• Sax, Saville (American spy)

    Theodore Hall: …that time Hall had contacted Saville Sax, a college roommate who had connections in left-wing politics. The two arranged a meeting with an agent of Soviet intelligence in New York City, where Hall handed over details on the organization of work at Los Alamos. In subsequent deliveries, mediated by Sax…

  • Saxe (historical region, duchy, and kingdom, Europe)

    Saxony, any of several major territories in German history. It has been applied: (1) before 1180 ce, to an extensive far-north German region including Holstein but lying mainly west and southwest of the estuary and lower course of the Elbe River; (2) between 1180 and 1423, to two much smaller and

  • Saxe, Maurice, comte de (French general)

    Maurice, count de Saxe (count of) was a general and military theorist who successfully led French armies during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48). The illegitimate son of the elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (later also King Augustus II of Poland), young Maurice was sent by his

  • Saxe, Maurice, comte de (French general)

    Maurice, count de Saxe (count of) was a general and military theorist who successfully led French armies during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–48). The illegitimate son of the elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony (later also King Augustus II of Poland), young Maurice was sent by his

  • Saxe-Altenburg, Duchy of (duchy, Germany)

    Saxon duchies: of Saxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen (Sachsen-Meiningen-Hildburghausen); the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg); and the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha). The territories of the duchies were fragmented, and in the same area there were several exclaves of Prussian and other territories. Saxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen sided with Austria in the Seven Weeks’ War (1866); the other…

  • Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (royal house of the United Kingdom)

    house of Windsor, the royal house of the United Kingdom, which succeeded the house of Hanover on the death of its last monarch, Queen Victoria, on January 22, 1901. The dynasty includes Edward VII (reigned 1901–10), George V (1910–36), Edward VIII (1936), George VI (1936–52), Elizabeth II

  • Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (royal house of the United Kingdom)

    house of Windsor, the royal house of the United Kingdom, which succeeded the house of Hanover on the death of its last monarch, Queen Victoria, on January 22, 1901. The dynasty includes Edward VII (reigned 1901–10), George V (1910–36), Edward VIII (1936), George VI (1936–52), Elizabeth II

  • Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Duchy of (duchy, Germany)

    Saxon duchies: …of Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg); and the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha). The territories of the duchies were fragmented, and in the same area there were several exclaves of Prussian and other territories. Saxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen sided with Austria in the Seven Weeks’ War (1866); the other duchies with victorious Prussia. All joined…

  • Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel, Prince of (British prince)

    Albert, Prince Consort was the prince consort of Queen Victoria of Great Britain and father of King Edward VII. Although Albert himself was undeservedly unpopular, the domestic happiness of the royal couple was well known and helped to assure the continuation of the monarchy, which was by no means

  • Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Simeon (prime minister and former king of Bulgaria)

    Simeon Saxecoburggotski is the last king of Bulgaria, reigning as a child from 1943 to 1946 as Simeon II. He later served as the country’s prime minister (2001–05). Read about other great political comebacks. On Aug. 28, 1943, his father, Boris III, died under mysterious circumstances—the cause of

  • Saxe-Lauenburg (duchy, Germany)

    Ascanian Dynasties: …were divided into two duchies, Saxe-Lauenburg in the northwest and Saxe-Wittenberg in central Germany, for the sons of Bernard’s son Albert. Saxe-Wittenberg, which secured the Saxon electoral title in 1356, passed in 1423, on the extinction of the Ascanian branch there, to the margraves of Meissen (of the House of…

  • Saxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen, Duchy of (duchy, Germany)

    Saxon duchies: …duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach); the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen (Sachsen-Meiningen-Hildburghausen); the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg); and the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha). The territories of the duchies were fragmented, and in the same area there were several exclaves of Prussian and other territories. Saxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen sided with Austria in the Seven…

  • Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Grand Duchy of (duchy, Germany)

    Saxon duchies: …there were four duchies: the grand duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach); the duchy of Saxe-Meiningen-Hildburghausen (Sachsen-Meiningen-Hildburghausen); the duchy of Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg); and the duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha). The territories of the duchies were fragmented, and in the same area there were several exclaves of Prussian and other

  • Saxe-Wittenberg (duchy, Germany)

