- speech therapy
speech therapy, therapeutic treatment to correct defects in speaking. Such defects may originate in the brain, the ear (see deafness), or anywhere along the vocal tract and may affect the voice, articulation, language development, or ability to speak after language is learned. Therapy begins with
- speech, figure of (rhetoric)
figure of speech, any intentional deviation from literal statement or common usage that emphasizes, clarifies, or embellishes both written and spoken language. Forming an integral part of language, figures of speech are found in oral literatures as well as in polished poetry and prose and in
- speech, freedom of
What do you think? Explore the ProCon debate freedom of speech, right, as stated in the 1st and 14th Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, to express information, ideas, and opinions free of government restrictions based on content. A modern legal test of the legitimacy of proposed
- speech, part of (linguistics)
part of speech, lexical category to which a word is assigned based on its function in a sentence. There are eight parts of speech in traditional English grammar: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, conjunction, preposition, and interjection. In linguistics, parts of speech are more typically
- SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission (law case)
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission: Dissenting opinion: In SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission (2010), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, citing the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, struck down FECA-imposed limits on the amounts that individuals could give to organizations that engage in independent expenditures for the…
- speed (mechanics)
navigation: Distance and speed measurements: …oldest method of determining the speed is the so-called Dutchman’s log, in which a floating object, the log, was dropped overboard from the bow of the ship; the time elapsing before it passed the stern was counted off by the navigator, who kept it in sight while walking the length…
- Speed (film by de Bont [1994])
Sandra Bullock: Rise to stardom: …breakthrough, however, was the thriller Speed (1994), about a policeman (played by Keanu Reeves) who, with the assistance of a plucky passenger (Bullock), must deactivate a bomb on a bus. In 1996 Bullock earned a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in the romantic comedy While You Were Sleeping…
- speed (drug)
methamphetamine, potent and addictive synthetic stimulant drug that affects the central nervous system (the spinal cord and brain). Methamphetamine is prescribed for the treatment of certain medical conditions, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. In
- speed (photography)
speed, in photography, any of those standards that indicate (1) the size of the lens opening, or aperture, (2) the duration of exposure, and (3) the sensitivity of the film to light. The aperture, or lens speed, of a camera is the size of the opening in the lens. Aperture settings provide one means
- Speed and Power of Ships (work by Taylor)
David Watson Taylor: His Speed and Power of Ships (1910), setting forth this knowledge, is still informative.
- speed brake
airplane: Devices for aerodynamic control: These include speed brakes, which are large flat-plate areas that can be deployed by the pilot to increase drag dramatically and are most often found on military aircraft, and spoilers, which are surfaces that can be extended on the wing or fuselage to disrupt the air flow…
- speed lathe (machine tool)
lathe: On a speed lathe the cutting tool is supported on a tool rest and manipulated by hand. On an engine lathe the tool is clamped onto a cross slide that is power driven on straight paths parallel or perpendicular to the work axis. On a screwcutting lathe…
- speed limit (road traffic control)
road: Legal control: Speed limits vary greatly with jurisdiction, ranging from walking pace in a Dutch woonerf, or “shared” street, to unrestricted on a German autobahn. Speed limits are commonly reduced on roads approaching residential, shopping, or school areas and on dangerous road sections and sharp curves.
- speed metal (music)
Metallica: …and Anthrax, developed the subgenre speed metal in the early and mid-1980s. The principal members were lead singer and rhythm guitarist James Hetfield (b. August 3, 1963, Downey, California, U.S.), drummer Lars Ulrich (b. December 26, 1963, Gentofte, Denmark), lead guitarist Kirk Hammett (b. November 18, 1962, San Francisco, California),…
- speed of light (physics)
speed of light, speed at which light waves propagate through different materials. In particular, the value for the speed of light in a vacuum is now defined as exactly 299,792,458 metres per second. The speed of light is considered a fundamental constant of nature. Its significance is far broader
- Speed of Sound (song by Coldplay)
Coldplay: …(including the hit single “Speed of Sound”) that elevated the group to the rank of such “big bands” as U2 and Radiohead. Meanwhile, Martin’s 2003–16 marriage to American actress Gwyneth Paltrow earned him celebrity status independent of his musical achievements.
