• aquaplane (sport)

    waterskiing: Water skis derive from the aquaplane, a wide riding board towed by a motorboat. Aquaplanes were most popular in the United States, France, and Switzerland, the areas in which waterskiing first became popular. Ralph Samuelson, considered the “father” of the sport, was first to water-ski in 1922 at Lake Pepin,…

  • aquaponics (agriculture)

    aquaponics, system of agriculture that combines aquaculture and hydroponics to cultivate both plants and aquatic animals. Aquaponics setups cycle nutrients through a closed circuit of bacteria, fish, and crop plants. The system uses nitrifying bacteria to convert fish waste into nitrates for

  • aquaporin (protein)

    Peter Agre: Agre named the protein aquaporin. Researchers subsequently discovered a whole family of the proteins in animals, plants, and even bacteria. Two different aquaporins were later found to play a major role in the mechanism by which human kidneys concentrate urine and return the extracted water to the blood.

  • aquaporin 2 (gene)

    diabetes insipidus: Types and causes: …in a gene known as AQP2 (aquaporin 2), which encodes a specific form of aquaporin. The vasopressin receptor gene AVPR2 is located on the X chromosome. As a result, affected males have notably more-severe diabetes insipidus than do females.

  • aquarelle (art)

    aquarelle, technique of painting in transparent, rather than opaque, watercolours. Although aquarelle was known to the ancient Egyptians, it did not achieve popularity in Europe until the 18th and 19th centuries. It was used especially in France and England by landscape

  • Aquarena Center (Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, United States)

    Texas State University: …Research and Data Center, the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment, the Shell Center for Polymer Science and Technology, and the Center for the Study of the Southwest. Off-campus research and education sites include the 4,200-acre (1,700-hectare) Freeman Ranch. Texas State University enrolls approximately 34,000 students.

  • aquarium

    aquarium, receptacle for maintaining aquatic organisms, either freshwater or marine, or a facility in which a collection of aquatic organisms is displayed or studied. The earliest known aquarists were the Sumerians, who kept fishes in artificial ponds at least 4,500 years ago; records of fish

  • Aquarium de Montréal (aquarium, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

    Montreal Aquarium, municipally owned aquarium located on St.-Helen’s Island, Montreal, Can. It was built in 1966 for Expo 67, an international exhibition that was held in the city. The aquarium complex consists of two large buildings, one of which contains exhibits of marine and freshwater fishes

  • Aquarium, L’  (work by Godbout)

    Canadian literature: Contemporary trends: …novel” began with Jacques Godbout’s L’Aquarium (1962) and reached its high point in the brilliantly convoluted novels of Hubert Aquin that followed his Prochain épisode (1965; “Next Episode”; Eng. trans. Prochain Episode). Marie-Claire Blais’s Une Saison dans la vie d’Emmanuel (1965; A Season in the Life of Emmanuel), which won…

  • Aquarius (astronomy and astrology)

    Aquarius, in astronomy, zodiacal constellation lying in the southern sky between Capricornus and Pisces, at about 22 hours right ascension and 10° south declination. It lacks striking features, the brightest star, Sadalmelik (Arabic for “the lucky stars of the king”), being of magnitude 3.0. In

  • Aquarius, Age of (United States history)

    eschatology: Renewed interest in eschatology: Christened “the Age of Aquarius,” this postmillennial movement peaked in 1968–69 with a series of (largely student) uprisings around the world, from Los Angeles to Paris, that culminated in the Woodstock Festival in upstate New York in the summer of 1969. At the same time, the assassinations…

  • Aquarius/SAC-D (U.S.-Argentinian space mission)

    Aquarius/SAC-D, joint U.S.-Argentine space mission to map the salinity of Earth’s oceans. Aquarius/Satélite de Aplicaciones Científicas-D (SAC-D) was launched by a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on June 10, 2011. Salinity, or salt content, plays a major role in the

  • Aquash, Anna Mae (Mi’kmaq Indian activist)

    Anna Mae Aquash was a Canadian-born Mi’kmaq Indian activist noted for her mysterious death by homicide shortly after her participation in a protest at Wounded Knee. Aquash was raised in poverty and, as a child, attended off-reservation schools. She dropped out of high school after her freshman year

  • aquatic animal

    Antarctica: Sea life: The prolific zooplankton of Antarctic waters feed on the copious phytoplankton and, in turn, form the basic diet of whales, seals, fish, squid, and seabirds. The Antarctic waters, because of their upwelled nutrients, are more than seven times as productive as subantarctic

  • aquatic ecosystem

    coral reef: Tropical water conditions: Water conditions favourable to the growth of reefs exist in tropical or near-tropical surface waters. Regional differences may result from the presence or absence of upwelling currents of colder waters or from the varying relation of precipitation to evaporation.