    Ascanian Dynasties: …Saxe-Lauenburg in the northwest and Saxe-Wittenberg in central Germany, for the sons of Bernard’s son Albert. Saxe-Wittenberg, which secured the Saxon electoral title in 1356, passed in 1423, on the extinction of the Ascanian branch there, to the margraves of Meissen (of the House of Wettin). Thus the name Saxony,…

  • Saxecoburggotski, Simeon (prime minister and former king of Bulgaria)

    Simeon Saxecoburggotski is the last king of Bulgaria, reigning as a child from 1943 to 1946 as Simeon II. He later served as the country’s prime minister (2001–05). Read about other great political comebacks. On Aug. 28, 1943, his father, Boris III, died under mysterious circumstances—the cause of

  • Saxegothaea (plant)

    Podocarpaceae: The Prince Albert yew (Saxegothaea conspicua), a timber tree native to South America, is the only species in the genus Saxegothaea.

  • Saxegothaea conspicua (plant)

    Podocarpaceae: The Prince Albert yew (Saxegothaea conspicua), a timber tree native to South America, is the only species in the genus Saxegothaea.

  • saxhorn (musical instrument)

    saxhorn, any of a family of brass wind instruments patented by the Belgian instrument-maker Antoine-Joseph Sax, known as Adolphe Sax, in Paris in 1845. Saxhorns, one of many 19th-century developments from the valved bugle, provided military bands with a homogeneous series of valved brass in place

  • Saxicola rubetra (bird)

    whinchat, (Saxicola rubetra), Eurasian thrush named for its habitat: swampy meadows, called, in England, whins. This species, 13 centimetres (5 inches) long, one of the chat-thrush group (family Turdidae, order Passeriformes), is brown-streaked above and buffy below, with white patches on the

  • Saxicola torquata (bird)

    stonechat, (species Saxicola torquatus), Eurasian and African thrush (family Muscicapidae, order Passeriformes) named for its voice, which is said to sound like pebbles clicked together. In this species, 13 cm (5 inches) long, the male is black above, with white neck patch and a smudge of reddish

  • Saxicolinae (bird)

    chat-thrush, any of the 190 species belonging to the songbird family Turdidae (order Passeriformes) that are generally smaller and have slenderer legs and more colourful plumage than true, or typical, thrushes. Chat-thrushes are sometimes treated as a distinct subfamily, Saxicolinae. They are found

  • Saxicoloides fulicata (bird)

    robin: …other related species, notably the Indian robin (Saxicoloides fulicata), which is about 15 cm (6 inches) long, with black plumage set off by a white shoulder patch and reddish patches on the underparts.

  • Saxifraga (plant)

    saxifrage, (genus Saxifraga), any of a genus of flowering plants, of the family Saxifragaceae, native in temperate, subarctic, and alpine areas. About 300 species have been identified. Many of them are valued as rock-garden subjects, and some are grown in garden borders. As a group they are notable

  • Saxifraga erosa (plant)

    Saxifragales: Major families: …Appalachian Mountains make salads with Saxifraga erosa (mountain lettuce, or deer-tongue).

  • Saxifraga paniculata (plant)

    saxifrage: S. paniculata, which comes from the north temperate zone, has yielded a number of fine garden varieties, differing in size, leaf shape, and flower colour. Only one species is widely grown as a window and basket plant, S. stolonifera, a trailing plant with cascading runners.…

  • Saxifraga stolonifera (plant)

    saxifrage: Its common names are strawberry begonia, strawberry geranium, and mother-of-thousands.

  • Saxifragaceae (plant family)

    Saxifragaceae, the saxifrage family of flowering plants (order Rosales), comprising 36 genera and about 600 species of mostly perennial herbaceous plants. The members are cosmopolitan in distribution but native primarily to northern cold and temperate regions. Members of the family have leaves that

  • Saxifragales (plant order)

    Saxifragales, the saxifrage order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, consisting of 15 families, 112 genera, and nearly 2,500 species. It belongs to the core eudicots, and, although its phylogenetic position is not well resolved, it is probably sister to the Rosid group in the Angiosperm Phylogeny