- speed of sound (physics)
speed of sound, speed at which sound waves propagate through different materials. In particular, for dry air at a temperature of 0 °C (32 °F), the modern value for the speed of sound is 331.29 metres (1,086.9 feet) per second. The speed of sound in liquid water at 8 °C (46 °F) is about 1,439 metres
- speed reading
Evelyn Wood: …a widely used system of high-speed reading.
- speed skate (sports equipment)
short-track speed skating: …at high speeds, a special speed skate, one with a taller blade and higher boot, is used to provide extra support for the skater. Falls are common in short-track racing, and skaters wear protective pads on their elbows and knees, as well as helmets and gloves. The walls of the…
- speed skating (sport)
speed skating, the sport of racing on ice skates that originated in the Netherlands, possibly as early as the 13th century. Organized international competition developed in the late 19th century, and the sport was included as a men’s event in the first Winter Olympics in 1924. At the 1960 Games in
- speed skiing (sport)
speed skiing, competitive skiing event in which racers equipped with special short skis, skintight suits, and aerodynamic helmets compete to achieve the fastest speed on a steep, straight, and meticulously prepared track. A dangerous pastime, it is frequently billed as “the fastest nonmotorized
- Speed the Plough (play by Morton)
Mrs. Grundy: …onstage) in Thomas Morton’s play Speed the Plough (produced 1798), in which one character, Dame Ashfield, continually worries about what her neighbour Mrs. Grundy will say of each development. Since then the term Mrs. Grundy has passed into everyday speech as a criterion of rigid respectability, especially in contexts in…
- speed trial (industry)
ship construction: Trials: Formal speed trials, necessary to fulfill contract terms, are often preceded by a builder’s trial. Contract terms usually require the speed to be achieved under specified conditions of draft and deadweight, a requirement met by runs made over a measured course.
- speed, film (photography)
speed: …(3) the sensitivity of the film to light.
- speed, shutter (photography)
speed: The shutter speed regulates the length of time that the shutter is open during an exposure. Varying the shutter speed controls the film’s exposure to light and determines the speed of action that the photograph can “freeze,” or reproduce without blurring the image. Shutter speeds generally…
- Speed-the-Plow (play by Mamet)
David Mamet: …explores the teacher-student relationship; and Speed-the-Plow (produced 1988) is a black comedy about avaricious Hollywood scriptwriters.
- speed-to-length ratio (ship design)
ship: Design of the hull: …impossible to operate at a speed-to-length ratio (speed in nautical miles per hour, divided by the square root of the waterline length in feet) higher than approximately 1.3. Beyond that realm even a trivial increase in speed requires a virtually infinite increase in power in order to fulfill the energy…
- Speedboat (novel by Adler)
Renata Adler: …previously published short fiction into Speedboat (1976), her first novel, for which she won the Ernest Hemingway Prize (1976) for best first novel. Set primarily in New York City, Speedboat consists mainly of a series of disparate sketches and vignettes of impressions, musings, and slices of life, all distilled through…
- speedboating (sport)
motorboat: History.: In 1903 Alfred Harmsworth (later Lord Northcliffe) donated to the Royal Motor Yacht Club the British International Trophy for Motor Boats, popularly called the Harmsworth Cup (q.v.), which has been intermittently contested for by international teams since that year. In 1904 the American Power Boat…
- speedlight (photography)
flashtube, electric discharge lamp giving a very bright, very brief burst of light, useful in photography and engineering. See flash
- speedometer (vehicle instrument)
speedometer, instrument that indicates the speed of a vehicle, usually combined with a device known as an odometer that records the distance traveled. British inventor Charles Babbage invented an early type of speedometer made for locomotives, though Croation inventor Josip Belušić is credited with
- speedup (industry)
history of the organization of work: The assembly line: Such speedups became a serious point of contention between labour and management. Furthermore, the dull, repetitive nature of many assembly-line jobs bored employees, reducing their output.
