Great Mosque of Isfahan, complex of buildings in Isfahan, Iran, that centers on the 11th-century domed sanctuary and includes a second smaller domed chamber, built in 1088, known for its beauty of proportion and design. The central sanctuary was built under the direction of Niẓām al-Mulk, vizier to

Yazd: The Masjed-e Jomʿeh (Friday Mosque) is distinguished by the highest minarets in Iran, mosaic faience (earthenware ceramics), a superb mihrab (pulpit) dated 1375, and two oratories that are Gothic in appearance. Some of the other mosques and mausoleums in the city are decorated with delicate and…

Masjed-e Emām, celebrated 17th-century mosque in Eṣfahān, Iran. The mosque, part of the rebuilding effort of the Safavid shah ʿAbbās I, was located at the centre of Eṣfahān, along a great central mall (city square or courtyard) called the Maydān-e Emām (since 1979 a World Heritage site). Along with

Isfahan: Historical city: …the eastern side stands the Masjed-e Shaykh Luṭf Allāh (“Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque”), the mosque used by Abbas for his private devotions. On the western side of the square is the ʿĀlī Qāpū (“Lofty Gate”), a high building in the form of an archway that is crowned in the forepart by…

mosque, any house or open area of prayer in Islam. The Arabic word masjid means “a place of prostration” to God, and the same word is used in Persian, Urdu, and Turkish. Two main types of mosques can be distinguished: the masjid jāmiʿ, or “collective mosque,” a large state-controlled mosque that is

Great Mosque of Mecca, mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, built to enclose the Kaaba, the holiest shrine in Islam. As one of the destinations of the hajj and ʿumrah pilgrimages, it receives millions of worshippers each year. The oldest parts of the modern structure date to the 16th century. The mosque,

Jama Masjid of Delhi, mosque in Old Delhi, India, constructed in 1650–56 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahān, a noted patron of Islamic architecture whose most famous work is the Taj Mahal, in Agra. Jama Masjid, now the second largest mosque on the Indian subcontinent, is also an impressive example of

Babri Masjid, mosque in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India. According to inscriptions on the site, it was built in the year 935 of the Islamic calendar (September 1528–September 1529 ce) by Mīr Bāqī, possibly a bey serving under the Mughal emperor Bābur. Along with the mosques at Sambhal and Panipat, it

Islamic arts: Architecture: …sides were the small funerary mosque of Shaykh Luṭf Allāh (Sheikh Lotfollāh) and, facing it, the ʿAlī Qāpū, the “Lofty Gate,” the first unit of a succession of palaces and gardens that extended beyond the maydān, most of which have now disappeared except for the Chehel Sotūn (“Forty Columns”), a…

Indonesia: The years of constitutional democracy: …were the major Muslim party, Masyumi (Masjumi); the Muslim theologians’ party, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), which seceded from Masyumi in 1952; the Nationalist Party (PNI); the Communist Party (PKI); the “national communist” party, Murba; the lesser Muslim parties, Perti and Partai Sarekat Islam Indonesia (PSII); and the Socialist Party (PSI). Until…

masque, festival or entertainment in which disguised participants offer gifts to their host and then join together for a ceremonial dance. A typical masque consisted of a band of costumed and masked persons of the same sex who, accompanied by torchbearers, arrived at a social gathering to dance and

mask, a form of disguise or concealment usually worn over or in front of the face to hide the identity of a person and by its own features to establish another being. This essential characteristic of hiding and revealing personalities or moods is common to all masks. As cultural objects they have

integrated circuit: Photolithography: …is controlled by using a mask. A mask is made by applying a thick deposit of chrome in a particular pattern to a glass plate. The chrome provides a shadow over most of the wafer, allowing “light” to shine through only in desired locations. This enables the creation of extremely…

Peter Bogdanovich: The 1980s and beyond: …break from directing, Bogdanovich made Mask (1985), a drama based on a true story. The film was a critical and commercial hit, with Cher giving a memorable performance as the tough but loving mother of a teenage boy (Eric Stoltz) afflicted with a disease that causes severe facial disfigurement. Bogdanovich…

dragonfly: Life cycle and reproduction: Called the “mask,” it is a fusion of the larva’s third pair of mouthparts. Disproportionately large, the mask folds beneath both the head and thorax when it is not in use. At the end of the mask is a set of fanglike pincers used to seize prey…