  • Aquatic industry (ancient African industry)

    Nilo-Saharan languages: The diffusion of Nilo-Saharan languages: …have been associated with the Aquatic industry. This industry, which dates to the 8th millennium bce, is a conglomeration of cultures that exploited the food resources of lakes, rivers, and surrounding areas from Lake Rudolf in East Africa to the bend of the Niger River in West Africa during a…

  • aquatic leech (annelid)

    annelid: Food and feeding: Marine leeches attach to, and feed directly from, the gills of fish. Other leeches are carnivorous and feed on oligochaetes and snails.

  • aquatic locomotion

    aquatic locomotion, in animals, movement through water either by swimming or by progression in contact with the substrate (i.e., the bottom or other surfaces). Free-swimming locomotion is found in animals ranging from protozoans to whales. For effective swimming the animal controls its buoyancy and

  • aquatic plant (botany)

    tree: Tree roots: Hydrophytic trees have various modifications that facilitate their survival and growth in the aqueous environment. Some species produce a high frequency of lenticels on the bark that facilitate gas exchange. Others exhibit greater permeation of oxygen through the bark and into the cambium at lower…

  • aquatint (printmaking)

    aquatint, a variety of etching widely used by printmakers to achieve a broad range of tonal values. The process is called aquatint because finished prints often resemble watercolour drawings or wash drawings. The technique consists of exposing a copperplate to acid through a layer of melted

  • aquavit (liquor)

    aquavit, flavoured, distilled liquor, clear to pale yellow in colour, dry in flavour, and ranging in alcohol content from about 42 to 45 percent by volume. It is distilled from a fermented potato or grain mash, redistilled in the presence of flavouring agents, filtered with charcoal, and usually

  • aquavite (liquor)

    aquavit, flavoured, distilled liquor, clear to pale yellow in colour, dry in flavour, and ranging in alcohol content from about 42 to 45 percent by volume. It is distilled from a fermented potato or grain mash, redistilled in the presence of flavouring agents, filtered with charcoal, and usually

  • Aquaviva, Claudio (Jesuit leader)

    Claudio Aquaviva was the fifth and youngest general of the Society of Jesus, considered by many to have been the order’s greatest leader. The youngest son of the Duke of Atri, he joined the order in 1567. Shortly after completing his studies he was appointed provincial superior of Naples and then

  • aqueduct (engineering)

    aqueduct, (from Latin aqua + ducere, “to lead water”), conduit built to convey water. In a restricted sense, aqueducts are structures used to conduct a water stream across a hollow or valley. In modern engineering, however, aqueduct refers to a system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and

  • Aqueduct Bridge (bridge, New York, United States)

    John Bloomfield Jervis: …Reservoir as well as the Aqueduct Bridge, which was built on 15 stone arches and crossed the Harlem River. In 1846 Jervis served as the consulting engineer for the Boston water-supply system.

  • Aquem-os-Montes (historical province, Portugal)

    Minho, historical provincia, northwesternmost Portugal. It was originally called Entre Douro e Minho, the region between the Minho and Douro rivers. The area was occupied by both the Celts and the Romans, the former having left numerous ruins called castra, or hill forts. There is a narrow coastal

  • Aquen, Jerome van (Netherlandish painter)

    Hiëronymus Bosch was a brilliant and original northern European painter whose work reveals an unusual iconography of a complex and individual style. He was recognized as a highly imaginative “creator of devils” and a powerful inventor of seeming nonsense full of satirical and moralizing meaning.