- Speedway (film by Taurog [1968])
Norman Taurog: Elvis movies: (1966), Double Trouble (1967), Speedway (1968), and Live a Little, Love a Little (1968).
- speedway racing (sports)
speedway racing, automobile or motorcycle racing on a racecourse or track, usually oval and flat. Both speedway racing and Grand Prix racing, which is done on closed highways or other courses partly simulating road conditions, began in 1906. Speedway racing became the dominant kind of automobile
- speedwell (plant)
speedwell, any plant of the genus Veronica (order Lamiales), especially the small, sometimes weedy, herbaceous types. There are about 450 species, which are found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere. Speedwells are grown as ornamentals. Their small blossoms are usually white, blue, purple, or
- Speedwell (ship)
Mayflower: …brought from Holland on the Speedwell, a smaller vessel that accompanied the Mayflower on its initial departure from Southampton, England, on August 15, 1620. When the Speedwell proved unseaworthy and was twice forced to return to port, the Mayflower set out alone from Plymouth, England, on September 16, after taking…
- Speedwriting (writing system)
Speedwriting, shorthand system using the letters of the alphabet and punctuation marks. The name is a registered trademark for the system devised in the United States by Emma Dearborn about 1924. In Speedwriting, words are written as they sound, and only long vowels are expressed. Thus, “you” is
- Speedy (comic book character)
Green Arrow: …with a Robin-like sidekick named Speedy, Green Arrow became a regular feature in titles such as Adventure Comics and World’s Finest Comics. Throughout World War II, Green Arrow and Speedy also served as members of the Seven Soldiers of Victory in Leading Comics. The duo fought minor villains like the…
- speedy à la mode (calligraphy)
calligraphy: Writing manuals and copybooks (16th to 18th century): …documents: the financière and the italienne bastarde. (Barbedor had been given the task of revising the official government scripts by the king’s minister of finance, Jean-Baptiste Colbert.) Barbedor’s instructions for writing the italienne bastarde (which he saw as a near-universal hand for all sorts of nonfinancial documents) are precise: small…
- Speelman, Cornelis Janszoon (governor general of Dutch East Indies)
Cornelis Janszoon Speelman was a Dutch military leader and governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (1681–84) who spurred the transformation of the Dutch commercial empire in the Indies into an expanding territorial one. Speelman went to the Indies in 1645 as a clerk for the Dutch East Indies
- Speenhamland system (British relief system)
Speenhamland system, practice of economic relief for the poor that was adopted over much of England following a decision by local magistrates at the Pelican Inn, Speenhamland, near Newbury, Berkshire, on May 6, 1795. Instead of fixing minimum wages for poor labourers, the practice was to raise
- Speer, Albert (German architect and Nazi official)
Albert Speer was a German architect who was Adolf Hitler’s chief architect (1933–45) and minister for armaments and war production (1942–45). Speer studied at the technical schools in Karlsruhe, Munich, and Berlin, and acquired an architectural license in 1927. After hearing Hitler speak at a
- Speer, Albert, Jr. (German architect)
Chinese architecture: Into the 21st century: …firms such as that of Albert Speer, Jr., and providing city dwellers with free-standing single-family homes that feature all the amenities of the suburban European or American lifestyle.
- Spegel, Haquin (Swedish author)
Swedish literature: The 17th century: …the works of the bishops Haquin Spegel and Jesper Swedberg, the latter the father of the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg. Spegel contributed to Swedberg’s new hymnbook of 1695, which became the poetry book of the Swedish people and was of lasting influence. Even the lyric poet Lucidor (pseudonym of Lars…
- Speier (Germany)
Speyer, city, Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), southwestern Germany. Speyer is a port on the left bank of the Rhine River at the mouth of the Speyer River, south of Ludwigshafen. An ancient Celtic settlement, about 100 bce it became a Roman military and trading town, Noviomagus, and later became
- Speight, George (Fijian businessman)
George Speight is a Fijian businessman who was convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison for leading a coup against the government in 2000. Speight’s mother was an ethnic Fijian, and his father was a well-to-do farmer of Fijian-European descent who later became a member of Parliament.