W.S. Merwin: …his first collection of poetry, A Mask for Janus (1952), which was selected for publication by W.H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets award. His early poems included both lyrical works and philosophical narratives based on myths and folk tales. His subsequent collections included Green with Beasts (1956),…

audism: …1990s, beginning with the work Mask of Benevolence: Disabling the Deaf Community (1992) by American psychologist and speech researcher Harlan L. Lane. Lane described audism as a way for the hearing to dominate the deaf community. This notion was supported by the fact that environments tailored for deaf persons were…

Jean Negulesco: Film noirs and Johnny Belinda: …was the acclaimed film noir The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), starring Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, and Zachary Scott. The movie was a stylish adaptation of an Eric Ambler novel about a mystery writer who becomes involved in a murder investigation. Also from 1944 was The Conspirators, a spy thriller that…

Jean Negulesco: Film noirs and Johnny Belinda: …adaptation of an Eric Ambler novel about a mystery writer who becomes involved in a murder investigation. Also from 1944 was The Conspirators, a spy thriller that starred Lorre, Greenstreet, Hedy Lamarr, and Paul Henreid. In 1946 Negulesco directed Nobody Lives Forever, a noir that featured John Garfield as a…

Charles Vidor: Early work: …to direct, the camp classic The Mask of Fu Manchu, with Boris Karloff as the evil Dr. Fu Manchu, who is searching for relics of Genghis Khan that allegedly have special powers; Myrna Loy appeared as his depraved daughter. Several weeks into shooting, however, Vidor was fired and replaced by…

Zorro: In The Mask of Zorro (1998), Anthony Hopkins played an aging Don Diego, who emerges from retirement to train Antonio Banderas’s character to be his successor as Zorro. Banderas reprised that role in The Legend of Zorro in 2005. Zorro’s television appearances included Walt Disney’s Zorro

Comus, masque by John Milton, presented on Sept. 29, 1634, before John Egerton, earl of Bridgewater, at Ludlow Castle in Shropshire, and published anonymously in 1637. Milton wrote the text in honour of the earl becoming lord president of Wales and the Marches at the suggestion of the composer

How Do Face Masks Control the Spread of Disease?: Face masks have long been used in health care, often for the simple reason that they protect doctors and nurses from splashes of body fluids during procedures but also for the purpose of blocking the transmission of respiratory droplets. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, however,…

Lough Mask, lake, in Counties Mayo and Galway, Ireland. It covers an area of 32 sq miles (83 sq km) and is connected with Lough Corrib by an underground river. Lough Mask is noted for its brown trout. The island of Inishmaan in Lough Mask contains the remains of a Celtic church of St. Cormac, built

Jim Carrey: Stardom: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Mask, and The Truman Show: …with Dumb and Dumber and The Mask (all 1994). In the latter film Carrey played a timid bank clerk who becomes a hip wisecracking green-faced dandy when he dons a magical mask. His performance earned Carrey the first of several Golden Globe Award nominations. He subsequently starred in Ace Ventura:…

Edward Gordon Craig: Early life: …and edited his international review, The Mask (1908–29), which helped to make his theatrical ideals widely known and in which many of his articles—notably “The Actor and the Übermarionette” (1907)—were published. In Florence he published the etchings illustrating his scenographic concepts in A Portfolio of Etchings (1908) and also wrote…

Dark Horse Comics: Dark Horse’s first company-created superhero—the Mask—debuted in Dark Horse Presents no. 10 (September 1987). Mild-mannered Stanley Ipkiss buys a bizarre ancient mask and gains Looney Tunes-inspired superpowers, which are then used to violently comedic effect.

Mascara, town, northwestern Algeria, situated about 40 miles (60 km) south of the Mediterranean Sea coast. Spread across two hills separated by the Wadi Toudman, it lies on the southern slope of the Beni Chougran Range of the Atlas Mountains. Mascara (“Mother of Soldiers”) was founded as a Turkish

Mikhail Lermontov: Life: …the basis of his play Maskarad (“Masquerade”). During this period his deep—but unreciprocated—attachment to Varvara Lopukhina, a sentiment that never left him, was reflected in Knyaginya Ligovskaya (“Duchess Ligovskaya”) and other works.

