a commune that includes all the islands. The harbour of La Maddalena was an important Italian naval station until its installations were destroyed by Allied bombing in World War II. Napoleon’s forces had bombarded the harbour in 1793…
- Madden Dam (dam, Panama)
Chagres River: …miles [57 square km]) at Madden Dam, which was built in 1935 for navigation, flood control, and hydroelectric power. Below the dam it continues southwest to Gamboa, where it joins the Panama Canal at the north end of the Gaillard Cut. Its course then turns northward through Gatún Lake, created…
- Madden NFL (video game series)
Madden NFL, video game sports-simulation series created by EA Sports, a division of the American company Electronic Arts, and based on the National Football League (NFL). Its name derives from John Madden, a famous football coach and television colour commentator. EA Sports has held exclusive
- Madden, John (American football coach and television commentator)
John Madden was an American football coach and television commentator who was one of the best-known personalities in National Football League (NFL) history. In addition to his accomplishments in the NFL, Madden lent his name to a series of video games, Madden NFL, that became a cultural sensation.
- Madden, John Earl (American football coach and television commentator)
John Madden was an American football coach and television commentator who was one of the best-known personalities in National Football League (NFL) history. In addition to his accomplishments in the NFL, Madden lent his name to a series of video games, Madden NFL, that became a cultural sensation.
- Madden, Lake (lake, Panama)
Panama Canal: The canal: …waters from Alajuela Lake (Lake Madden; formed by the Madden Dam), covers an area of 166 square miles (430 square km). The channel through the lake varies in depth from 46 to 85 feet (14 to 26 meters) and extends for about 23 miles (37 km) to Gamboa. Gaillard…
- Madden, Steve (American shoe designer)
Steve Madden is an American shoe designer who founded Steven Madden, Ltd., a manufacturer of moderately priced shoes and accessories, marketed mostly to young women and girls. In 2002–05 he was imprisoned for financial misconduct. Madden, the son of a textile manufacturer and a housewife, was a
- Madden, Steven (American shoe designer)
Steve Madden is an American shoe designer who founded Steven Madden, Ltd., a manufacturer of moderately priced shoes and accessories, marketed mostly to young women and girls. In 2002–05 he was imprisoned for financial misconduct. Madden, the son of a textile manufacturer and a housewife, was a
- Madden-Julian oscillation (meteorology)
Madden-Julian oscillation (MJO), intraseasonal fluctuation of atmospheric pressure over the equatorial Indian and western Pacific oceans, named for American atmospheric scientists Roland Madden and Paul Julian in 1971. This phenomenon comes in the form of alternating cyclonic and anticyclonic
- madder (plant)
madder, (genus Rubia), genus of about 80 species of perennial plants in the madder family (Rubiaceae), several of which were once commonly used as a source of dye. Madder species are distributed throughout the Mediterranean region, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The plants are generally
- madder family (plant family)
Rubiaceae, the madder family (order Gentianales) of flowering plants, consisting of 611 genera with more than 13,150 species of herbs, shrubs, and trees, distributed primarily in tropical areas of the world. Several species are of economic importance as sources of useful chemicals, and a number are
- Madderakka (Sami goddess)
Madderakka, Sami goddess of childbirth. She is assisted by three of her daughters—Sarakka, the cleaving woman; Uksakka, the door woman; and Juksakka, the bow woman—who watch over the development of the child from conception through early childhood. Madderakka was believed to receive the soul of a
- Maddison, Angus (British-born economic historian)
economic openness: The origins of economic openness: …instance, the British-born economic historian Angus Maddison reported in 1995 that the growth in volume of world trade was 3.4 percent (average) between 1870 and 1913 and 3.7 percent from 1973 to 1992. During the same time span, however, prices (constant dollars of 1990) went up 12 times. In addition,…
- Maddon, Joe (American baseball manager)
Tampa Bay Rays: Behind the leadership of manager Joe Maddon and the play of young stars Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, Evan Longoria, and Carl Crawford, the Rays posted a 95–67 record—a 29-game improvement from their 2007 mark of 66–96—and qualified for the first playoff appearance in the franchise’s history as AL East Division…
- Maddow, Rachel (American political commentator)
Rachel Maddow is an American liberal political commentator and radio and television personality, host of The Rachel Maddow Show (2008– ) on the cable television channel MSNBC. Maddow grew up in the San Francisco Bay area with her attorney father and school-administrator mother. She attended
- Maddow, Rachel Anne (American political commentator)
Rachel Maddow is an American liberal political commentator and radio and television personality, host of The Rachel Maddow Show (2008– ) on the cable television channel MSNBC. Maddow grew up in the San Francisco Bay area with her attorney father and school-administrator mother. She attended
- Maddox (United States ship)
Gulf of Tonkin incident: destroyers Maddox and Turner Joy. The Gulf of Tonkin incident led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which allowed President Lyndon B. Johnson to greatly escalate U.S. military involvement in the war.