- Speirín, Sliabh (mountains, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom)
Sperrin Mountains, mountain range disposed along an arc about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Londonderry city, Northern Ireland. The highest peaks—Sawel, Mullaclogher, and Mullaghaneany—all exceed 2,000 feet (608 m) and are capped with crystalline limestone. The Sperrins were extensively glaciated
- Špejbl (puppetry)
puppetry: Styles of puppet theatre: …Hurvínek, a precocious boy, and Špejbl, his slow-witted father. In France the prominent artists who designed for Les Comédiens de Bois included the painter Fernand Léger. Yves Joly stripped the art of the puppet to its bare essentials by performing hand puppet acts with his bare hands, without any puppets.…
- Speke Gulf (gulf, Tanzania)
East African lakes: Physiography: …on the southern shores the Speke, Mwanza, and Emin Pasha gulfs lie amid rocky granitic hills. Ukerewe, situated in the southeast, is the largest island in the lake; in the northwest the Sese Islands constitute a major archipelago. At the entrance to the channel leading to Jinja, Uganda, lies Buvuma…
- Speke Parrot (poem by Skelton)
John Skelton: …major political and clerical satires, Speke Parrot (written 1521), Collyn Clout (1522), and Why come ye nat to courte (1522), were all directed against the mounting power of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, both in church and in state, and the dangers—as Skelton saw them—of the new learning of the Humanists. Wolsey…
- Speke’s gazelle (mammal)
gazelle: African gazelles: The third indigenous species, Speke’s gazelle (G. spekei), inhabits the coastal plain of Somalia.
- Speke’s pectinator (rodent)
gundi: The East African gundi, or Speke’s pectinator (Pectinator spekei), is geographically isolated from all other gundi species and lives in Ethiopia and Somalia.
- Speke, John Hanning (British explorer)
John Hanning Speke was a British explorer who was the first European to reach Lake Victoria in East Africa, which he correctly identified as a source of the Nile. Commissioned in the British Indian Army in 1844, he served in the Punjab and travelled in the Himalayas and Tibet. In April 1855, as a
- Spektr (Soviet space module)
Mir: … (1990), a materials-sciences laboratory; and Spektr (1995) and Priroda (1996), two science modules containing remote-sensing instruments for ecological and environmental studies of Earth. With the exception of its first occupants, Mir’s cosmonaut crews traveled between the station and Earth in upgraded Soyuz TM spacecraft, and supplies were transported by robotic…
- Spelaeogriphacea (crustacean)
crustacean: Annotated classification: Order Spelaeogriphacea Holocene; carapace short, fused to first and covering part of second thoracic segment; 4 pairs of well-developed abdominal appendages; about 8 mm; cave-dwelling; South Africa; freshwater; 1 species. Order Mictacea Holocene; no functional eyes; carapace forms small lateral folds covering bases of mouthparts and…
- Spelaeornis chocolatinus (bird)
wren-babbler: An example is the streaked long-tailed wren-babbler (Spelaeornis chocolatinus) of northern Indochina, where it is found in small restless flocks in thickets.