  • aqueous humor (physiology)

    aqueous humour, optically clear, slightly alkaline liquid that occupies the anterior and posterior chambers of the eye (the space in front of the iris and lens and the ringlike space encircling the lens). The aqueous humour resembles blood plasma in composition but contains less protein and glucose

  • aqueous humour (physiology)

    aqueous humour, optically clear, slightly alkaline liquid that occupies the anterior and posterior chambers of the eye (the space in front of the iris and lens and the ringlike space encircling the lens). The aqueous humour resembles blood plasma in composition but contains less protein and glucose

  • aquiculture (fishery)

    aquaculture, the propagation and husbandry of aquatic plants, animals, and other organisms for commercial, recreational, and scientific purposes. Aquaculture is an approximate aquatic equivalent to agriculture—that is, the rearing of certain marine and freshwater organisms to supplement the natural

  • Aquidneck Island (island, Rhode Island, United States)

    Rhode Island, island, largest in Narragansett Bay, eastern Rhode Island, U.S., occupying an area of 44 square miles (114 square km). Aquidneck is the Indian name for what was later called Rhode Island. The source of the modern name is unclear: it either was given by colonist Roger Williams,

  • aquifer (hydrology)

    aquifer, in hydrology, rock layer that contains water and releases it in appreciable amounts. The rock contains water-filled pore spaces, and, when the spaces are connected, the water is able to flow through the matrix of the rock. An aquifer also may be called a water-bearing stratum, lens, or

  • Aquifoliaceae (plant family)

    Aquifoliaceae, the holly family, in the order Aquifoliales, found worldwide, comprising two genera and about 400 species of shrubs and trees, best known for the genus Ilex (see holly). Four species of Byronia are in the Polynesian and Australian area, and only one species of mountain holly

  • Aquifoliales (plant order)

    Aquifoliales, holly order of flowering plants, containing more than 536 species in five families, mainly Aquifoliaceae. Aquifoliales belongs to the core asterid clade (organisms with a single common ancestor), or sympetalous lineage of flowering plants, in the euasterid II group of the Angiosperm

  • Aquila (constellation)

    Aquila, constellation in the northern sky, at about 20 hours right ascension and on the celestial equator in declination. The brightest star in Aquila is Altair (Arabic: “Flying Eagle”), the 12th brightest star in the sky. With the nearby bright stars Deneb and Vega, Altair forms the prominent

  • Aquila (ancient biblical scholar)

    Aquila was a scholar who in about ad 140 completed a literal translation into Greek of the Old Testament; it replaced the Septuagint (q.v.) among Jews and was used by the Church Fathers Origen in the 3rd century and St. Jerome in the 4th and 5th centuries. St. Epiphanius (c. 315—403) preserved in

  • Aquila audax (bird)

    kangaroo: Common features: The wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax) is one of the macropodids’ few natural predators.

  • Aquila chrysaetos (bird)

    golden eagle, (Aquila chrysaetos), dark brown eagle of the family Accipitridae, characterized by golden lanceolate nape feathers (hackles), dark eyes, yellow cere, gray beak, fully feathered legs, large yellow feet, and great talons. Its wingspread reaches 2.3 metres (almost 8 feet). It is the

  • Aquila verreauxii (bird)

    eagle: Verreaux’s eagle (Aquila verreauxii) is an uncommon bird of eastern and southern Africa. It is black with white rump and wing patches. It reaches about 80 cm (31 inches) in length, and it subsists mainly on hyraxes.Seebateleur; golden eagle.

  • Aquila, Juan del (Spanish commander)

    Hugh Roe O’Donnell: …support of the Spanish commander, Juan del Aquila, who counseled an immediate attack against the advice of the more cautious O’Neill, may well have brought about the crushing defeat that may be regarded as the death blow of the old Gaelic Ireland. O’Donnell then went to Spain, where he died…

  • Aquila, L’ (Italy)

    L’Aquila, city, capital of Abruzzi region, central Italy. It is situated on a hill above the Aterno River, northeast of Rome. The area was settled by the Sabini, an ancient Italic tribe, after their town Amiternum was destroyed by the Romans and later by the barbarians. The city was founded about

  • Aquila, Lex (Roman law)

    delict: …they were superseded by the Lex Aquila in the early 3rd century bc. This law covered slaves and animals as well as buildings. If a slave or a grazing animal was unlawfully killed, the damages were equal to the highest value of the slave or animal in the preceding year;…

  • Aquilegia (plant)

    columbine, (genus Aquilegia), genus of nearly 100 species of perennial herbaceous plants of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae) native to Europe and North America. Several species of columbines and a number of hybrids are cultivated for their attractive flowers. Columbines are distinctive for

  • Aquilegia caerulea (plant)

    columbine: Major species: From Colorado blue columbine (A. caerulea) and golden columbine (A. chrysantha), both native to the Rocky Mountains, have been developed many garden hybrids with showy long-spurred flowers in a variety of colours ranging from white to yellow, red, and blue. The wild columbine, or eastern red columbine, of North…