Maskawa Toshihide was a Japanese physicist who was a corecipient, with Yoichiro Nambu and Kobayashi Makoto, of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Physics. Maskawa and Kobayashi shared half the prize for their discovery of the origin of broken symmetry, which created at least six quarks moments after the big

Comus, masque by John Milton, presented on Sept. 29, 1634, before John Egerton, earl of Bridgewater, at Ludlow Castle in Shropshire, and published anonymously in 1637. Milton wrote the text in honour of the earl becoming lord president of Wales and the Marches at the suggestion of the composer

Bob Dylan: Dylan in the 21st century: …and starred in the film Masked & Anonymous and began favoring keyboards over guitar in live appearances. The next year he released what portended to be the first in a series of autobiographies, Chronicles: Volume 1. In 2005 No Direction Home, a documentary directed by Martin Scorsese, appeared on television.…

Un ballo in maschera, opera in three acts by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (Italian libretto by Antonio Somma) that premiered at the Teatro Apollo in Rome on February 17, 1859. The Italian libretto was hastily adapted from French dramatist Eugène Scribe’s libretto Gustave III; ou, le bal masqué,

masked hunter, (Reduvius personatus), species of nocturnal assassin bug widely known for its ability to camouflage itself as a ball of dust during its nymphal stage. The masked hunter lives chiefly outdoors, where it eats termites, earwigs, lacewings, pill bugs, and other arthropods. It sometimes

caterpillar: Caterpillar defenses: The masked birch caterpillar (Drepana arcuata) produces vibratory signals in order to defend its territory against intruders of the same species; it produces the vibrations by drumming its mandibles on the leaf surface and by scratching its legs, which are covered by hairlike structures, against the…

pelecaniform: Reproduction: The masked booby (Sula dactylatra), for example, breeds in dense colonies on islets off Ascension Island but in dispersed patterns on Christmas Island (Pacific). Breeding in a number of species is normally dispersed; the red-footed cormorant (Phalacrocorax gaimardi) of South America, for instance, often nests on…

chimpanzee: Taxonomy: …Europe; the West African, or masked, chimpanzee (P. troglodytes verus), known as the common chimpanzee in Great Britain; the East African, or long-haired, chimpanzee (P. troglodytes schweinfurthii); and the Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzee (P. troglodytes ellioti, which was formerly classified as P. troglodytes vellerosus).

stifftail: In the masked duck (O. dominica), of the West Indies and tropical America, the drake is white-bellied and entirely reddish above, with a black face. Other stifftails are the musk duck (Biziura lobata), of southern Australia and Tasmania, and the parasitic black-headed duck (Heteronetta atricapilla), of southern…

masked hunter, (Reduvius personatus), species of nocturnal assassin bug widely known for its ability to camouflage itself as a ball of dust during its nymphal stage. The masked hunter lives chiefly outdoors, where it eats termites, earwigs, lacewings, pill bugs, and other arthropods. It sometimes

polecat: Much lighter fur distinguishes the masked, or steppe, polecat (M. eversmanni) of southeastern Europe and Asia.

tityra: The masked tityra (Tityra semifasciata) is common in woods and open country from Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil, the black-tailed tityra (T. cayana) occurs throughout tropical South America, and the black-crowned tityra (T. inquisitor) ranges from Mexico to Argentina. The males of all three species are…

Cree: Traditionally, the Woodland Cree (Sakâwiyiniwak), also called Swampy Cree (Maskêkowiyiniwak), relied for subsistence on hunting, fowling, fishing, and collecting wild plant foods. They preferred hunting larger game such as caribou, moose, bear, and beaver but relied chiefly on hare for subsistence because of the scarcity of the…

John Nevil Maskelyne was a British magician whose inventions and patronage of new performers greatly influenced the development of the art of producing illusions by sleight of hand. Trained as a watchmaker, Maskelyne became famous in 1865 when he, aided by George A. Cooke, exposed the Davenport

Nevil Maskelyne was a British astronomer noted for his contribution to the science of navigation. Maskelyne was ordained a minister in 1755, but his interest in astronomy had been aroused by the eclipse of July 25, 1748. In 1758 he was admitted to the Royal Society of London, which in 1761 sent him

Chechnya: History: …following year former guerrilla leader Aslan Maskhadov was elected president. Russian Pres. Boris Yeltsin and Maskhadov signed a provisional peace treaty in May 1997 but left the question of Chechnya’s eventual status undetermined. It was estimated that up to 100,000 people in Chechnya died and more than 400,000 were forced…

Ibn al-Ashʿath: …in a violent battle at Maskin, on the Shaṭṭ ad-Dujaylah. The defeated Iraqis fled to Sijistān, eventually surrendering to the Syrians, while Ibn al-Ashʿath took refuge in Kābul; he either was murdered or committed suicide in 704.

