• Lamsdorff, Matthew (general)

    Nicholas I: Education: Matthew Lamsdorff, it emphasized severe discipline and formalism. The growing grand duke studied French and German as well as Russian, world history, and general geography in French, together with the history and geography of Russia. Religion, drawing, arithmetic, geometry, algebra, and physics were added to…

  • Lamṭah (ancient city, Tunisia)

    Leptis Minor, small Carthaginian city located 10 miles (16 km) from modern Al-Munastīr (Ruspinum), Tunisia. In Roman times it was the centre of a prosperous olive-growing district, and its exports included olive oil and pottery. It was Julius Caesar’s base before the Battle of Thapsus in 46 bc.

  • Lamtunah (Berber tribe)

    North Africa: The Maghrib under the Almoravids and the Almohads: …to the chief of the Lamtūnah tribe, Abū Bakr ibn ʿUmar. He returned to Mauretania in 1060 to fight against rebels challenging his authority. Command of the Almoravids in southern Morocco was then assumed by Abū Bakr’s cousin, Yūsuf ibn Tāshufīn (Tāshfīn), under whose leadership the Almoravids conquered most of…

  • Lamu (Kenya)

    Lamu, town, port, and island in the Indian Ocean off the East African coast, 150 miles (241 km) north-northeast of Mombasa. It is administered as part of Kenya. The port lies on the southeastern shore of the island. A former Persian, then Zanzibari, colony, Lamu Island rivaled Mombasa until the

  • Lamu Old Town (Kenya)

    Lamu, town, port, and island in the Indian Ocean off the East African coast, 150 miles (241 km) north-northeast of Mombasa. It is administered as part of Kenya. The port lies on the southeastern shore of the island. A former Persian, then Zanzibari, colony, Lamu Island rivaled Mombasa until the

  • Lamut (people)

    Even, northern Siberian people (12,000 according to the 1979 Soviet census) closely related to the Evenk (q.v.) in origin, language, and culture. They inhabit the territory to the north and northeast of the Evenki Autonomous Okrug, where they have influenced and have in turn been influenced by

  • lamwong (dance)

    Thailand: Music and dance: The lamwong (“circle dance”) is the most popular form of dance at rural temple festivals and other celebrations. It is typically performed to mawlam or luk thung music. In the cities, however, Western forms of dance predominate, especially in the nightclubs.

  • Lamy, John B. (archbishop of Santa Fe, New Mexico)

    Santa Fe: Francis, built in 1869 by John B. Lamy, first bishop of Santa Fe, are architectural landmarks. A fictionalized account of the life of Lamy and his work in the Santa Fe region was the subject of Willa Cather’s remarkable novel Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927).

  • LAN (computer technology)

    local area network (LAN), any communication network for connecting computers within a building or small group of buildings. A LAN may be configured as (1) a bus, a main channel to which nodes or secondary channels are connected in a branching structure, (2) a ring, in which each computer is

  • lan (cyanobacteria)

    commercial fishing: Seaweeds and plankton: In China a scum called lan, collected from ponds and freshwater lakes, provides sustenance for large numbers of people. A related scum, keklap, found in Java, is used chiefly as fish feed. Another species is made into dried sheets in Japan and prepared for food by heating in water. Successful…

  • län (Swedish political division)

    län, administrative subdivision (county) of Sweden; see

  • Lan Caihe (Chinese religious figure)

    Lan Caihe, in Chinese religion, one of the Baxian, the Eight Immortals of Daoism, whose true identity is much disputed. Artists depict Lan as a young man—or woman—carrying a flute or a pair of clappers and occasionally wearing only one shoe. Sometimes a basket of fruit is added. In Chinese theatre

  • Lan Chang (historical kingdom, Laos)

    Lan Xang, Laotian kingdom that flourished from the 14th century until it was split into two separate kingdoms, Vien Chang and Luang Prabang, in the 18th century. Conflict with its Myanmar (Burmese) and Thai (Siamese) neighbours forced the kingdom’s rulers to transfer the capital from Luang Prabang

  • Lan Na (historical kingdom, Thailand)

    Lan Na, One of the first major Tai (Siamese) kingdoms in Thai history. It was founded by Mangrai (r. c. 1259–1317) in the northern region of present-day Thailand; its capital was the city of Chiang Mai. Lan Na was a powerful state and a centre for the spread of Theravada Buddhism. Under Tilokaracha