- Spelce, Neal (American broadcast journalist)
Texas Tower shooting of 1966: The aftermath and legacy: Neal Spelce, the news director and anchor for KTBC, a combined radio and television station in Austin, was on the scene early (the station was only blocks from the tower). He described the events over the radio as they happened while crouching behind KTBC’s news…
- speleology (geology and hydrology)
speleology, scientific discipline that is concerned with all aspects of caves and cave systems. Exploration and description of caves and their features are the principal focus of speleology, but much work on the chemical solution of limestone, rates of formation of stalagmites and stalactites, the
- speleothem (speleology)
cave deposit, any of the crystalline deposits that form in a solution cave after the creation of the cave itself. These deposits are generally composed of calcium carbonate dissolved from the surrounding limestone by groundwater. Carbon dioxide carried in the water is released as the water
- spell (magic)
spell, words uttered in a set formula with magical intent. The correct recitation, often with accompanying gestures, is considered to unleash supernatural power. Some societies believe that incorrect recitation can not only nullify the magic but cause the death of the practitioner. The language of
- Spell, The (novel by Broch)
The Spell, allegorical novel by Hermann Broch, published posthumously in 1953 as Der Versucher. It was the only completed volume of a projected trilogy to have been called Bergroman (“Mountain Novel”). The author wrote it in the mid-1930s and then, dissatisfied, completely rewrote it twice more; by
- Spellbound (film by Hitchcock [1945])
Alfred Hitchcock: The Hollywood years: Rebecca to Dial M for Murder: …returned to Hollywood to make Spellbound (1945). A psychological (and psychiatric) mystery adapted by Ben Hecht from a Francis Beeding novel, it starred Ingrid Bergman as an analyst who finds herself falling in love with the new director of the asylum (Gregory Peck), whom she begins treating after realizing that…
- Spellbound (album by Abdul)
Paula Abdul: Music and acting: ” In 1991 she released Spellbound, which featured two more number one singles: “Rush Rush” and “The Promise of a New Day.” Head over Heels (1995), however, failed to match the success of her earlier albums.
- spelldown (contest)
spelling bee, contest or game in which players attempt to spell correctly and aloud words assigned them by an impartial judge. Competition may be individual, with players eliminated when they misspell a word and the last remaining player being the winner, or between teams, the winner being the team
- spelling (linguistics)
Baltic languages: Orthography: The Lithuanian alphabet is based on the Roman (Latin) alphabet. It has 33 letters, several employing diacritical marks, and is phonetic. In linguistic literature an acute accent is used for falling tones and a tilde for rising tones; the grave accent is used for…
- spelling and grammar checkers (word processing)
spelling and grammar checkers, computer programs that identify apparent misspellings and grammatical errors by reference to an incorporated dictionary and a list of rules for proper usage. They often appear as components of word-processing programs for personal computers or as stand-alone Web
- spelling bee (contest)
spelling bee, contest or game in which players attempt to spell correctly and aloud words assigned them by an impartial judge. Competition may be individual, with players eliminated when they misspell a word and the last remaining player being the winner, or between teams, the winner being the team
- spelling match (contest)
spelling bee, contest or game in which players attempt to spell correctly and aloud words assigned them by an impartial judge. Competition may be individual, with players eliminated when they misspell a word and the last remaining player being the winner, or between teams, the winner being the team
- Spelling Reform, The (work by March)
Francis Andrew March: The Spelling Reform (1881) was his chief contribution to the reform of English orthography. With his son Francis Andrew March (1863–1928), he edited A Thesaurus Dictionary of the English Language (1903; 2nd ed., 1980).