- Maddox, Conroy (British painter)
British Surrealism: Maddox’s “The Playground of the Salpêtrière”—a title he applied to both a poem (1940) and a painting (1975)—are two of the better-known examples. Created in the early 1980s, Anthony Earnshaw’s pictorial reworkings of Ubu, the principal character of Alfred Jarry’s play Ubu roi (1896) and…
- Maddox, Richard Leach (English physician)
history of photography: Development of the dry plate: In 1871 Richard Leach Maddox, an English physician, suggested suspending silver bromide in a gelatin emulsion, an idea that led, in 1878, to the introduction of factory-produced dry plates coated with gelatin containing silver salts. This event marked the beginning of the modern era of photography.
- Madduwattas (Hittite warrior)
Arzawa: …by a disloyal Hittite vassal, Madduwattas; it was never recaptured by the Hittites and gradually lost its political identity.
- Maddux, Greg (American baseball player)
Greg Maddux is an American professional baseball player who was one of the game’s most successful pitchers, known for his accuracy and his ability to read opponents. He was the first pitcher to win four consecutive Cy Young Awards (1992–95). From a young age Maddux and his older brother, Mike (who
- Maddux, Gregory Alan (American baseball player)
Greg Maddux is an American professional baseball player who was one of the game’s most successful pitchers, known for his accuracy and his ability to read opponents. He was the first pitcher to win four consecutive Cy Young Awards (1992–95). From a young age Maddux and his older brother, Mike (who
- Maddy, Penelope (American philosopher)
philosophy of mathematics: Nontraditional versions: …of mathematical Platonism: one by Penelope Maddy, a second by Mark Balaguer (the author of this article) and Edward Zalta, and a third by Michael Resnik and Stewart Shapiro. All three versions were inspired by concerns over how humans could acquire knowledge of abstract objects.
- Made for Each Other (film by Cromwell [1939])
Carole Lombard: …opposite Cary Grant; the comedy-drama Made for Each Other (1939), costarring James Stewart; and Mr. and Mrs. Smith (1941), in which Lombard’s performance highlighted director Alfred Hitchcock’s only attempt at straightforward comedy.
- Made in America (film by Benjamin [1993])
Ted Danson: Career: …a Little Lady (1990), and Made in America (1993).
- Made in America (musical work by Tower)
Joan Tower: The acclaimed Made in America was first performed in 2005, and it later won a Grammy Award for best classical contemporary composition. Tower’s many commissions included Stroke (2010) for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Wild Summer (2017) for the Jasper String Quartet’s Four Seasons | Four Composers project;…
- Made in America (film by Howard [2013])
Ron Howard: Directing: …of the music industry, including Made in America (2013), which documents a music festival organized by rapper Jay-Z and beer producer Budweiser. The Beatles: Eight Days a Week—The Touring Years (2016) recounts the band’s 250 concerts, while Pavarotti (2019) chronicles the life and career of the prolific opera
- Made in Canada (Canadian television series)
Rick Mercer: …partner, writer-producer Gerald Lunz, created Made in Canada, a situation comedy about the Canadian film and television industry, with Mercer as its ruthless protagonist. After that show’s five-season run, Mercer and Lunz in 2004 introduced Rick Mercer’s Monday Report, a comedic news-focused program that drew comparisons to American television’s The…
- Made in Heaven (album by Queen)
Freddie Mercury: Death: …on the band’s final album, Made in Heaven (1995).
