Kermit the Frog: …several motion pictures, beginning with The Muppet Movie (1979). Among the other Muppet films in which he appeared were The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Muppets from Space (1999), The Muppets (2011), and Muppets Most Wanted (2014). Among his well-known songs are “(It’s Not That Easy) Bein’ Green” (1970), “The Rainbow…

The Muppet Show, TV comedy series created by Jim Henson that ran from 1976 to 1981. It featured the Muppets, a cast of now-iconic characters that included Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Gonzo, as they prepared for their weekly vaudeville show. While attending the University of

Tina Fey: …a Russian prison guard in Muppets Most Wanted and a woman who has to return home to sit shivah for her dead father in the comedy This Is Where I Leave You. Fey and Poehler costarred as siblings who decide to throw a party at their childhood home in Sisters…

Kermit the Frog: …in which he appeared were The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Muppets from Space (1999), The Muppets (2011), and Muppets Most Wanted (2014). Among his well-known songs are “(It’s Not That Easy) Bein’ Green” (1970), “The Rainbow Connection” (1979), and “The First Time It Happens” (1981); the latter two songs were…

Kermit the Frog: … (1984), Muppets from Space (1999), The Muppets (2011), and Muppets Most Wanted (2014). Among his well-known songs are “(It’s Not That Easy) Bein’ Green” (1970), “The Rainbow Connection” (1979), and “The First Time It Happens” (1981); the latter two songs were nominated for Academy Awards. Kermit and other Muppets remained…

Anatolia: Greek colonies on the Anatolian coasts, c. 1180–547 bce: …appearance of the house of Muksas (Phoenician: Mups) in the Karatepe bilingual inscription has suggested that there may be some historical basis for these traditions, which seem to be a heritage common to both the Greeks and the original Anatolian population. Archaeological finds indicate considerable Greek colonizing activity on the…

Jerusalem, ancient city of the Middle East that since 1967 has been wholly under the rule of the State of Israel. Long an object of veneration and conflict, the holy city of Jerusalem has been governed, both as a provincial town and a national capital, by an extended series of dynasties and states.

al-Maqdisī was an Arab traveler, geographer, and author of a noted work based on personal observations of the populations, manners, and economic life of the various inhabitants of the lands of Islām, Aḥson at-taqāsīm fi maʿrifat al-aqālīm (985; “The Best of Classification for the Knowledge of

historiography: Ibn Khaldūn: …was dramatically illustrated by the Muqaddimah (“Introduction”) of the Arab historian Ibn Khaldūn (1332–1406). This introductory volume of a universal history reveals Khaldūn’s ideas about history—something chroniclers hardly ever did. The subjects Khaldūn considered in his work include historical method, geography, culture, economics, public finance, population, society and state, religion…

Genghis Khan: Unification of the Mongol nation: …the hands of his general Muqali. Genghis Khan himself was compelled to turn aside from China and carry out the conquest of Khwārezm. This war was provoked by the governor of the city of Otrar, who massacred a caravan of Muslim merchants who were under Genghis Khan’s protection. The Khwārezm-Shāh…

Mazyadid Dynasty: Dubays’ brother al-Muqallad soon attempted to oust him but, failing, turned to the ʿUqaylid capital of Mosul for help. In 1030, supported by ʿUqaylid and Būyid forces, al-Muqallad routed Dubays. Dubays, however, was allowed to return to his capital, provided that he pay a sizable tribute to…

al-Muqannaʿ was a religious leader, originally a fuller (cloth processor) from Merv, in Khorāsān, who led a revolt in that province against the ʿAbbāsid caliph al-Mahdī. Preaching a doctrine combining elements of Islam and Zoroastrianism, al-Muqannaʿ carried on warfare for about three years in the