  • Lan Na Thai (region, Thailand)

    Thailand: North: …often referred to collectively as Lan Na Thai, from the name for the loosely structured federation of principalities, with its capital at Chiang Mai, that existed in the area until the end of the 19th century. The people of Lan Na Thai speak the Kammüang (Northern Thai) dialect and follow…

  • Lan Ping (Chinese politician)

    Jiang Qing was the third wife of Chinese communist leader Mao Zedong and the most influential woman in the People’s Republic of China for a while until her downfall in 1976, after Mao’s death. As a member of the Gang of Four she was convicted in 1981 of “counter-revolutionary crimes” and

  • Lan River (river, China)

    Fuchun River: …region is drained by the Lan River. At Lanxi the Lan is formed by the junction of two rivers, the Jinhua River system, flowing from central Zhejiang to the east, and the Qu River, which drains the mountains of the Zhejiang-Jiangxi and Zhejiang-Fujian border areas.

  • Lan Tao Island (island, Hong Kong, China)

    Lantao Island, island located about 6 miles (10 km) west of Hong Kong Island, part of the New Territories of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. About 17 miles (27 km) long and 6 miles (9.5 km) wide, it has an area of 58 square miles (150 square km). Consisting of mountains rising

  • Lan Tau Island (island, Hong Kong, China)

    Lantao Island, island located about 6 miles (10 km) west of Hong Kong Island, part of the New Territories of Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. About 17 miles (27 km) long and 6 miles (9.5 km) wide, it has an area of 58 square miles (150 square km). Consisting of mountains rising

  • Lan Ts’ai-ho (Chinese religious figure)

    Lan Caihe, in Chinese religion, one of the Baxian, the Eight Immortals of Daoism, whose true identity is much disputed. Artists depict Lan as a young man—or woman—carrying a flute or a pair of clappers and occasionally wearing only one shoe. Sometimes a basket of fruit is added. In Chinese theatre

  • Lan Xang (historical kingdom, Laos)

    Lan Xang, Laotian kingdom that flourished from the 14th century until it was split into two separate kingdoms, Vien Chang and Luang Prabang, in the 18th century. Conflict with its Myanmar (Burmese) and Thai (Siamese) neighbours forced the kingdom’s rulers to transfer the capital from Luang Prabang

  • Lan-chou (China)

    Lanzhou, city, capital of Gansu sheng (province), west-central China. It is situated in the southeastern portion of the province on the upper course of the Huang He (Yellow River), where the river emerges from the mountains. Lanzhou has been a center since early times, being at the southern end of

  • Lan-t’ien man (anthropology)

    Lantian man, fossils of hominins (members of the human lineage) found in 1963 and 1964 by Chinese archaeologists at two sites in Lantian district, Shaanxi province, China. One specimen was found at each site: a cranium (skullcap) at Gongwangling (Kung-wang-ling) and a mandible (lower jaw) at

  • Lan-ts’ang Chiang (river, Southeast Asia)

    Mekong River, river that is the longest river in Southeast Asia, the 7th longest in Asia, and the 12th longest in the world. It has a length of about 2,700 miles (4,350 km). Rising in southeastern Qinghai province, China, it flows through the eastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan

  • Lana (chimpanzee)

    animal learning: Language learning: A chimpanzee named Lana, who was trained to press symbols on a keyboard, could type out “Please machine give Lana drink”; Washoe and other chimpanzees trained in gestural sign language frequently produced strings of gestures such as “You me go out,” “Roger tickle Washoe,” and so on. Skeptical…

  • Lana Sisters (musical group)

    Dusty Springfield: …girl group known as the Lana Sisters. Reinventing herself as Dusty Springfield, she then joined her brother Dion (stage name Tom Springfield) in the British country-music trio the Springfields, who achieved moderate success in the early 1960s.