- Made in U.S.A. (film by Godard [1966])
Jean-Luc Godard: Breathless and filmmaking style and themes: In 1966 two features—Made in U.S.A., devoted to America, and Deux ou trois choses que je sais d’elle (Two or Three Things I Know About Her), devoted to Paris—marked a nadir of Godard’s generalized despair, which by then was aimed at society as well as at interpersonal relationships.…
- Madea (fictional character)
Tyler Perry: Perry’s trademark character, Madea, was created in his play I Can Do Bad All by Myself (2000; film 2009). The brutally honest, rambunctious gun-toting grandmother, whose name comes from the frequent African American contraction of “Mother Dear,” was played by Perry in drag. She was a recurring figure…
- Madea Family Funeral, A (film by Perry [2019])
Tyler Perry: … (2016) and its sequel (2017); A Madea Family Funeral (2019); and A Madea Homecoming (2022). Tyler Perry’s Temptation (2013), which Perry adapted from his play The Marriage Counselor (2008), offered another tale of romantic tumult. He then wrote and directed the uplifting The Single Moms Club (2014). His movies from…
- Madea Goes to Jail (film by Perry [2009])
Viola Davis: Doubt and Fences: …of Tyler Perry’s Madea franchise, Madea Goes to Jail (2009), and a guest role in 2010 on the Toni Collette TV series United States of Tara. In 2010 she also assumed the female lead in a Broadway revival of Wilson’s Fences opposite Denzel Washington (who had directed her in Antwone…
- Madeira (wine)
Madeira, fortified wine from the Portuguese island of Madeira in the Atlantic. Because the island was a customary port-of-call on the trade routes between Europe and the New World, this durable wine was very popular in colonial America. Madeira wine is fortified with brandy during fermentation to
- Madeira Island (island, Portugal)
Madeira Islands: Madeira Island, the largest of the group, is 34 miles (55 km) long, has a maximum width of 14 miles (22 km) and a coastline of about 90 miles (144 km), and rises in the centre to Ruivo Peak (6,106 feet [1,861 metres] above sea…
- Madeira Islands (archipelago, Portugal)
Madeira Islands, archipelago of volcanic origin in the North Atlantic Ocean, belonging to Portugal. It comprises two inhabited islands, Madeira and Porto Santo, and two uninhabited groups, the Desertas and the Selvagens. The islands are the summits of mountains that have their bases on an abyssal
- Madeira River (river, South America)
Madeira River, major tributary of the Amazon. It is formed by the junction of the Mamoré and Beni rivers at Villa Bella, Bolivia, and flows northward forming the border between Bolivia and Brazil for approximately 60 miles (100 km). After receiving the Abuná River, the Madeira meanders
- Madeira vine (plant)
Basellaceae: Madeira-vine, or mignonette-vine (Anredera cordifolia or Boussingaultia baselloides), and Malabar nightshade (several species of Basella) are cultivated as ornamentals. Malabar spinach (Basella alba) is a hot-weather substitute for spinach.
- Madeira-Mamoré Railway (railway, Brazil)
Madeira River: The Madeira-Mamoré Railway, which extended for 228 miles (367 km) between Pôrto Velho and Guajará-Mirim, circumvented the falls and rapids and provided a link with the upper course of the Madeira River. Abandoned in the 1970s, much of the railway’s corridor is now served by highway.