  • Aquilegia chysantha (plant)

    columbine: Major species: caerulea) and golden columbine (A. chrysantha), both native to the Rocky Mountains, have been developed many garden hybrids with showy long-spurred flowers in a variety of colours ranging from white to yellow, red, and blue. The wild columbine, or eastern red columbine, of North America (A. canadensis) grows in…

  • Aquilegia vulgaris (plant)

    columbine: Major species: The common European columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) grows 45–75 cm (18–30 inches) tall along roadsides and woodland edges. The species and its several hybrids, which are known for their nodding flowers with short incurved spurs, are cultivated widely in North America. From Colorado blue columbine (A. caerulea) and…

  • Aquileia (Italy)

    Aquileia, formerly a city of the Roman Empire and a patriarchate of the Roman Catholic Church; it is now a village in the Friuli–Venezia Giulia region in northeastern Italy, on the Natisone River near the Adriatic coast, northwest of Trieste. Founded as a Roman colony in 181 bc to prevent barbarian

  • Aquileia, Battle of (Roman Empire)

    mystery religion: Mystery religions and Christianity: …crushed in battle at the Frigidus River (now called the Vipacco River in Italy and the Vipava in Slovenia).

  • Aquilia (Italy)

    Acireale, town and episcopal see, eastern Sicily, Italy, on terraces above the Ionian Sea at the foot of Mount Etna, 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Catania. Known as Aquilia by the Romans, the town was called Reale by Philip IV of Spain in 1642. The first part of its name is derived from the ancient

  • Aquin, Hubert (Canadian author)

    Canadian literature: Contemporary trends: …the brilliantly convoluted novels of Hubert Aquin that followed his Prochain épisode (1965; “Next Episode”; Eng. trans. Prochain Episode). Marie-Claire Blais’s Une Saison dans la vie d’Emmanuel (1965; A Season in the Life of Emmanuel), which won the Prix Médicis, presented a scathing denunciation of Quebec rural life, and Godbout’s…

  • Aquinas (Italian Christian theologian and philosopher)

    St. Thomas Aquinas ; canonized July 18, 1323; feast day January 28, formerly March 7) was an Italian Dominican theologian, the foremost medieval Scholastic. He developed his own conclusions from Aristotelian premises, notably in the metaphysics of personality, creation, and Providence. As a

  • Aquinas College (college, Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States)

    Grand Rapids: University (1866), Calvin College (1876), Aquinas College (1886), Grand Rapids Community College (1914), and Kendall College of Art and Design (1928). Grand Valley State University (1960) is centred in nearby Allendale, and six of the university’s professional colleges—those of business, community and public services, education, engineering and computing, health professions,…

  • Aquinas, Thomas, St. (Italian Christian theologian and philosopher)

    St. Thomas Aquinas ; canonized July 18, 1323; feast day January 28, formerly March 7) was an Italian Dominican theologian, the foremost medieval Scholastic. He developed his own conclusions from Aristotelian premises, notably in the metaphysics of personality, creation, and Providence. As a

  • Aquincum (ancient settlement, Hungary)

    Aquincum, important town in the Roman province of Pannonia; its ruins have been excavated in northern Budapest, Hung., near the west bank of the Danube River. At its peak, the civilian settlement reached as far as the military camp that was situated in what today is the district of Óbuda, just over

  • Aquino (Italy)

    Aquino, town, Lazio regione, south-central Italy, southeast of Frosinone city. The ancient town (the site of which is nearby) prospered from its position on the Roman road, Via Latina, until it was laid waste by Totila, a Gothic king, in the mid-6th century and abandoned for the more fertile

  • Aquino, Benigno Simeon Cojuangco III (president of Philippines)

    Benigno Aquino III was a Filipino politician who served as president of the Philippines (2010–16) and was the scion of a famed political family. He was the son of Corazon Aquino, who served as president of the Philippines (1986–92), and political leader Benigno Simeon Aquino, Jr.—themselves the

  • Aquino, Benigno Simeon, Jr. (Filipino politician)

    Benigno Aquino, Jr. was the chief opposition leader during the era of martial law in the Philippines (1972–81) under Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos. Aquino’s assassination in 1983 galvanized popular opposition to the Marcos government and brought his widow, Corazon Aquino, to the political forefront.