  • Lāna‘i (island, Hawaii, United States)

    Lanai, island, Maui county, Hawaii, U.S. Situated across the Auau Channel from Maui island, it is formed by the extinct volcano Lanaihale (Palawai; 3,366 feet [1,026 metres]). The sixth largest of the Hawaiian Islands, Lanai has an area of 140 square miles (363 square km). Lanai is separated from

  • Lana, Treaty of (European history)

    Michael Hainisch: …in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lana with Czechoslovakia (1922), an agreement primarily directed against the possibilities of a Habsburg restoration but that also was seen as a barrier to Austrian–German union. Prohibited constitutionally from seeking a third presidential term in 1928 (he had previously been reelected in 1924),…

  • Lanai (island, Hawaii, United States)

    Lanai, island, Maui county, Hawaii, U.S. Situated across the Auau Channel from Maui island, it is formed by the extinct volcano Lanaihale (Palawai; 3,366 feet [1,026 metres]). The sixth largest of the Hawaiian Islands, Lanai has an area of 140 square miles (363 square km). Lanai is separated from

  • Lanao, Lake (lake, Philippines)

    Lake Lanao, lake, west-central Mindanao, Philippines. It is situated just south of Marawi, northwest of the Butig Mountains. Lake Lanao is the second largest lake in the Philippines and has an area of 131 square miles (340 square km). Its outlet is the Agus River, which flows north, over Maria

  • Lanark (novel by Gray)

    Alasdair Gray: …for his surreal atmospheric novel Lanark (1981).

  • Lanark (former county, Scotland, United Kingdom)

    Lanarkshire, historic county of south-central Scotland, roughly coinciding with the basin of the River Clyde. It is bounded to the south by the historic county of Dumfriesshire, to the east by Peeblesshire, Midlothian, and West Lothian, to the north by Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire, and to the

  • Lanark (Scotland, United Kingdom)

    Lanark, royal burgh (town), South Lanarkshire council area, historic county of Lanarkshire, south-central Scotland, situated by the right bank of the River Clyde, southeast of the Glasgow metropolitan area. The town developed around a castle built by David I of Scotland (reigned 1124–53), who made

  • Lanark, Earl of (Scottish Royalist)

    William Hamilton, 2nd duke of Hamilton was a Scottish Royalist during the English Civil Wars, who succeeded to the dukedom on the execution of his brother, the 1st duke, in 1649. He was a loyal follower of his brother and was created earl of Lanark in 1639; in the next year he became secretary of

  • Lanarkshire (former county, Scotland, United Kingdom)

    Lanarkshire, historic county of south-central Scotland, roughly coinciding with the basin of the River Clyde. It is bounded to the south by the historic county of Dumfriesshire, to the east by Peeblesshire, Midlothian, and West Lothian, to the north by Stirlingshire and Dunbartonshire, and to the

  • LANC (political party, Romania)

    Nicolas C. Paulescu: …which in 1923 became the National Christian Defense League (LANC). The LANC was an influential anti-Semitic party that fueled the rise of the Iron Guard.

  • Lancang Jiang (river, Southeast Asia)

    Mekong River, river that is the longest river in Southeast Asia, the 7th longest in Asia, and the 12th longest in the world. It has a length of about 2,700 miles (4,350 km). Rising in southeastern Qinghai province, China, it flows through the eastern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan

  • Lancashire (county, England, United Kingdom)

    Lancashire, administrative, geographic, and historical county in northwestern England. It is bounded to the north by Cumberland and Westmorland (in the present administrative county of Cumbria), to the east by Yorkshire, to the south by Cheshire, and to the west by the Irish Sea. Preston is the

  • Lancashire boiler (mechanical engineering)

    William Fairbairn: In 1844 he introduced the Lancashire boiler with twin flues. He was the first to use wrought iron for ship hulls, bridges, mill shafting, and structural beams. He also experimented with the strength of iron and the relative merits of hot and cold blast in iron manufacture. In 1845 he…

  • Lancashire sol-fa (music)

    solmization: Often called fasola, it survives in some areas of the United States. See shape-note hymnal.

  • Lancashire style wrestling (sport)

    catch-as-catch-can wrestling, basic wrestling style in which nearly all holds and tactics are permitted in both upright and ground wrestling. Rules usually forbid only actions that may injure an opponent, such as strangling, kicking, gouging, and hitting with a closed fist. The object is to force

  • Lancaster (California, United States)

    Lancaster, city, Los Angeles county, southwestern California, U.S. Lying in Antelope Valley at the western edge of the Mojave Desert, it is 80 miles (130 km) north of the city of Los Angeles and separated from it by the San Gabriel Mountains. In 1876, when the Southern Pacific Railroad laid tracks

  • Lancaster (county, South Carolina, United States)