Islamic arts: Building materials and technology: …the earliest extant example of muqarnas, or stalactite-like decoration that would later be an important element of Islamic architectural ornamentation. The motif is so awkwardly constructed at Tim that it must have derived from some other source, possibly the ornamental device of using curved stucco panels to cover the corners…

iqṭāʿ: …Egypt, the iqṭāʿ approximated the muqāṭaʿah system, common in the caliphal domains, under which certain districts or peoples, such as Bedouins, Kurds, or Turkmen, paid a fixed tax directly to the state treasury, bypassing any intermediary tax collector. Thus, the Egyptian iqṭāʿ, primarily agricultural land, was leased for a limited…

Ur, important city of ancient southern Mesopotamia (Sumer), situated about 140 miles (225 km) southeast of the site of Babylon and about 10 miles (16 km) west of the present bed of the Euphrates River. In antiquity the river ran much closer to the city; the change in its course has left the ruins

Ur, important city of ancient southern Mesopotamia (Sumer), situated about 140 miles (225 km) southeast of the site of Babylon and about 10 miles (16 km) west of the present bed of the Euphrates River. In antiquity the river ran much closer to the city; the change in its course has left the ruins

Mogadishu, capital, largest city, and a major port of Somalia, located just north of the Equator on the Indian Ocean. One of the earliest Arab settlements on the East African coast, its origins date to the 10th century. It declined in the 16th century after a period of extensive trade with the Arab

Muqi Fachang was one of the best-known Chinese Chan (Japanese: Zen) Buddhist painters (see also Chan painting). His works were influential in Japan. Toward the end of the Southern Song dynasty (c. 13th century), Muqi found himself in political trouble and fled to a monastery near the capital city

Muqi Fachang was one of the best-known Chinese Chan (Japanese: Zen) Buddhist painters (see also Chan painting). His works were influential in Japan. Toward the end of the Southern Song dynasty (c. 13th century), Muqi found himself in political trouble and fled to a monastery near the capital city

Chagatai literature: …whom the most creative were Muqīmī and Furqat. Both were late Chagatai poets who saw Navāʾī, Mehmed bin Süleyman Fuzuli (a 16th-century poet who wrote in Turkish, Persian, and Arabic), and the poets of the court of Muhammad ʿAli Khan as their literary models. Nevertheless, they both expanded the generic…

Spain: Literature: …(died 1076), whose mostly preserved Muqtabis is an anthology of historical texts collected from the works of his predecessors; however, he also wrote an original chronicle, the Matīn. Of human interest are the Memoirs of the king Zīrī ʿAbd Allāh, who was deposed by the Almoravids and who sought to…

El Cid: Early life: …negotiations that made its king, al-Muqtadir, a tributary of the Castilian crown.

al-Muqtafī was an ʿAbbāsid caliph during the later years of Seljuq influence in Iraq. Al-Muqtafī became caliph in 1136 and soon embarked upon a policy of strengthening his political authority vis-à-vis the Seljuqs, whose princes at the time were feuding among themselves. Consequently, he was able

Druze: Origins and practice: …Druze to be led by al-Muqtanā Bahāʾ al-Dīn (also called al-Samūqī), with whom he seems to have remained in contact for a period of time. The Druze faith gradually died out in Egypt but survived in isolated areas of Syria and Lebanon, where missionaries had established significant communities. Al-Muqtanā withdrew…

iqṭāʿ: …of usufruct by which the muqṭaʿ (recipient officer) collected taxes from the land—calculated to approximate his usual pay. As the officer usually lived in a city remote from his iqṭāʿ, he had little interest in the land or its cultivators. The grant was merely a wage, and as soon as…

Alps: …as the industries in the Mur and Mürz valleys of southern Austria that used iron ore from deposits near Eisenerz. Hydroelectric power development at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, often involving many different watersheds, led to the establishment in the lower valleys of

Japan: Rural settlement: Now called an aza, this unit should not be confused with the administrative terms mura or son in use after 1888.