  • saxifrage (plant)

    saxifrage, (genus Saxifraga), any of a genus of flowering plants, of the family Saxifragaceae, native in temperate, subarctic, and alpine areas. About 300 species have been identified. Many of them are valued as rock-garden subjects, and some are grown in garden borders. As a group they are notable

  • saxifrage order (plant order)

    Saxifragales, the saxifrage order of dicotyledonous flowering plants, consisting of 15 families, 112 genera, and nearly 2,500 species. It belongs to the core eudicots, and, although its phylogenetic position is not well resolved, it is probably sister to the Rosid group in the Angiosperm Phylogeny

  • saxitoxin (biology)

    algae: Toxicity: … is caused by the neurotoxin saxitoxin or any of at least 12 related compounds, often produced by the dinoflagellates Alexandrium tamarense and Gymnodinium catenatum. Diarrheic shellfish poisoning is caused by okadaic acids that are produced by several kinds of algae, especially species of Dinophysis. Neurotoxic shellfish poisoning, caused by toxins…

  • Saxnôt (Saxon deity)

    Germanic religion and mythology: German and English vernacular sources: …Thunaer (Donar/Thor), Wôden (Wodan/Odin), and Saxnôt, whose name has been associated with Seaxneat, who appears as the son of Wôden in the genealogy of the kings of Essex. Saxnôt is undoubtedly a Saxon tribal god, but it is not clear whether the second element of his name means “companion” or…

  • Saxo Grammaticus (Danish historian)

    Saxo Grammaticus was a historian whose Gesta Danorum (“Story of the Danes”) is the first important work on the history of Denmark and the first Danish contribution to world literature. Little is known of Saxo’s life except that he was a Zealander belonging to a family of warriors and was probably a

  • Saxon (people)

    Saxon, member of a Germanic people who in ancient times lived in the area of modern Schleswig and along the Baltic coast. The period of Roman decline in the northwest area of the empire was marked by vigorous Saxon piracy in the North Sea. During the 5th century ce the Saxons spread rapidly through

  • Saxon dialect (language)

    West Germanic languages: Dialects: …Groningen) have been called “Saxon” and show certain affinities with Low German dialects to the east. On the basis of other linguistic features, it is also possible to group together the dialects to the south and to the north of the Rhine and Meuse rivers.

  • Saxon duchies (historical region, Germany)

    Saxon duchies, several former states in the Thuringian region of east-central Germany, ruled by members of the Ernestine branch of the house of Wettin between 1485 and 1918; today their territory occupies Thuringia Land (state) and a small portion of northern Bavaria Land in Germany. The house of

  • Saxon Dynasty (German history)

    Saxon Dynasty, ruling house of German kings (Holy Roman emperors) from 919 to 1024. It came to power when the Liudolfing duke of Saxony was elected German king as Henry I (later called the Fowler), in 919. Henry I’s son and successor, Otto I the Great (king 936–973, western emperor from 962), won a

  • Saxon Mirror (Saxon law)

    Sachsenspiegel, the most important of the medieval compilations of Saxon customary law. Collected in the early 13th century by Eike von Repgow (also spelled Repkow, Repchow, or Repgau), a knight and a judge, it was written originally in Latin and later in German and showed little Roman influence,

  • Saxon People’s Party (political party, Germany)

    August Bebel: The Sächsische Volkspartei (Saxon People’s Party) was thus brought into being, and in 1867 Bebel entered the constituent Reichstag of the North German confederation as a member for this party. Eventually, this and other like-minded parties united in 1869 in the Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei (Social Democratic Labour Party) of…

  • Saxon Shore (military command)

    United Kingdom: The decline of Roman rule: …complete the new system of Saxon Shore forts around the southeastern coasts. At first he sought recognition as coemperor, but this was refused. In 293 the fall of Boulogne to Roman forces led to his murder and the accession of Allectus, who, however, fell in his turn when Constantius I…

  • Saxon Switzerland National Park (national park, Germany)

    Saxony: Geography: …Switzerland, the site of a national park. The upper course of the Elbe River flows from southeast to northwest through the state. The Mulde, a tributary of the Elbe, is the second largest river in Saxony. More than half of Saxony’s land area is used for agriculture, and about one-fourth…