    Lancaster, county, northern South Carolina, U.S. It is bounded by the Catawba River and its Wateree Lake extension to the west, the Lynches River to the east, and North Carolina to the north. The county lies in hilly piedmont terrain, much of which is covered in hardwood and pine forests. Andrew

  • Lancaster (Nebraska, United States)

    Lincoln, city, capital and second largest city of Nebraska, U.S., and seat (1869) of Lancaster county, in the southeastern part of the state, about 60 miles (95 km) southwest of Omaha. Oto and Pawnee Indians were early inhabitants in the area. Settlers were drawn in the 1850s by the salt flats

  • Lancaster (airplane)

    Lancaster, the most successful British heavy bomber of World War II. The Lancaster emerged from the response by A.V. Roe & Company, Ltd., to a 1936 Royal Air Force specification calling for a bomber powered by two 24-cylinder Rolls-Royce Vulture engines. The resultant aircraft, the Manchester,

  • Lancaster (South Carolina, United States)

    Lancaster, city, seat of Lancaster county, northern South Carolina, U.S., near the Catawba River. It was founded in the 1750s by settlers from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The architect Robert Mills designed the jail (1823) and the courthouse (1828). In the early 19th century the community was

  • Lancaster (Pennsylvania, United States)

    Lancaster, city, seat of Lancaster county, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S., and the center of a metropolitan area comprising a number of small towns and boroughs, 71 miles (114 km) west of Philadelphia. The original site on Conestoga Creek, known as Gibson’s Pasture, or Hickory Town, was made the

  • Lancaster (county, Pennsylvania, United States)

    Lancaster, county, southeastern Pennsylvania, U.S., consisting of a hilly piedmont region bounded by the Susquehanna River to the west, Conewago Creek to the northwest, and Octoraro Creek to the southeast. Impoundments of the Susquehanna River form Lakes Clarke and Aldred and Conowingo Reservoir.

  • Lancaster (England, United Kingdom)

    Lancaster, urban area (from 2011 built-up area) and city (district), administrative and historic county of Lancashire, northwestern England, at the head of the estuary of the River Lune, 7 miles (11 km) from the Irish Sea. Lancaster grew on the site of a Roman station, and traces of the Roman

  • Lancaster (district, England, United Kingdom)

    Lancaster: Lancaster, urban area (from 2011 built-up area) and city (district), administrative and historic county of Lancashire, northwestern England, at the head of the estuary of the River Lune, 7 miles (11 km) from the Irish Sea.

  • Lancaster (Ohio, United States)

    Lancaster, city, seat (1800) of Fairfield county, south-central Ohio, U.S., on the Hocking River, about 30 miles (50 km) southeast of Columbus. It was founded (1800) by Ebenezer Zane on land granted to him in payment for blazing Zane’s Trace, a 266-mile (428-km) wilderness road from Wheeling, West

  • Lancaster (New Hampshire, United States)

    Coos: Lancaster, the county seat, became the county’s central railroad link by the 1870s. Other towns are Gorham, Northumberland, and Colebrook. The northern half of the county, which is sparsely populated, was known as the Republic of Indian Stream in 1832–40. Principal industries are tourism and…

  • Lancaster Carmel Company (American company)

    Milton Snavely Hershey: …in failure, Hershey returned to Lancaster, where his innovative use of fresh milk in caramels proved enormously successful. He set up the Lancaster Caramel Company, which continued to make caramels in the 1890s while Hershey became increasingly interested in chocolate making. In 1900 Hershey sold his caramel company for $1,000,000,…

  • Lancaster House accord (African history)

    20th-century international relations: Regional crises: …and Mozambique and of the Lancaster House accord under which white Southern Rhodesians accepted majority rule, resulting in 1980 in the full independence of Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe, who in 1984 declared his intention to create a one-party Marxist state. South Africa tried to deflect global disgust with its apartheid…

  • Lancaster Sound (sound, Canada)

    Lancaster Sound, western arm of Baffin Bay (an inlet of the North Atlantic Ocean), in north-central Baffin region, Nunavut territory, Canada. The sound is 200 miles (320 km) long and 40 miles (64 km) wide. It extends between Devon Island (north) and Baffin Island (south) and joins the Barrow Strait