Mura, South American Indian people of the Amazon tropical forest of western Brazil. The Mura originally inhabited the right bank of the lower Madeira River near the mouth of the Jamari River. Contact with whites led them to adopt guerrilla tactics; they spread downstream to the Purus River, raiding

Alps: …as the industries in the Mur and Mürz valleys of southern Austria that used iron ore from deposits near Eisenerz. Hydroelectric power development at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, often involving many different watersheds, led to the establishment in the lower valleys of

Aurelian Wall, rampart of imperial Rome, first constructed in the second half of the 3rd century ad. It was begun by the emperor Aurelian, completed by his successor Probus, improved under the emperor Honorius in the early 5th century, and restored by Theodoric the Great in the 6th century and by

Western painting: Late Baroque and Rococo: Francesco de Mura took the style to Turin, where he was court painter; Corrado Giaquinto, as court painter in Madrid, turned increasingly toward the Rococo, and Sebastiano Conca worked in Rome, falling increasingly victim to the academic classicism dominant there. Anton Domenico Gabbiani practiced a…

biblical literature: The Qumrān texts and other scrolls: …the finds at Wadi Al-Murabbaʿat, the latest date of which is 135 ce. Here were found fragments of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Isaiah in addition to a substantially preserved Minor Prophets scroll. Variants from the Masoretic text are negligible. The same phenomenon characterizes the fragments of Numbers found at…

marabout, originally, in North Africa, member of a Muslim religious community living in a ribāṭ, a fortified monastery, serving both religious and military functions. Men who possessed certain religious qualifications, such as the reciters of the Qurʾān (qurrāʾ), transmitters of Hadith

Egypt: Ethnic groups: …Ṣaʿīdī, Upper Egyptians) and the Mūrābiṭīn. The Saʿādī regard themselves as descended from Banū Hilāl and Banū Sulaym, the great Arab tribes that migrated to North Africa in the 11th century. The most important and numerous of the Saʿādī group are the Awlād ʿAlī. The Mūrābiṭīn clans occupy a client…

marabout, originally, in North Africa, member of a Muslim religious community living in a ribāṭ, a fortified monastery, serving both religious and military functions. Men who possessed certain religious qualifications, such as the reciters of the Qurʾān (qurrāʾ), transmitters of Hadith

Almoravids, confederation of Berber tribes—Lamtūnah, Gudālah, Massūfah—of the Ṣanhājah clan, whose religious zeal and military enterprise built an empire in northwestern Africa and Muslim Spain in the 11th and 12th centuries. These Saharan Berbers were inspired to improve their knowledge of Islamic

Ak Koyunlu: The last Ak Koyunlu ruler, Murād, who had been contending for power with his brothers Alwand and Muḥammad since 1497, was also defeated by Ismāʿīl (1503). Murād established himself briefly in Baghdad (until 1508), but, with his retreat to Diyār Bakr, the dynasty ended.

Battle of Samugarh: …between the princes Aurangzeb and Murād Bakhsh, third and fourth sons of the emperor, on the one side, and the eldest son and heir apparent, Dārā Shikōh, on the other. Dārā had retreated to Samugarh, about 10 miles (16 km) east of Agra (Shah Jahān’s residence), south of the Yamuna…

Ottoman Empire: The Young Turk Revolution of 1908: …most noteworthy among those were Murad Bey, Ahmed Rıza, and Prince Sabaheddin. As editor of Mizan (“Balance”), published first in Istanbul (1886) and later in Cairo and Geneva, Murad Bey preached liberal ideas combined with a strong Islamic feeling; that may have contributed to his defection and return to Istanbul…

Battle of the Pyramids: …an Egyptian force led by Murād Bey was massed on the west bank of the Nile at Embabeh, 6 miles (10 km) from Cairo and 15 miles (25 km) from the pyramids of Giza. (Though historical accounts place the size of the Egyptian force at close to 40,000 and Bonaparte…