  • Saxon wheel (machine)

    spinning wheel: The Saxon, or Saxony, wheel, introduced in Europe at the beginning of the 16th century, incorporated a bobbin on which the yarn was wound continuously; the distaff on which the raw fibre was held became a stationary vertical rod, and the wheel was actuated by a…

  • Saxon, Arthur (German athlete)

    weightlifting: History: …such as Eugene Sandow and Arthur Saxon of Germany, George Hackenschmidt of Russia, and Louis Apollon of France, who performed in circuses and theatres. By 1891 there was international competition in London. The revived Olympic Games of 1896 included weightlifting events, as did the Games of 1900 and 1904, but…

  • Saxony (historical region, duchy, and kingdom, Europe)

    Saxony, any of several major territories in German history. It has been applied: (1) before 1180 ce, to an extensive far-north German region including Holstein but lying mainly west and southwest of the estuary and lower course of the Elbe River; (2) between 1180 and 1423, to two much smaller and

  • Saxony (state, Germany)

    Saxony, Land (state), eastern Germany. Poland lies to the east of Saxony, and the Czech Republic lies to the south. Saxony also borders the German states of Saxony-Anhalt to the northwest, Brandenburg to the north, Bavaria to the southwest, and Thuringia to the west. The capital is Dresden. Area

  • Saxony wheel (machine)

    spinning wheel: The Saxon, or Saxony, wheel, introduced in Europe at the beginning of the 16th century, incorporated a bobbin on which the yarn was wound continuously; the distaff on which the raw fibre was held became a stationary vertical rod, and the wheel was actuated by a…

  • Saxony-Anhalt (state, Germany)

    Saxony-Anhalt, Land (state), east-central Germany. Saxony-Anhalt borders the German states of Brandenburg to the east, Saxony to the south, Thuringia to the southwest, and Lower Saxony to the northwest. The state capital is Magdeburg. Area 7,895 square miles (20,447 square km). Pop. (2011)

  • saxophone (musical instrument)

    saxophone, any of a family of single-reed wind instruments ranging from soprano to bass and characterized by a conical metal tube and finger keys. The first saxophone was patented by Antoine-Joseph Sax in Paris in 1846. A saxophone has a conical metal (originally brass) tube with about 24 openings

  • Saxton, Ida (American first lady)

    Ida McKinley was the American first lady (1897–1901), the wife of William McKinley, 25th president of the United States. Ida Saxton was the middle child of James A. Saxton, a wealthy banker and businessman, and Catherine Dewalt Saxton. After attending local public schools, she enrolled at several

  • Saxton, Johnny (American boxer)

    Carmen Basilio: …boxed two championship matches against Johnny Saxton, losing his title on a 15-round decision on March 14 and regaining it on a 9th-round knockout on September 12. The two fought again on February 22, 1957, with Basilio winning on a 2nd-round knockout. Basilio moved up to the middleweight class and…

  • Say (song by Mayer)

    John Mayer: …performance (for the single “Say,” from Continuum) and one for best solo rock performance (for “Gravity,” from the 2008 live album Where the Light Is). That same year Mayer released the album Battle Studies. Although it sold well, it was somewhat overshadowed by Mayer’s increasingly tabloid-friendly public persona; in…

  • Say Cheese! (novel by Aksyonov)

    Vasily Aksyonov: Another, Skazhi izyum (1985; Say Cheese!), is an irreverent portrait of Moscow’s intellectual community during the last years of Leonid Brezhnev’s leadership. Pokolenie zimy (1994; Generations of Winter) chronicles the fate of a family of intellectuals at the hands of the Soviet regime during the period of Joseph Stalin’s…

  • Say One for Me (film by Tashlin [1959])

    Frank Tashlin: Films of the late 1950s: …by Tashlin’s first real failure, Say One for Me (1959), a middling comedy that starred Bing Crosby as a priest.

  • Say You Will (album by Fleetwood Mac)

    Fleetwood Mac: The 2003 release Say You Will brought together Fleetwood, John McVie, Buckingham, and Nicks for their first studio album in 16 years, but the absence of Christine McVie highlighted her importance as a mediating influence within the band. She rejoined the group in 2014, and Fleetwood Mac’s first…

  • Say’s Law of Markets (economics)

    economic stabilizer: Say’s Law: Many writers before Keynes raised the question of whether a capitalist economic system, relying as it did on the profit incentive to keep production going and maintain employment, was not in danger of running into depressed states from which the automatic workings of…

  • Say’s phoebe (bird)

    phoebe: …of western North America is Say’s phoebe (S. saya), a slightly larger bird with buff-hued underparts.