- Spellman, Carolyn (American astronomer)
Carolyn Shoemaker was an American astronomer who became an expert at identifying comets. With her husband, Gene Shoemaker, and David H. Levy, she discovered the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet in 1993. Spellman received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Chico (California) State College, having studied
- Spellman, Francis (American Roman Catholic prelate)
Francis Spellman was an archbishop and cardinal who was one of the most influential American Roman Catholic prelates during the middle decades of the 20th century. After graduating (1911) from Fordham University in New York, Spellman studied at the seminary for the archdiocese of Boston and at the
- Spellman, Francis Joseph (American Roman Catholic prelate)
Francis Spellman was an archbishop and cardinal who was one of the most influential American Roman Catholic prelates during the middle decades of the 20th century. After graduating (1911) from Fordham University in New York, Spellman studied at the seminary for the archdiocese of Boston and at the
- Spelman College (college, Atlanta, Georgia, United States)
Spelman College, private, historically black institution of higher learning for women in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. A liberal arts college, Spelman offers bachelor’s degrees in more than 20 fields, including arts, sciences, psychology, computer science, economics, languages, philosophy, political
- Spelman Seminary (college, Atlanta, Georgia, United States)
Spelman College, private, historically black institution of higher learning for women in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. A liberal arts college, Spelman offers bachelor’s degrees in more than 20 fields, including arts, sciences, psychology, computer science, economics, languages, philosophy, political
- Spelman, Laura Celestia (American educator and philanthropist)
Laura Spelman Rockefeller was an American educator and philanthropist who was the wife of John D. Rockefeller of the famed Rockefeller family. Both of Spelman’s parents were active in social causes; her father, a wealthy businessman, was an abolitionist involved in the Underground Railroad, and her
- Spelman, Sir Henry (English historian)
Sir Henry Spelman was an English antiquary, ecclesiastical and legal historian best known for his Concilia, Decreta, Leges, Constitutiones, in Re Ecclesiarum Orbis Britannici (“Councils, Decrees, Laws, and Constitutions of the English Church”), which was perhaps the first systematic compilation of
- spelt (plant)
spelt, (Triticum spelta), species of wheat (family Poaceae) grown for livestock forage and used in baked goods and cereals. Although spelt has an ancient history and was once an important crop in Europe during the Middle Ages, it has been largely supplanted by common wheat (Triticum aestivum).
- spelter (metallurgy)
spelter, zinc in the form of slabs cast from the liquid obtained in the process of reducing the ores. Spelter is the most common commercial form of zinc metal. See
- Spelthorne (district, England, United Kingdom)
Spelthorne, borough (district), administrative county of Surrey, historic county of Middlesex, southeastern England. It is bounded to the south and west by the River Thames and to the north and east by Greater London. Staines is the principal settlement and the district headquarters. Other
- Spelvin, George (theatrical conventional name)
George Spelvin, U.S. theatrical convention used in the credits commonly to conceal dual roles or for a corpse or other anthropomorphic props. Spelvin first “appeared” on Broadway in the cast list of Charles A. Gardiner’s Karl the Peddler in 1886. Winchell Smith employed the character in many of his
- Spem in alium nunquam habui (motet by Tallis)
Spem in alium nunquam habui, motet (short musical setting of a sacred text) by English composer Thomas Tallis, noted for its complex use of counterpoint in a composition for 40 voices. It is a 10-minute panorama of shifting tone colours and a tour de force of Renaissance polyphony that is
- Spemann, Hans (German embryologist)
Hans Spemann was a German embryologist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1935 for his discovery of the effect now known as embryonic induction, the influence exercised by various parts of the embryo that directs the development of groups of cells into particular tissues
- Spence + Lila (novel by Mason)
Bobbie Ann Mason: In 1988 Mason published Spence + Lila, the story of a long-married couple. Later novels included Feather Crowns (1993), An Atomic Romance (2005), The Girl in the Blue Beret (2011), and Dear Ann (2020). Among her other short-story collections were Love Life: Stories (1989), Midnight Magic
- Spence, A. Michael (American economist)
A. Michael Spence is an American economist who, with George A. Akerlof and Joseph E. Stiglitz, won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2001 for laying the foundations for the theory of markets with asymmetric information. Spence studied at Yale University (B.A., 1966), the University of Oxford (B.A.,