Eric S. Maskin is an American economist who, with Leonid Hurwicz and Roger B. Myerson, received a share of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Economics for his work on mechanism design theory, a specialized form of game theory that attempts to maximize gains for all parties within markets. Maskin studied at

Eric S. Maskin is an American economist who, with Leonid Hurwicz and Roger B. Myerson, received a share of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Economics for his work on mechanism design theory, a specialized form of game theory that attempts to maximize gains for all parties within markets. Maskin studied at

illusion: Olfactory phenomena: …be present the phenomenon of masking; this is a decrease in sensitivity to one odour after exposure to another (for example, a strong-smelling disinfectant).

photoengraving: Colour separation: Masking is the use of positive or negative images, taken from one or more of the set of colour-separation negatives and used in register with a given negative, to correct for the deficiencies in printing inks and colour of the copy. Common colour errors corrected…

sample preparation: Masking: Sometimes it is not necessary to isolate the analyte chemically in order to deal with interferences. Masking agents are additives that undergo some reaction in the sample solution that complexes (or precipitates) potential interfering elements and converts them to a form that does not…

illusion: Olfactory phenomena: …be present the phenomenon of masking; this is a decrease in sensitivity to one odour after exposure to another (for example, a strong-smelling disinfectant).

Enchi Fumiko: Masks) depicts, by invoking the various female masks used in the Noh dramas, different unhappy women. Enchi’s early background in Japanese classical literature is revealed in her allusions not only to the Noh plays but to the 11th-century classic Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji).

Joseph Campbell: Works: …four-volume survey of world mythology, The Masks of God (1959–68), Campbell revealed a wide range of influences in addition to Jung and Freud, including the ethologists Nikolaas Tinbergen and Konrad Lorenz. Concerned with demonstrating the similarities between myths—the hero with a thousand faces, the god with many masks—he attributed the…

Spain: Science: …sciences received little attention, though Maslama al-Majrīṭī (died 1008), who probably took part in the translation of Ptolemy’s Planispherium and made some contributions to pure mathematics, is particularly noteworthy. During the heyday of Granada, ʿAlī al-Qalaṣādī, commentator on Ibn al-Bannāʾ, did important work on fractions. Despite their lack of interest…

Leo III: Military accomplishments.: …against the Arab troops under Maslamah ibn ʿAbd al-Malik, who angrily perceived the deception. They besieged the city by land and sea from Aug. 15, 717, to Aug. 15, 718. Leo’s skillful defense, which was aided by Greek fire (an igneous petroleum mix), a severe winter, desertions from the Arab…

Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist and philosopher best known for his self-actualization theory of psychology, which argued that the primary goal of psychotherapy should be the integration of the self. Maslow studied psychology at the University of Wisconsin and Gestalt psychology at the

Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist and philosopher best known for his self-actualization theory of psychology, which argued that the primary goal of psychotherapy should be the integration of the self. Maslow studied psychology at the University of Wisconsin and Gestalt psychology at the

Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist and philosopher best known for his self-actualization theory of psychology, which argued that the primary goal of psychotherapy should be the integration of the self. Maslow studied psychology at the University of Wisconsin and Gestalt psychology at the

Russia: Daily life and social customs: Maslyanitsa, the oldest Russian folk holiday, marks the end of winter; a purely Russian holiday, it originated during pagan times. During Maslyanitsa (“butter”), pancakes—symbolizing the sun—are served with caviar, various fish, nuts, honey pies, and other garnishes and side dishes. The meal is accompanied by…

Mesopotamian religion: The magical arts: …expert in white magic, the āšipu or mašmašu, was able to help both in diagnosing the cause of the evil and in performing the appropriate rituals and incantation to fight it off. In earlier times the activities of the magicians seem generally to have been directed against the lawless demons…

North Africa: The Maghrib under the Almoravids and the Almohads: …a Berber belonging to the Maṣmūdah tribe of the High Atlas region of Morocco. After returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1117, he preached in public against equating Islam with the provisions of one of the four schools of Islamic law, calling for a return to its original sources—namely,…

Islamic arts: Importance of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī: …is known simply as the Mas̄navī. It comprises some 26,000 verses and is a complete—though quite disorganized—encyclopaedia of all the mystical thought, theories, and images known in the 13th century. It is regarded by most of the Persian-reading orders of Sufis as second in importance only to the Qurʾān. Its…

Native American dance: Mexico and Mesoamerica: Formerly, a deer dance followed the rounds.