Murad I was an Ottoman sultan who ruled from 1360 to 1389. Murad’s reign witnessed rapid Ottoman expansion in Anatolia and the Balkans and the emergence of new forms of government and administration to consolidate Ottoman rule in these areas. Murad ascended the throne in succession to his father,

Murad II was an Ottoman sultan (1421–44 and 1446–51) who expanded and consolidated Ottoman rule in the Balkans, pursued a policy of restraint in Anatolia, and helped lead the empire to recovery after its near demise at the hands of Timur following the Battle of Ankara (1402). Early in his reign,

Murad III was an Ottoman sultan in 1574–95 whose reign saw lengthy wars against Iran and Austria and social and economic deterioration within the Ottoman state. Externally Murad continued the military offensive of his predecessors. He took Fez (now Fès, Mor.) from the Portuguese in 1578. He fought

Murad IV was an Ottoman sultan from 1623 to 1640 whose heavy-handed rule put an end to prevailing lawlessness and rebelliousness and who is renowned as the conqueror of Baghdad. Murad, who came to the throne at age 11, ruled for several years through the regency of his mother, Kösem, and a series

Murad IV was an Ottoman sultan from 1623 to 1640 whose heavy-handed rule put an end to prevailing lawlessness and rebelliousness and who is renowned as the conqueror of Baghdad. Murad, who came to the throne at age 11, ruled for several years through the regency of his mother, Kösem, and a series

Jelālī Revolts: …by the grand vizier Kuyucu Murad Paşa, who by 1610 had eliminated a large number of Jelālīs.

Józef Zachariasz Bem was a Polish army general whose military feats in Transylvania and the region of Banat made him a hero of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848–49. He was the author of treatises on artillery, mathematics, and history. Educated at the Warsaw Military School, he distinguished himself

Murat River, river, the major headstream of the Euphrates. In antiquity it was called Arsanias. The river rises north of Lake Van near Mount Ararat, in eastern Turkey, and flows westward for 449 miles (722 km) through a mountainous region to unite with the Karasu Çayı and form the Upper Euphrates

Murad V was an Ottoman sultan from May to August 1876, whose liberal disposition brought him to the throne after the deposition of his autocratic uncle Abdülaziz. A man of high intelligence, Murad received a good education and was widely read in both Turkish and European literature. In 1867 he

Ferid Murad was an American pharmacologist who, along with Robert F. Furchgott and Louis J. Ignarro, was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discovery that nitric oxide (NO) acts as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system. Their combined work uncovered an

Nadia Murad is a Yazīdī human rights activist who was kidnapped by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL; also called ISIS) in August 2014 and sold into sex slavery. She escaped three months later, and shortly thereafter she began speaking out about human trafficking and sexual violence,

moray: One species of moray, Muraena helena, found in the Mediterranean, was a great delicacy of the ancient Romans and was cultivated by them in seaside ponds.

eel: Annotated classification: Family Muraenesocidae (pike congers) Large teeth, voracious. 4 genera with about 8 species. Pantropical. Family Nettastomatidae (witch eels) No pectoral fins. 6 genera with about 40 species. Deepwater. Family Derichthyidae (longneck eels)

moray, any of 80 or more species of eels of the family Muraenidae. Moray eels occur in all tropical and subtropical seas, where they live in shallow water among reefs and rocks and hide in crevices. They differ from other eels in having small rounded gill openings and in generally lacking pectoral

eel: Annotated classification: Suborder Muraenoidei Frontal bones of skull paired, scales absent; reduced gill arch elements and reduced lateral line. Family Chlopsidae (Xenocongridae) (false morays) Burrowing. 8 genera with 18 species. Pantropical. Family Muraenidae (

Japan: The Yamato polity: …titles appear to have been muraji and omi, held only by clan leaders of powerful communities serving in the area of the Yamato court. Lower-ranking titles were awarded to leaders of smaller, distant clans who nonetheless swore allegiance. The highest officers of the emerging state were the ō-muraji and the…