  • Say, Darling (work by Bissell)

    Richard Bissell: …theatre he produced a novel, Say, Darling (1957), which he then wrote as a musical under the same title (1958), in collaboration with his wife, Marian Bissell, and Abe Burrows. Among his later books are the novels Good Bye, Ava (1960) and Still Circling Moose Jaw (1965). His last novel,…

  • Say, Is This the U.S.A. (work by Bourke-White and Caldwell)

    Margaret Bourke-White: … before the Nazi takeover; and Say, Is This the U.S.A. (1941), about the industrialization of the United States.

  • Say, J.-B. (French economist)

    J.-B. Say was a French economist, best known for his law of markets, which postulates that supply creates its own demand. After completing his education, Say worked briefly for an insurance company and then as a journalist. In 1794 he became an editor of a new magazine dedicated to the ideas of the

  • Say, Jean-Baptiste (French economist)

    J.-B. Say was a French economist, best known for his law of markets, which postulates that supply creates its own demand. After completing his education, Say worked briefly for an insurance company and then as a journalist. In 1794 he became an editor of a new magazine dedicated to the ideas of the

  • Say, Léon (French economist)

    Léon Say was an economist who served as finance minister in the Third Republic of France. Say was born into a prominent Protestant family and was the grandson of another well-known economist, Jean-Baptiste Say. Early in his career, Say worked for the Journal des Débats, later becoming its editor.

  • Say, Thomas (American naturalist)

    Thomas Say was a naturalist often considered to be the founder of descriptive entomology in the United States. His work, which was almost entirely taxonomic, was quickly recognized by European zoologists. Say accompanied various expeditions to North American territories, including an exploration of

  • Sayadian, Aruthin (Armenian troubadour)

    Sayat-Nova was an Armenian troubadour known for his love songs. Sayat-Nova worked first as a weaver and later (1750–65) became the court minstrel of Irakli II of Georgia. In 1770 he entered a monastery in Haghbat, and he was martyred by the Persian invaders of Georgia. Most of his extant songs are

  • Sayan language

    Samoyedic languages: …Selkup and the practically extinct Kamas language. None of these languages was written before 1930, and they are currently used only occasionally for educational purposes in some elementary schools.

  • Sayan Mountains (mountains, Asia)

    Sayan Mountains, large upland region lying along the frontiers of east-central Russia and Mongolia. Within Russia the mountains occupy the southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk kray (territory) and Irkutsk oblast (region), the northern part of Tyva (Tuva), and the west of Buryatiya. The Sayans form a

  • Sayana (Indian commentator)

    Madhavacharya: His younger brother Sayana, the minister of four successive Vijayanagar kings, is famous as the commentator of the Vedas. Sayana’s commentaries were influenced by Madhavacharya, who was a patron of the scholars collaborating in his brother’s great work.

  • Sayanogorsk (Russia)

    Khakasiya: …completed on the Yenisey near Sayanogorsk, with a generating capacity of 6,400 megawatts. The station was built to provide power for major industrial development in the Minusinsk Basin. Area 23,900 square miles (61,900 square km). Pop. (2008 est.) 537,230.

  • Sayansky Khrebet (mountains, Asia)

    Sayan Mountains, large upland region lying along the frontiers of east-central Russia and Mongolia. Within Russia the mountains occupy the southern parts of the Krasnoyarsk kray (territory) and Irkutsk oblast (region), the northern part of Tyva (Tuva), and the west of Buryatiya. The Sayans form a

  • Sayat-Nova (Armenian troubadour)

    Sayat-Nova was an Armenian troubadour known for his love songs. Sayat-Nova worked first as a weaver and later (1750–65) became the court minstrel of Irakli II of Georgia. In 1770 he entered a monastery in Haghbat, and he was martyred by the Persian invaders of Georgia. Most of his extant songs are

  • Sayce, Archibald H. (British language scholar)