  • Aquino, Benigno, III (president of Philippines)

    Benigno Aquino III was a Filipino politician who served as president of the Philippines (2010–16) and was the scion of a famed political family. He was the son of Corazon Aquino, who served as president of the Philippines (1986–92), and political leader Benigno Simeon Aquino, Jr.—themselves the

  • Aquino, Benigno, Jr. (Filipino politician)

    Benigno Aquino, Jr. was the chief opposition leader during the era of martial law in the Philippines (1972–81) under Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos. Aquino’s assassination in 1983 galvanized popular opposition to the Marcos government and brought his widow, Corazon Aquino, to the political forefront.

  • Aquino, Corazon (president of Philippines)

    Corazon Aquino was a Philippine political leader who served as the first female president (1986–92) of the Philippines, restoring democratic rule in that country after the long dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Corazon Cojuangco was born into a wealthy, politically prominent family based in Tarlac

  • Aquino, Maria Corazon (president of Philippines)

    Corazon Aquino was a Philippine political leader who served as the first female president (1986–92) of the Philippines, restoring democratic rule in that country after the long dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Corazon Cojuangco was born into a wealthy, politically prominent family based in Tarlac

  • Aquino, Ninoy (Filipino politician)

    Benigno Aquino, Jr. was the chief opposition leader during the era of martial law in the Philippines (1972–81) under Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos. Aquino’s assassination in 1983 galvanized popular opposition to the Marcos government and brought his widow, Corazon Aquino, to the political forefront.

  • Aquino, Noynoy (president of Philippines)

    Benigno Aquino III was a Filipino politician who served as president of the Philippines (2010–16) and was the scion of a famed political family. He was the son of Corazon Aquino, who served as president of the Philippines (1986–92), and political leader Benigno Simeon Aquino, Jr.—themselves the

  • Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay on History of Three Generations, The (work by Joaqiun)

    Nick Joaquin: The Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay on History as Three Generations (1983) presents a biography of Benigno Aquino, the assassinated presidential candidate. The action of the novel Cave and Shadows (1983) occurs in the period of martial law under Ferdinand Marcos. Joaquin’s other works included…

  • Aquinum (Italy)

    Aquino, town, Lazio regione, south-central Italy, southeast of Frosinone city. The ancient town (the site of which is nearby) prospered from its position on the Roman road, Via Latina, until it was laid waste by Totila, a Gothic king, in the mid-6th century and abandoned for the more fertile

  • Aquiri River (river, Brazil)

    Acre River, river, chiefly in western Brazil, rising on the Peruvian border, along which it continues eastward to form part of the Brazil–Bolivia border. Turning north at Brasiléia, the remainder of its 400-mi (645-km) course flows in a north-northeasterly direction, through the Brazilian states of

  • Aquisgranum (Germany)

    Aachen, city, North Rhine–Westphalia Land (state), western Germany. Its municipal boundaries coincide on the west with the frontiers of Belgium and the Netherlands. It was a royal residence of the emperor Charlemagne, and it served as the principal coronation site of Holy Roman emperors and of

  • Aquitaine (former region, France)

    Aquitaine, former région of France. As a région, it encompassed the southwestern départements of Dordogne, Gironde, Landes, Lot-et-Garonne, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. In 2016 the Aquitaine région was joined with the régions of Poitou-Charentes and Limousin to form the new administrative entity of

  • Aquitaine Basin (plains, France)

    France: The Aquitaine Basin: The Loire countryside links with the Aquitaine Basin of southwestern France through the gap known as the Gate of Poitou. The Aquitaine Basin is much smaller than the Paris Basin, and, while it is bounded in the south by the Pyrenees, in the…

  • Aquitaine, John of Gaunt, duc d’ (English prince)

    John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster was an English prince, fourth but third surviving son of the English king Edward III and Philippa of Hainaut; he exercised a moderating influence in the political and constitutional struggles of the reign of his nephew Richard II. He was the immediate ancestor of

  • Aquitania (ship)

    ocean liner: …ribbon for transatlantic speed; the Aquitania, also a Cunarder, the last four-funneled vessel; the German Vaterland, seized in New York in 1917 and renamed Leviathan, for many years the largest ship afloat; the 80,000-ton Queen Mary and its sister ship, Queen Elizabeth, giant Cunarders of the 1940s and 1950s; the…

  • Aquitanian Stage (stratigraphy)