Italy: Political development, 1380–1454: …under the personal domination of Maso degli Albizzi (1382–1417) and then of his son, Rinaldo (until 1434). The Albizzi regime successfully resisted the Visconti and then a temporary threat from King Ladislas of Naples in the years 1408–14, and it also contributed to Florence’s expansion over Tuscany, which since the…

Maso di Banco was a Florentine painter who was the most talented of Giotto’s pupils. Maso’s work displays a style that effectively and intelligently incorporated the teachings of the master. It was the work of Maso that Lorenzo Ghiberti singled out in the 15th century for praise. Maso is mentioned

masochism, a habit or practice of deriving sexual gratification from the infliction of pain or suffering on oneself. The term derives from the name of Chevalier Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836–95), an Austrian author who wrote extensively about the satisfaction he gained by being beaten and

Masolino was a painter who achieved a compromise between the International Gothic manner and the advanced early Renaissance style of his own day. He owes his prominence in the history of Florentine art not to his innovations but to his lyrical style and his unfailing artistry. Masolino came from

Masolino was a painter who achieved a compromise between the International Gothic manner and the advanced early Renaissance style of his own day. He owes his prominence in the history of Florentine art not to his innovations but to his lyrical style and his unfailing artistry. Masolino came from

Freemasonry, the teachings and practices of the fraternal (men-only) order of Free and Accepted Masons, the largest worldwide secret society—an oath-bound society, often devoted to fellowship, moral discipline, and mutual assistance, that conceals at least some of its rituals, customs, or

American literature: Multicultural writing: …with sprawling, picaresque historical novels: Mason & Dixon (1997), about two famous 18th-century surveyors who explored and mapped the American colonies, and Against the Day (2006), set at the turn of the 20th century.

mason bee, (genus Osmia), genus of more than 350 species of solitary bees mostly native to the Northern Hemisphere and known for their habit of using mud in the construction of their nests. Like most other bees, mason bees do not produce honey, and they do not sting unless provoked. They are

Mason City, city, seat (1855) of Cerro Gordo county, northern Iowa, U.S., along the Winnebago River, about 120 miles (195 km) north of Des Moines. The area was inhabited by Winnebago and Sioux peoples when Freemasons arrived to settle the site in 1853; its earlier names were Shibboleth, Masonic

Mason ware, a sturdy English pottery known as Mason’s Patent Ironstone China. It was first produced by C.J. Mason & Company in 1813 to provide a cheap substitute for Chinese porcelain, especially the larger vases. The decoration was a kind of chinoiserie, or hybrid Oriental. Mason specialties were

wasp: The potter, or mason, wasps (subfamily Eumeninae) of the Vespidae build nests of mud, which are sometimes vaselike or juglike and may be found attached to twigs or other objects.

Mason ware, a sturdy English pottery known as Mason’s Patent Ironstone China. It was first produced by C.J. Mason & Company in 1813 to provide a cheap substitute for Chinese porcelain, especially the larger vases. The decoration was a kind of chinoiserie, or hybrid Oriental. Mason specialties were

Andrew Mason is the cofounder of Groupon, a Chicago-based e-commerce company that specializes in providing customers with coupons for discounted products and services from local businesses. Mason grew up in the Pittsburgh suburb of Mount Lebanon. His parents were entrepreneurs: his father was a

Bertha Mason, fictional character, the Creole wife of Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë and Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) by Jean

Bertha Mason, fictional character, the Creole wife of Edward Rochester in Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Brontë and Wide Sargasso Sea (1966) by Jean

Bobbie Ann Mason is an American short-story writer and novelist known for her evocation of rural Kentucky life. Mason was reared on a dairy farm and first experienced life outside rural Kentucky when she traveled throughout the Midwest as the teenage president of the fan club for a pop quartet, the

New Zealand literature: Drama: Bruce Mason, whose one-man show The End of the Golden Weather (published 1962) had been performed hundreds of times all over the country, continued to write and saw the best of his earlier plays with Maori themes—The Pohutukawa Tree (published 1960) and Awatea (published 1969)—given…

Jeremiah Dixon: …who, working with fellow surveyor Charles Mason, established the boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, known since as the Mason and Dixon Line.