  • Lancaster Turnpike (road, Pennsylvania, United States)

    road: The Lancaster Turnpike: The first engineered and planned road in the United States was the Lancaster Turnpike, a privately constructed toll road built between 1793 and 1795. Connecting Philadelphia and Lancaster in Pennsylvania, its 62-mile length had a maximum grade of 7 percent and was surfaced…

  • Lancaster, Burt (American actor and producer)

    Burt Lancaster was an American film actor who projected a unique combination of physical toughness and emotional sensitivity. One of five children born to a New York City postal worker, Lancaster exhibited considerable athletic prowess as a youth. At age 19 he joined the circus and performed in an

  • Lancaster, Burton Stephen (American actor and producer)

    Burt Lancaster was an American film actor who projected a unique combination of physical toughness and emotional sensitivity. One of five children born to a New York City postal worker, Lancaster exhibited considerable athletic prowess as a youth. At age 19 he joined the circus and performed in an

  • Lancaster, Edmund, 1st Earl of (English noble)

    Edmund, 1st earl of Lancaster was the fourth (but second surviving) son of King Henry III of England and Eleanor of Provence, who founded the house of Lancaster. At the age of 10, Edmund was invested by Pope Innocent IV with the kingdom of Sicily (April 1255), as an expression of his conflict with

  • Lancaster, Henry, 1st duke and 4th earl of, earl of Leicester, earl of Derby, earl of Lincoln, earl of Moray, Lord Lancaster (English soldier and diplomat [1300-1361])

    Henry, 1st duke and 4th earl of Lancaster was a soldier and diplomat, the most trusted adviser of King Edward III of England (reigned 1327–77). He was unquestionably the most powerful feudal lord in England at that time. The son of Henry, 3rd earl of Lancaster, he was the great-grandson of King

  • Lancaster, Henry, 1st duke and 4th earl of, earl of Leicester, earl of Derby, earl of Lincoln, earl of Moray, Lord Lancaster (English soldier and diplomat [1300-1361])

    Henry, 1st duke and 4th earl of Lancaster was a soldier and diplomat, the most trusted adviser of King Edward III of England (reigned 1327–77). He was unquestionably the most powerful feudal lord in England at that time. The son of Henry, 3rd earl of Lancaster, he was the great-grandson of King

  • Lancaster, Henry, 3rd Earl of, Earl Of Leicester, Lord Lancaster (English noble [1281-1345])

    Henry, 3rd earl of Lancaster was the second son of Edmund (“Crouchback”), 1st Earl of Lancaster, and the brother of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster. After his brother’s execution in 1322, Henry was so little suspected of opposing King Edward II that he was allowed possession of another of the family

  • Lancaster, Henry, 3rd Earl of, Earl of Leicester, Lord Lancaster (English noble [1281-1345])

    Henry, 3rd earl of Lancaster was the second son of Edmund (“Crouchback”), 1st Earl of Lancaster, and the brother of Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster. After his brother’s execution in 1322, Henry was so little suspected of opposing King Edward II that he was allowed possession of another of the family

  • Lancaster, house of (English family)

    house of Lancaster, a cadet branch of the house of Plantagenet. In the 15th century it provided three kings of England—Henry IV, Henry V, and Henry VI—and, defeated by the house of York, passed on its claims to the Tudor dynasty. The family name first appeared in 1267, when the title of earl of

  • Lancaster, John of Gaunt, duke of (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

  • Lancaster, Joseph (British educator)

    Joseph Lancaster was a British-born educator who developed the system of mass education known as the Lancasterian method, a monitorial, or “mutual,” approach in which brighter or more proficient children were used to teach other children under the direction of an adult. In the early 19th century

  • Lancaster, Sir James (English merchant)

    Sir James Lancaster was a merchant who commanded the first English vessel to reach the East Indies and who established the first English trading post in Southeast Asia. In 1588 Lancaster served under Sir Francis Drake as commander of the Edward Bonaventure against the Spanish Armada. On April 10,

  • Lancaster, Sir Osbert (English cartoonist and author)

    Sir Osbert Lancaster was an English cartoonist, stage designer, and writer, best-known for his suave cartoons that appeared from 1939 in the Daily Express (London), which gently satirized the English upper class, especially its response to social change. He was also noted for his architectural

  • Lancaster, Thomas, 2nd Earl of, Earl of Leicester, Earl of Derby (English noble)