    Aquitanian Stage, earliest and lowermost division of Miocene rocks, representing all rocks deposited worldwide during the Aquitanian Age (23 million to 20.4 million years ago) of the Neogene Period (23 million to 2.6 million years ago). The stage is named for exposures in the region of Aquitaine in

  • Ar (chemical element)

    argon (Ar), chemical element, inert gas of Group 18 (noble gases) of the periodic table, terrestrially the most abundant and industrially the most frequently used of the noble gases. Colourless, odourless, and tasteless, argon gas was isolated (1894) from air by the British scientists Lord Rayleigh

  • AR-15 (firearm)

    M16 rifle, assault rifle developed as the AR-15 by American engineer Eugene Stoner of ArmaLite Inc. in the late 1950s. The rifle received high marks for its light weight, its accuracy, and the volume of fire that it could provide. The AR-15 was developed as a more portable alternative to the

  • AR-18 (British rifle)

    ArmaLite rifle: ArmaLite’s AR-18 rifle resembled and operated like the AR-15, but it was carefully redesigned to be easily manufactured with unsophisticated equipment in less-developed countries—although no such arrangement was actually made.

  • Ar-Rahad (river, Africa)

    Rahad River, tributary of the Blue Nile, rising in the Ethiopian highlands, west of Lake Tana. It flows more than 300 miles (480 km) northwest into the eastern part of Sudan to join the Blue Nile above Wad Madani. Although waterless during the dry season, it has a large flow during the flood season

  • ārā (Jainism)

    Jainism: Time and the universe: …wheel with 12 spokes (ara), the equivalent of ages, six of which form an ascending arc and six a descending one. In the ascending arc (utsarpini) humans progress in knowledge, age, stature, and happiness, while in the descending arc (avasarpini) they deteriorate. The two cycles joined together make one…

  • Ara (constellation)

    Ara, constellation in the southern sky, at about 17 hours right ascension and 55° south in declination. Ara has no bright stars; the brightest, Beta Arae, has a visual magnitude of 2.83. The constellation represents the altar on which Zeus and other Greek gods swore their allegiance before their

  • ARA (American organization)

    20th-century international relations: Allied approaches to the Bolsheviks: (In 1921 the American relief commission nonetheless began distribution of food that saved countless Russians from starvation.)

  • Ara (India)

    Ara, city, western Bihar state, northeastern India. It is situated on a tributary of the Ganges (Ganga) River, about 30 miles (50 km) west of Patna. The city is a major rail and road junction. Agricultural trade and oilseed milling are carried on there. It is the site of several colleges affiliated

  • Ara ambiguus (bird)

    macaw: …glaucogularis) of northern Bolivia, the great green macaw (Ara ambiguus) of northern Colombia and Central America, and Lear’s macaw (Anodorhynchus leari) of Brazil. The most recent confirmed sighting of a non-captive Spix’s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii)—the bird that inspired the popular children’s films Rio (2011) and Rio 2 (2014)—occurred in 2000,…

  • Ara ararauna (bird)

    macaw: One species, the blue-and-yellow macaw (Ara ararauna), has been recorded eating at least 20 species of plants, including many toxic to humans. In Manú National Park in Peru, the members of five macaw species converge by the hundreds at mineral-rich riverbanks to eat the clay there, which may…

  • Ara glaucogularis (bird)

    macaw: …risk of extinction include the blue-throated macaw (Ara glaucogularis) of northern Bolivia, the great green macaw (Ara ambiguus) of northern Colombia and Central America, and Lear’s macaw (Anodorhynchus leari) of Brazil. The most recent confirmed sighting of a non-captive Spix’s macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii)—the bird that inspired the popular children’s films…

  • Ara Jovis (Spain)

    Aranjuez, town, Madrid provincia (province) and comunidad autónoma (autonomous community), central Spain, on the southern bank of the Tagus River near its confluence with the Jarama. The town, which has existed since Roman times, was the headquarters of the Knights of Santiago (1387–1409) and

  • Ara macao (bird)

    macaw: The scarlet macaw (Ara macao) is probably the best-known New World parrot. Its brilliant red, yellow, and blue plumage contrasts with a bare white face that may blush when the bird is excited. Flying with distinctive slow wingbeats and their long tails trailing, scarlet macaws are…

  • Ara Maxima (ancient Roman altar)

    Cacus and Caca: …Roman place of worship, the Ara Maxima, in the Forum Boarium (Cattle Market), whose name is believed to commemorate these events.