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese novelist, short-story writer, and translator whose deeply imaginative and often ambiguous books became international bestsellers. His famous works include the novels Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985), Norwegian Wood (1987), and The Wind-Up Bird

Almost Transparent Blue: …novella by notable Japanese writer Ryū Murakami that was published in 1976. Almost Transparent Blue is a layered, almost hallucinatory work that is rendered in excruciating, often repugnant detail and describes the day-to-day existence of a group of nihilistic youths living near an American army base in an unnamed Japanese…

Takashi Murakami is a Japanese artist and entrepreneur widely recognized for his ability to adapt the aesthetics of Japanese traditional art to operate within the context of popular culture. Murakami studied Japanese painting at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, where he

Japan: Growth of popular knowledge: …an example, “village conflicts” (murakata sōdō) became more fierce in the later part of this period, as the farmers sought to censure the improper acts of village officials and to make the village more democratic. Leadership in these conflicts was often taken by middle- and lower-class farmers, demonstrating how…

mural, a painting applied to and made integral with the surface of a wall or ceiling. The term may properly include painting on fired tiles but ordinarily does not refer to mosaic decoration unless the mosaic forms part of the overall scheme of the painting. Mural painting is inherently different

Jackson Pollock: Coming into maturity: …his first wall-size work, called Mural (c. 1943–44). This painting represents Pollock’s breakthrough into a totally personal style in which Benton’s compositional methods and energetic linear invention are fused with the Surrealist free association of motifs and unconscious imagery. Pollock’s evolution from this point throughout the 1940s shows a struggle…

John Flamsteed: …the means to construct a mural arc, a wall-mounted instrument for measuring the altitudes of stars as they passed the meridian.

Agustina Bessa-Luís: …Os incuráveis (1956; “The Incurables”), A muralha (1957; “The Stone Wall”), O susto (1958; “The Fright”), O manto (1961; “The Mantle”), and O sermão de fogo (1963; “The Sermon of Fire”). She remained a prolific novelist through the turn of the 21st century, and in 2004 she received the Camões…

Muttiah Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan cricketer whose unorthodox delivery made him one of the most effective and controversial spin bowlers in history and enabled him to take more wickets in both Test and one-day international (ODI) cricket than anyone else who had ever played the game. Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan cricketer whose unorthodox delivery made him one of the most effective and controversial spin bowlers in history and enabled him to take more wickets in both Test and one-day international (ODI) cricket than anyone else who had ever played the game. Muralitharan

Zimbabwe: Increasing discord: …election, the government launched “Operation Murambatsvina,” a cleanup campaign that destroyed thousands of homes and stores in shantytowns on the outskirts of Harare and other urban centres. More than half a million people were displaced, and critics of the government claimed that this was a punitive measure aimed at…

nashiji: …(1603–1867), more variations were devised—muranashi-ji, for example, in which gold or silver flakes are sprinkled thickly in some parts and lightly in others to depict clouds or to create an irregular effect in the design.

Murano, island, north of Venice, in Veneto region, northeastern Italy, with an area of 1,134 acres (459 hectares) in the Laguna Veneta (Venice Lagoon). It was founded between the 5th and the 7th century, and it experienced its major development after 1291, when glass furnaces were moved there from

Murano Tōgo was a Japanese architect particularly noted for the construction of large department stores with solid external walls. Murano was trained in traditional Japanese styles, but he was gradually drawn to the European modern style. By the 1930s he was earning a reputation as a designer of

ḥāl: (1) The ḥāl of murāqabah (“watching”) fills the Ṣūfī with either fear or joy according to the aspect of God revealed to him. (2) The ḥāl of qurb (“nearness”) is a state that enables the Ṣūfī to become unconscious of his own acts and to see God’s acts and…