- Spence, Alexander Lee (American musician)
Jefferson Airplane:
- Spence, Catherine Helen (Australian author)
Catherine Helen Spence, was a writer and activist who sought to improve educational and welfare programs in Australia and to reform the country’s voting system. An immigrant from Scotland, she was a major progressive force for women’s voting rights in Australia during the late 19th and early 20th
- Spence, Kenneth Wartinbee (American psychologist)
Kenneth Wartinbee Spence was an American psychologist who attempted to construct a comprehensive theory of behaviour to encompass conditioning and other simple forms of learning and behaviour modification. Spence was raised and educated in Canada, returning to the United States in 1930 to study at
- Spence, Sir Basil (British architect)
Sir Basil Spence was an architect best known for the new Coventry cathedral, built to replace the cathedral that had been gutted during a World War II bombing raid. He was educated at the schools of architecture of London and Edinburgh universities and worked in Sir Edwin Lutyens’ office on
- Spence, Skip (American musician)
Jefferson Airplane:
- Spence, Thomas (British pamphleteer)
Thomas Spence was a British pamphleteer known for his early advocacy of the socialization of land. Spence came of Scottish working class origins. At 25 he presented to the Newcastle Philosophical Society his paper The Real Rights of Man, advocating that land be owned by democratically organized
- Spencer (film by Larraín [2021])
Kristen Stewart: Later performances: …in Chilean director Pablo Larraín’s Spencer. The film imagines Diana’s isolating experience during a Christmas holiday spent with the royal family in 1991 at the queen’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England. Her building sense of confinement within the restrictive norms of royal life and the strains of her constant visibility…
- Spencer carbine (weapon)
Spencer carbine, any of a family of rim-fire repeating arms—both carbines and rifles—that were widely used in the American Civil War. The carbine was invented by Christopher M. Spencer of Connecticut and was patented in 1860. Its buttstock contained a magazine carrying seven cartridges that could
- Spencer Davis Group, the (British musical group)
Island Records: Chris Blackwell’s Rock and Reggae Circus: …string of hits by the Spencer Davis Group, the Birmingham band whose teenage organ player, Stevie Winwood, had one of the most distinctive voices of the era.
- Spencer Gulf (gulf, South Australia, Australia)
Spencer Gulf, triangular inlet of the Indian Ocean, indenting the southeastern coast of South Australia, between the Eyre and Yorke peninsulas. Its maximum width is 80 miles (130 km) and overall length 200 miles (320 km). The Sir Joseph Banks, Thistle, Gambier, and Neptune islands are located in
- Spencer Jones, Sir Harold (British astronomer)
Sir Harold Spencer Jones was the 10th astronomer royal of England (1933–55), who organized a program that led to a more accurate determination of the mean distance between the Earth and the Sun. After studies at the University of Cambridge, Jones became chief assistant at the Royal Observatory in
- Spencer v. Kugler (law case)
Spencer v. Kugler, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court on January 17, 1972, summarily (without argument or briefs) affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the state of New Jersey’s practice of aligning school districts with municipal boundaries was constitutional. Unusually, the court did not
- Spencer’s Definition of Mind as Correspondence (work by James)
pragmatism: The Metaphysical Club: …published a paper in 1878, “Spencer’s Definition of Mind as Correspondence,” in which his pragmatism and analysis of thought and belief are clearly discernible, and two decades later, he introduced pragmatism to the public in a lecture. Although he fully credited Peirce with the idea, James’s exposition became famous and…
- Spencer’s Mountain (film by Daves [1963])
Delmer Daves: Later films: In 1963 Daves directed Spencer’s Mountain, a precursor to The Waltons TV series. The family drama featured Henry Fonda and Maureen O’Hara as a rural couple overcoming adversity. After Youngblood Hawke (1964), an adaptation of Herman Wouk’s best seller, Daves made his last picture, The Battle of the Villa…
- Spencer, Baldwin (prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda)
Baldwin Spencer is an Antiguan trade unionist and politician who served as prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda from 2004 to 2014. His election marked the end of a dynasty in Antiguan politics; since the country’s independence in 1981, the office of prime minister had been held by a member of the
- Spencer, Christopher M. (American inventor and manufacturer)
Christopher M. Spencer was an American inventor and manufacturer. In 1860 he patented a repeating carbine whose seven cartridges could be fired in 18 seconds. It was quickly adopted by the U.S. government for cavalry use, and Spencer built his own factory, which produced 200,000 Spencer carbines