- Madeira-vine family (plant family)
Basellaceae, the Madeira-vine family of flowering plants in the order Caryophyllales, with 4 genera and 15 to 25 species of herbaceous perennial vines, distributed primarily in the New World tropics. Members of the family have fleshy, untoothed leaves, tuberous rootstocks, and red or white flowers
- Madeiros, Celestino (American criminal)
Sacco and Vanzetti: On November 18, 1925, Celestino Madeiros, then under a sentence for murder, confessed that he had participated in the crime with the Joe Morelli gang. The state Supreme Court refused to upset the verdict, because at that time the trial judge had the final power to reopen a case…
- Madeleine (church, Paris, France)
Madeleine, Paris church designed by Pierre-Alexandre Vignon in 1806. Together with the Arc de Triomphe (1806–08) and the Vendôme Column, the Madeleine is one of the monuments with which Napoleon sought to turn Paris into an imperial capital. Built in the form of a Roman temple surrounded by a
- madeleine (cake)
madeleine, delicate scallop-shaped French tea cake often served with fruit or sherbet. In its preparation, flour, eggs, and sugar are beaten with a large proportion of butter, incorporating as much air as possible, and then grated lemon rind and vanilla extract, and sometimes rum, are added. After
- Madeleine Férat (novel by Zola)
Émile Zola: Life: …is still widely read, and Madeleine Férat (1868), a rather unsuccessful attempt at applying the principles of heredity to the novel. It was this interest in science that led Zola, in the fall of 1868, to conceive the idea of a large-scale series of novels similar to Honoré de Balzac’s…
- Madeleine of Jesus, Sister (French religious devotee)
Little Brothers of Jesus and Little Sisters of Jesus: …1939 at Touggourt, Algeria, by Sister Madeleine of Jesus. Both congregations lived in small groups, called fraternities, in ordinary dwellings among the poor laboring classes. They held the same type of jobs as their neighbors. Their hope was that their presence among the people would influence an acceptance of Christianity.
- Madeleine, Church of the (abbey, Vézelay, France)
Vézelay: …tied to its great Benedictine abbey, which was founded in the 9th century under the influence of Cluny. After the supposed remains of St. Mary Magdalene were deposited in the abbey for safekeeping from Muslim armies, vast numbers of pilgrims were attracted to the abbey, and a town of about…
- Madeleine, Îles de la (islands, Canada)
Magdalen Islands, islands in Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine region, eastern Quebec province, Canada. They lie in the southern part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence between Prince Edward Island (southwest) and Newfoundland island (east-northeast), 150 miles (240 km) southeast of the Gaspé Peninsula. The
- Madem G-15 (political party, Guinea-Bissau)
Guinea-Bissau: Independence of Guinea-Bissau: …Alternation Group of 15 (Madem G-15) opposition party founded by former PAIGC members, were the two top vote-getters, taking about 40 percent and 28 percent respectively. Vaz, who ran as an independent, won little more than 12 percent.
- mademoiselle (title)
mademoiselle, the French equivalent of “Miss,” referring to an unmarried female. Etymologically, it means “my (young) lady” (ma demoiselle). As an honorific title in the French royal court, it came to be used (without the adjunction of a proper name) to refer to or address the daughter of the
- Mademoiselle de la Seiglière (novel by Sandeau)
Léonard-Sylvain-Julien Sandeau: Sandeau’s most successful novel was Mademoiselle de la Seiglière (1848), a tale of the conflict between love and class consciousness, written in a mannered style, now read mainly for its portrayal of society during the reign of Louis-Philippe. He also wrote a good deal for the theatre. He met with…
- Mademoiselle de Maupin (novel by Gautier)
history of Europe: The cult of art: …entertaining and sexually daring novel Mademoiselle de Maupin. In those pages the familiar argument against bourgeois philistinism, against practical utility, against the prevailing dullness, ugliness, and wrongness of daily life was set forth with much wit and that spirit of defiance which one usually thinks of as belonging to the…
- Mademoiselle Fifi (film by Wise [1944])
Robert Wise: Films of the mid- to late 1940s: …unit for two more films: Mademoiselle Fifi (1944), a loose adaptation of a pair of stories by Guy de Maupassant that focused on a courageous laundress (Simone Simon) who frees her French village from the spectre of the Prussian invaders during the Franco-German War, and The Body Snatcher (1945), a…
- Mademoiselle Pogany (sculpture by Constantin Brancusi)
Constantin Brancusi: Maturity of Constantin Brancusi: …Boston, showing five works including Mademoiselle Pogany, a schematized bust that would have numerous variations. Already known in the United States, Brancusi found faithful collectors there over subsequent decades. Meanwhile, critics around the world attacked the radical nature of his work.
- mader (plant fiber)
akund floss, downy seed fibre obtained from Calotropis procera and C. gigantea, milkweed plants of the Apocynaceae family (formerly in Asclepiadaceae). Small trees or shrubs, these two species are native to southern Asia and Africa and were introduced to South America and the islands of the