South Asian arts: Mughal style: Jahāngīr period (1605–27): The Muraqqah-e Gulshan is the most spectacular. (Most surviving folios from this album are in the Gulistan Library in Tehrān and the Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin; a section is temporarily housed in Tübingen.) There are assembled masterpieces from Iran, curiosities from Europe, works produced in…

Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese writer and lady-in-waiting who was the author of the Genji monogatari (c. 1010; The Tale of Genji), generally considered the greatest work of Japanese literature and thought to be the world’s oldest full novel. The author’s real name is unknown; it is conjectured

Murat River, river, the major headstream of the Euphrates. In antiquity it was called Arsanias. The river rises north of Lake Van near Mount Ararat, in eastern Turkey, and flows westward for 449 miles (722 km) through a mountainous region to unite with the Karasu Çayı and form the Upper Euphrates

Murat River, river, the major headstream of the Euphrates. In antiquity it was called Arsanias. The river rises north of Lake Van near Mount Ararat, in eastern Turkey, and flows westward for 449 miles (722 km) through a mountainous region to unite with the Karasu Çayı and form the Upper Euphrates

Joachim Murat was a French cavalry leader who was one of Napoleon’s most celebrated marshals and who, as king of Naples (1808–15), lent stimulus to Italian nationalism. The son of an innkeeper, he studied briefly for a career in the church but enlisted in a cavalry regiment in 1787 and, when war

Joachim Murat was a French cavalry leader who was one of Napoleon’s most celebrated marshals and who, as king of Naples (1808–15), lent stimulus to Italian nationalism. The son of an innkeeper, he studied briefly for a career in the church but enlisted in a cavalry regiment in 1787 and, when war

Japanese art: The tea ceremony: …period and were espoused by Murata Shukō (c. 1422–1502), who was a disciple of the Zen master and abbot Ikkyū and is traditionally credited with founding the tea ceremony in Japan. An aesthetic adviser to the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, Shukō prepared tea for his master at the latter’s villa Ginkaku…

Lodovico Antonio Muratori was a scholar and pioneer of modern Italian historiography. After studying at Modena under the Benedictine Benedetto Bacchini, who introduced him to the historical-critical methods of the French Maurists, in 1694 he was ordained priest and employed in the Ambrosian library

Lodovico Antonio Muratori was a scholar and pioneer of modern Italian historiography. After studying at Modena under the Benedictine Benedetto Bacchini, who introduced him to the historical-critical methods of the French Maurists, in 1694 he was ordained priest and employed in the Ambrosian library

Muratorian Fragment, a late 2nd-century-ce fragment of a Latin list of New Testament writings then regarded by Christians as canonical (scripturally authoritative). It was named for its discoverer, Lodovico Antonio Muratori, an Italian scholar who published the manuscript in 1740. The list mentions

Muratorian Fragment, a late 2nd-century-ce fragment of a Latin list of New Testament writings then regarded by Christians as canonical (scripturally authoritative). It was named for its discoverer, Lodovico Antonio Muratori, an Italian scholar who published the manuscript in 1740. The list mentions

Dmitry Muratov is a Russian journalist who, as editor in chief of the newspaper Novaya Gazeta (1995– ; “New Gazette”), was a vocal advocate for an independent press, known for investigating abuses of power. In 2021 he was awarded (with Philippine journalist Maria Ressa) the Nobel Prize for Peace,

Rajinikanth: Rise to stardom: Murattu Kaalai (1980; “Raging Bull”), in which his character, a dutiful milkman, saves a woman from the abusive man she was supposed to marry, cemented his image as an action superstar. His next few releases included Netrikkan (1981; “The Third Eye”), Thillu Mullu (1981; “Hanky…

Sergey Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol was a Russian army officer and republican, executed for his leading role in the Decembrist (Dekabrist) uprising of 1825–26. The son of a diplomat and writer, Muravyov-Apostol graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers and fought against the

Mikhail Nikolayevich, Count Muravyov was a Russian diplomat and statesman who at the end of the 19th century directed Russia’s activities in the Far East and played a major role in developments leading to the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05). Muravyov was the grandson of Mikhail

Mikhail Nikolayevich, Count Muravyov was a Russian diplomat and statesman who at the end of the 19th century directed Russia’s activities in the Far East and played a major role in developments leading to the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05). Muravyov was the grandson of Mikhail

Bulgaria: Bulgarian resistance to the Axis alliance: …resigned and was replaced by Kosta Muraviev of the Agrarian Union on September 2, 1944.