  • Ara Metua (road, Rarotonga, Cook Islands)

    Avarua: A second, inner road, Ara Metua, said to have been built by an ancient Polynesian chief, passes alongside the ring road near the town and, like Ara Tapu, also reaches most of the island’s periphery. Rarotonga Airport, located about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Avarua, is the entry…

  • Ara Pacis (shrine, Rome, Italy)

    Ara Pacis, shrine consisting of a marble altar in a walled enclosure erected in Rome’s Campus Martius (Field of Mars) in honour of the emperor Augustus and dedicated on Jan. 30, 9 bce. The dedication was recorded in Ovid’s Fasti as well as by Augustus himself in his “Res Gestae Divi Augusti”

  • Ara Pacis Augustae (shrine, Rome, Italy)

    Ara Pacis, shrine consisting of a marble altar in a walled enclosure erected in Rome’s Campus Martius (Field of Mars) in honour of the emperor Augustus and dedicated on Jan. 30, 9 bce. The dedication was recorded in Ovid’s Fasti as well as by Augustus himself in his “Res Gestae Divi Augusti”

  • ara-mitama (Japanese religious spirit)

    tama: Among them are the ara-mitama (with the power of ruling), the kushi-mitama (with the power of transforming), the nigi-mitama (with the power of unifying, or harmonizing), and the saki-mitama (with the power of blessing). Some shrines pay homage to a particular mitama of a deity, such as the separate…

  • ʿArab (people)

    Arab, one whose native language is Arabic. (See also Arabic language.) Before the spread of Islam and, with it, the Arabic language, Arab referred to any of the largely nomadic Semitic inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. In modern usage, it embraces any of the Arabic-speaking peoples living in

  • Arab (people)

    Arab, one whose native language is Arabic. (See also Arabic language.) Before the spread of Islam and, with it, the Arabic language, Arab referred to any of the largely nomadic Semitic inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula. In modern usage, it embraces any of the Arabic-speaking peoples living in

  • Arab American (people)

    civil rights: Civil rights movements across the globe: More recently, Arab Americans and the LGBTQ community took centre stage in the struggle to achieve equal protection and equal opportunity in American society. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Arab Americans suffered from heightened levels of discrimination and hate crimes and had to conform…

  • Arab Art, Museum of (museum, Cairo, Egypt)

    Museum of Islamic Art, museum in Cairo, one of the largest in the world dedicated to Islamic art and artifacts. The museum was founded in 1881, and its collection spans from the 7th-century Umayyad dynasty to the 19th-century Ottoman Empire. In 1903 the museum moved to its current building in Bāb

  • Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (international finance)

    Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, bank created by the Arab League summit conference in Algiers in November 1973 to finance development projects in Africa. In 1975 BADEA began operating by supplying African countries, excluding members of the Arab League, with technical assistance, which

  • Arab Bureau (French colonial administration)

    Algeria: Colonial rule: …by military officers organized into Arab Bureaus, whose members were officers with an intimate knowledge of local affairs and of the language of the people but with no direct financial interest in the colony. The officers, therefore, often sympathized with the outlook of the people they administered rather than with…

  • Arab Bureaus (French colonial administration)

    Algeria: Colonial rule: …by military officers organized into Arab Bureaus, whose members were officers with an intimate knowledge of local affairs and of the language of the people but with no direct financial interest in the colony. The officers, therefore, often sympathized with the outlook of the people they administered rather than with…

  • Arab Deterrent Force (Middle Eastern military force)

    Palestine: Palestinians and the civil war in Lebanon: …the creation of a 30,000-member Arab Deterrent Force (ADF), a ceasefire throughout the country, withdrawal of forces to positions held before April 1975, and implementation of a 1969 agreement limiting Palestinian guerrilla operations in Lebanon.

  • Arab Economic Unity, Council of (Arab organization)

    Council of Arab Economic Unity, Arab economic organization established in June 1957 by a resolution of the Arab Economic Council of the Arab League. Its first meeting was held in 1964. Members include Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO),

  • Arab Executive (Palestinian Arab organization)

    Palestine: World War I and after: …executive committee (known as the Arab Executive) to act as the representative of the Arabs. It was never formally recognized by the British and was dissolved in 1934. However, the platform of the Haifa congress, which set out the position that Palestine was an autonomous Arab entity and totally rejected…