    Thomas of Lancaster was a grandson of King Henry III of England and the main figure in the baronial opposition to King Edward II. His opposition to royal power derived more from personal ambition than from a desire for reform. The son of Edmund Crouchback, 1st earl of Lancaster, he became involved

  • Lancasterian system (education)

    monitorial system, teaching method, practiced most extensively in the 19th century, in which the older or better scholars taught the younger or weaker pupils. In the system as promoted by the English educator Joseph Lancaster, the superior students learned their lessons from the adult teacher in

  • lance (weapon)

    lance, spear used by cavalry for mounted combat. It usually consisted of a long wooden shaft with a sharp metal point. Its employment can be traced to the ancient Assyrians and Egyptians, and it was widely used by the Greeks and Romans, despite their lack of the stirrup, which did not appear until

  • Lance Creek (region, Wyoming, United States)

    dinosaur: American hunting expeditions: …major historic site was the Lance Creek area of northeastern Wyoming, where J.B. Hatcher discovered and collected dozens of Late Cretaceous horned dinosaur remains for Marsh and for Yale College, among them the first specimens of Triceratops and Torosaurus. Marsh was aided in his work at these and other localities…

  • Lance et Compte (Canadian television series)

    Marina Orsini: …role in the television series Lance et Compte, a hockey saga seen by English-speaking viewers in Canada as He Shoots! He Scores! Though her acting experience consisted of only a few television commercials, director Jean-Claude Lord cast Orsini in the role of Suzie Lambert, sister of the main character. The…

  • Lance Formation (geology)

    Lance Formation, division of rocks in the western United States dating to the end of the Cretaceous Period 65.5 million years ago and named for exposures studied near Lance Creek, Niobrara county, Wyoming (see Niobrara Limestone). Varying in thickness from about 90 metres (300 feet) in North Dakota

  • Lance missile (ballistic weapon)

    Lance missile, U.S.-made mobile short-range ballistic missile, capable of carrying either a conventional or a nuclear warhead, that was developed during the 1960s and fielded by the U.S. Army from 1972 to 1992, mainly in western Europe. Lance missiles also were sold for use by several member

  • Lance, Larry (fictional character)

    Black Canary: …time to rescuing her boyfriend, Larry Lance, from the clutches of villains. The Black Canary strip ran until Flash Comics was canceled in 1949, and, with the end of All Star Comics in 1951, Black Canary faded into obscurity.

  • lance-head (snake group)

    fer-de-lance: The common French name fer-de-lance, or “lance head,” originally referred to the Martinique lancehead (Bothrops lanceolatus) found on the island of the same name in the West Indies. Several authoritative sources, however, frequently apply the name to the terciopelo (B. asper) and the common lancehead (B. atrox) of South…

  • Lancefield classification (biology)

    streptococcus: …wall, a system called the Lancefield classification.

  • Lancefield, Rebecca (American bacteriologist)

    Rebecca Lancefield was an American bacteriologist who created a system of classification of the more than 60 different types of Group A streptococcal bacteria while conducting research at Rockefeller Institute (later Rockefeller University). Lancefield graduated from Wellesley College and in 1918

  • Lancefield, Rebecca Craighill (American bacteriologist)

    Rebecca Lancefield was an American bacteriologist who created a system of classification of the more than 60 different types of Group A streptococcal bacteria while conducting research at Rockefeller Institute (later Rockefeller University). Lancefield graduated from Wellesley College and in 1918

  • lancelet (cephalochordate group)

    amphioxus, any of certain members of the invertebrate subphylum Cephalochordata of the phylum Chordata. Amphioxi are small marine animals found widely in the coastal waters of the warmer parts of the world and less commonly in temperate waters. Both morphological and molecular evidence show them to

  • Lancelot (work by Chrétien de Troyes)

    Guinevere: …charette, she was rescued by Lancelot (a character whom Chrétien had earlier named as one of Arthur’s knights) from the land of Gorre, to which she had been taken by Meleagant (a version of the story that was incorporated in the 13th-century prose Vulgate cycle). Chrétien presented her as one…

  • Lancelot (legendary knight)

    Lancelot, one of the greatest knights in Arthurian romance; he was the lover of Arthur’s queen, Guinevere, and was the father of the pure knight Sir Galahad. (Read Sir Walter Scott’s 1824 Britannica essay on chivalry.) Lancelot’s name first appeared as one of Arthur’s knights in Chrétien de