Church of God in Christ, Inc.: …of a dynamic preacher named Charles H. Mason is acknowledged by both. During the late 19th century Mason led Holiness churches in Jackson, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee. When news of the outpouring of Pentecostal blessing at the Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission in Los Angeles reached him, he traveled there himself…

ironstone china: A patent was granted to Charles James Mason, Lane Delph, in 1813 for the manufacture of “English porcelain,” a white ware that he marketed as Mason’s Ironstone China. Job and George Ridgway made a similar product under the name stone china. The wares, usually service pieces and vases based on…

homeschooling: Main theories, theorists, and methods: …same time, the work of Charlotte Mason—a 19th-century British educator—had a resurgence among Christian homeschoolers, as a result of the publication of Susan Schaeffer Macaulay’s book For the Children’s Sake: Foundations of Education for the Home and School (1984). Mason advocated teaching Latin or other languages that once provided the…

Charlotte Mason was an American philanthropist who for a time encouraged many artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Known as “Godmother,” she was a generous patron, but her controlling nature often caused conflict with her beneficiaries. Mason was born into a wealthy family. She married a prominent

Charlotte Mason was an American philanthropist who for a time encouraged many artists of the Harlem Renaissance. Known as “Godmother,” she was a generous patron, but her controlling nature often caused conflict with her beneficiaries. Mason was born into a wealthy family. She married a prominent

Monica Mason is a South African ballet dancer and dance administrator known for her multifaceted association with the British Royal Ballet, which spanned more than a half century. As a dancer, she coupled remarkable physical strength with solid technique and dramatic skill. As the company’s

Daniel Gregory Mason was a composer in the German-influenced Boston group of U.S. composers. Mason was the grandson of the music publisher and educator Lowell Mason and the son of Henry Mason, a founder of the Mason & Hamlin Co. piano firm. He studied with John Knowles Paine at Harvard University

Traffic: July 12, 1983, Birmingham), guitarist Dave Mason (b. May 10, 1946, Worcester, Worcestershire, England), and drummer Jim Capaldi (b. August 2, 1944, Evesham, Worcestershire—d. January 28, 2005, London).

Frederik Pohl was an American science-fiction writer whose best work uses the genre as a mode of social criticism and as an exploration of the long-range consequences of technology in an ailing society. Pohl was a high-school dropout, but, by the time he was 20 years old, he was editing the

George Mason was an American patriot and statesman who insisted on the protection of individual liberties in the composition of both the Virginia and the U.S. Constitution (1776, 1787). He was ahead of his time in opposing slavery and in rejecting the constitutional compromise that perpetuated it.

Borscht Belt: Jokes: ” —Jackie Mason “I tell ya, my whole life, all I know is rejection. When I was a kid, my yo-yo, it never came back.” —Rodney Dangerfield “Today I give my daughter what I really didn’t have as a kid. All the silly, dumb, extravagant, frilly,…

chess: Origin of time controls: …a contender for first prize, James Mason, exceeded the time limit in one game but eventually won the game after his opponent declined to claim the forfeit. Another contender for first prize, Wilhelm Steinitz, appealed Mason’s victory, and a forfeiture was imposed instead.

James Mason was a British stage and motion-picture actor best known for his urbane characterizations. During his 50-year acting career, he played in 106 films. Mason studied architecture before trying for a theatrical career. Following four years as a stage actor, his first film was Late Extra

James Murray Mason was an antebellum U.S. senator from Virginia and, later, a Confederate diplomat taken prisoner in the Trent Affair. Although raised a Tidewater aristocrat, Mason graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and, after studying law at the College of William and Mary, set up his

Pequot: John Mason led English, Mohegan, and Narragansett warriors in an attack on the main fortified Pequot village on the site of modern-day Mystic, Connecticut. The Pequot were surprised but quickly mounted a spirited defense that almost led to an English defeat. Realizing that he could…

John Mitchell Mason was a U.S. minister and educator, who is best known for his work in raising standards of Protestant theological education in the U.S. He also was noted for his prowess as an orator. Mason developed a plan for theological education and in 1804 founded a seminary of the Associate

Ostend Manifesto: …minister to Great Britain, and John Y. Mason, minister to France, to confer with Soulé at Ostend, Belgium. Their dispatch urged U.S. seizure of Cuba if the United States possessed the power and if Spain refused the sale. This action stemmed both from fear of a slave revolt in Cuba…

Lowell Mason was a hymn composer, music publisher, and one of the founders of public-school music education in the United States. Mason went to Savannah, Georgia, as a bank clerk and became choirmaster at the Independent Presbyterian Church in that city. In 1822 he published The Handel and Haydn