Nikolay Nikolayevich Amursky, Graf Muravyov was a Russian statesman and explorer whose efforts led to the expansion of the Russian Empire to the Pacific. In 1860 he planted the Russian flag at what was to become the port of Vladivostok. A lieutenant general in the Russian army, Muravyov was

January Insurrection: …by the “hangman of Vilnius,” Mikhail Nikolayevich Muravyov; the new viceroy in Poland, Teodor Berg, similarly imposed a harsh regime in Warsaw; and Russian efforts (begun in the summer of 1863) to win the peasants’ loyalty by granting reforms provided added incentive for the peasantry to abandon the rebels. Although…

Mikhail Nikolayevich, Count Muravyov was a Russian diplomat and statesman who at the end of the 19th century directed Russia’s activities in the Far East and played a major role in developments leading to the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05). Muravyov was the grandson of Mikhail

Nikolay Nikolayevich Amursky, Graf Muravyov was a Russian statesman and explorer whose efforts led to the expansion of the Russian Empire to the Pacific. In 1860 he planted the Russian flag at what was to become the port of Vladivostok. A lieutenant general in the Russian army, Muravyov was

Sergey Ivanovich Muravyov-Apostol was a Russian army officer and republican, executed for his leading role in the Decembrist (Dekabrist) uprising of 1825–26. The son of a diplomat and writer, Muravyov-Apostol graduated from the St. Petersburg Institute of Railway Engineers and fought against the

Vera Komissarzhevskaya was a Russian actress and producer whose career linked the practice of the aristocratic Russian theatre with many of those who would eventually establish the avant-garde theatre after the Russian Revolution. Komissarzhevskaya’s father, Fyodor, was a prominent opera star and

Lee Miller: Education and modeling career: …notable fashion photographers Arnold Genthe, Nickolas Muray, and Edward Steichen. Unfortunately, a photograph taken by Steichen was placed in a Kotex feminine products ad (1928–29), which was somewhat scandalous and embarrassing for her. Soon after the ad ran, Miller left New York City for Paris.

Murayama Tomiichi was a politician who in 1994–96 was the first Socialist prime minister of Japan since 1948. One of 11 children born to a fisherman, Murayama graduated from Meiji University in Tokyo in 1946 and then returned to Ōita, where he became an activist in the local fishermen’s union. Most

Sagunto, town, Valencia provincia (province), in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Valencia, eastern Spain, at the foot of the Peñas de Pajarito, on the western bank of the Palancia River, just north-northeast of Valencia city. Of Iberian origin, the town is the ancient Saguntum,

South Asian arts: Qualities of the scales: …that the intervals of the murchanas were of three different sizes, consisting of two, three, or four shrutis, and that the octave comprised 22 shrutis. An interval of one shruti was not used. Several modern scholars have suggested that the shrutis were of unequal size; from the evidence in the…

Murchison Falls, waterfall on the lower Victoria Nile River in northwestern Uganda, 20 miles (32 km) east of Lake Albert. The Victoria Nile passes through many miles of rapids before narrowing to a width of about 20 feet (6 metres) and dropping about 400 feet (120 metres) in a series of three

Murchison Falls National Park, national park located in northwestern Uganda, established in 1952. It occupies an area of 1,483 square miles (3,840 square km) of rolling grassland east of Lake Albert. The Victoria Nile bisects the park from east to west and travels through a rock cleft 23 feet (7