  • Lancelot (novel by Percy)

    Walker Percy: …to Percy’s treatment of “Malaise”; Lancelot (1977), an allegory of the King Arthur legend told through the reflections of a wife-murderer in a mental institution; The Second Coming (1980); and The Thanatos Syndrome (1987). He also wrote such nonfiction as The Message in the Bottle (1975), a sophisticated philosophical treatment…

  • Lancelot du Lac (legendary knight)

    Lancelot, one of the greatest knights in Arthurian romance; he was the lover of Arthur’s queen, Guinevere, and was the father of the pure knight Sir Galahad. (Read Sir Walter Scott’s 1824 Britannica essay on chivalry.) Lancelot’s name first appeared as one of Arthur’s knights in Chrétien de

  • Lancelot of the Lake (legendary knight)

    Lancelot, one of the greatest knights in Arthurian romance; he was the lover of Arthur’s queen, Guinevere, and was the father of the pure knight Sir Galahad. (Read Sir Walter Scott’s 1824 Britannica essay on chivalry.) Lancelot’s name first appeared as one of Arthur’s knights in Chrétien de

  • Lancelotti, Paul (Italian canonist)

    canon law: The Codex Juris Canonici (1917): …that of the Perugian canonist Paul Lancelotti’s Institutiones juris canonici (1563; “Institutions of Canon Law”), which in turn went back to the division of the 2nd-century Roman lawyer Gaius’s Institutiones—one section on persons, two sections on things, and one section on actions—and was based on the fundamental idea of Roman…

  • lanceolated monklet (bird)

    puffbird: The smallest species is the lanceolated monklet (Micromonacha lanceolata) from deep forests of northern South America. This 14-cm species derives its name from its quiet habits and modest brown plumage.

  • lancer (military)

    tactics: Linear formation: …another type of cavalry, the lancers, was added specifically to root out gunners hiding under their cannons’ barrels.

  • Lancer Spy (film by Ratoff [1937])

    Gregory Ratoff: Films of the 1930s and ’40s: Lancer Spy (1937)—a thriller that offered the appealing cast of George Sanders, Peter Lorre, and Dolores del Rio—was Ratoff’s first solo directing credit. In 1939 he helmed an impressive slate of six “A” features, five of them for Fox. Intermezzo: A Love Story, which Ratoff…

  • Lancereaux, Étienne (French physician)

    Nicolas C. Paulescu: …he worked with French physician Étienne Lancereaux, who was the first to suggest that diabetes mellitus originated in the pancreas, and with French scientist Albert Dastre, who had studied with Claude Bernard, the renowned physiologist who discovered the role of the pancreas in digestion.

  • lancers (dance)

    quadrille: The lancers, a variation of the quadrille, became popular in the late 1800s and was still danced in the mid-20th century in folk-dance clubs.

  • lancet fish

    lancet fish, either of two species of widely distributed, deepwater marine fish of the genus Alepisaurus (family Alepisauridae). Lancet fish are elongated and slender, with a long, very tall dorsal fin and a large mouth that is equipped with formidable fanglike teeth. The fish grow to a large size,

  • lancet window (architecture)

    lancet window, narrow, high window capped by a lancet, or acute, arch. The lancet arch is a variety of pointed arch in which each of the arcs, or curves, of the arch have a radius longer than the width of the arch. It takes its name from being shaped like the tip of a lance. The lancet window is

  • Lancet, The (British medical journal)

    The Lancet, British medical journal established in 1823. The journal’s founder and first editor was Thomas Wakley, considered at the time to be a radical reformer. Wakley stated that the intent of the new journal was to report on the metropolitan hospital lectures and to describe the important

  • lancewood (wood)

    lancewood, tough, heavy, elastic, straight-grained wood obtained from several different trees of the custard-apple family (Annonaceae). True lancewood, Oxandra lanceolata, of the West Indies and Guianas, furnishes most of the lancewood of commerce in the form of spars about 13 feet (4 m) in length

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    Manuel Rojas: His first novel, Lanchas en la bahía (1932; “Launches in the Bay”), is an ironic and satirical presentation of some of the social ills afflicting Chile. Rojas’ most acclaimed work is Hijo de ladrón (1951; “Son of a Thief”; Eng. trans., Born Guilty), an autobiographical novel with existential…

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