    Archibald H. Sayce was a British language scholar whose many valuable contributions to ancient Middle Eastern linguistic research included the first grammar in English of Assyrian. During his lifetime Sayce learned to write in about 20 ancient and modern languages. Appointed a fellow of Queen’s

  • Sayce, Archibald Henry (British language scholar)

    Archibald H. Sayce was a British language scholar whose many valuable contributions to ancient Middle Eastern linguistic research included the first grammar in English of Assyrian. During his lifetime Sayce learned to write in about 20 ancient and modern languages. Appointed a fellow of Queen’s

  • Sạydā (Lebanon)

    Sidon, ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon and the administrative centre of al-Janūb (South Lebanon) muḥāfaẓah (governorate). A fishing, trade, and market centre for an agricultural hinterland, it has also served as the Mediterranean terminus of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, 1,069

  • Saye and Sele, William Fiennes, 1st Viscount, 8th Lord Saye and Sele (English statesman)

    William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele was an English statesman, a leading opponent of James I and Charles I in the House of Lords and a supporter of Parliament in the English Civil Wars. The only son of Richard Fiennes, 7th Lord Saye and Sele, he was educated at New College, Oxford, and

  • Saye and Sele, William Fiennes, 1st Viscount, 8th LordSaye And Sele (English statesman)

    William Fiennes, 1st Viscount Saye and Sele was an English statesman, a leading opponent of James I and Charles I in the House of Lords and a supporter of Parliament in the English Civil Wars. The only son of Richard Fiennes, 7th Lord Saye and Sele, he was educated at New College, Oxford, and

  • Sayeret Matkal (Israeli commando unit)

    Sayeret Matkal, elite commando unit of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) founded in 1957 by IDF officer Avraham Arnan, who petitioned the IDF General Staff for a combat unit in enemy territory to conduct top secret intelligence-gathering missions. Since its founding, the unit has carried out numerous

  • Sayers, Dorothy L. (British writer)

    Dorothy L. Sayers was an English scholar and writer whose numerous mystery stories featuring the witty and charming Lord Peter Wimsey combined the attractions of scholarly erudition and cultural small talk with the puzzle of detection. Sayers received a degree in medieval literature from the

  • Sayers, Dorothy Leigh (British writer)

    Dorothy L. Sayers was an English scholar and writer whose numerous mystery stories featuring the witty and charming Lord Peter Wimsey combined the attractions of scholarly erudition and cultural small talk with the puzzle of detection. Sayers received a degree in medieval literature from the

  • Sayers, Gale (American football player)

    Gale Sayers was an American gridiron football player who in 1977 became the youngest player ever voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Though knee injuries shortened his career, Sayers showed in his seven seasons that he was one of the most elusive running backs in the history of the National

  • Sayers, Gale Eugene (American football player)

    Gale Sayers was an American gridiron football player who in 1977 became the youngest player ever voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Though knee injuries shortened his career, Sayers showed in his seven seasons that he was one of the most elusive running backs in the history of the National

  • Sayers, Gayle (American football player)

    Gale Sayers was an American gridiron football player who in 1977 became the youngest player ever voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Though knee injuries shortened his career, Sayers showed in his seven seasons that he was one of the most elusive running backs in the history of the National

  • Sayers, Tom (English boxer)

    Tom Sayers was a boxer who participated in the first international heavyweight championship match and was one of England’s best-known 19th-century pugilists. Standing 5 feet 8 12 inches and weighing 155 pounds, Sayers was known as the Little Wonder and the Napoleon of the Prize Ring. He often

  • Sayf ad-Dīn Ghāzī I (Zangid ruler)

    Zangid dynasty: …reigned 1146–74) and Al-Jazīrah to Sayf al-Dīn Ghāzī I (reigned 1146–49). Nureddin’s expansionist policy led him to annex Damascus (1154), subjugate Egypt (1168), and present a broad and competent Muslim front against the Crusaders, especially under such generals as Saladin, subsequent founder of the Ayyūbid dynasty of Egypt.

  • Sayf al-Dawlah (Ḥamdānid ruler)

    Sayf al-Dawlah was the ruler of northern Syria who was the founder and the most prominent prince of the Arab Ḥamdānid dynasty of Aleppo. He was famous for his patronage of scholars and for his military struggles against the Greeks. Sayf al-Dawlah began his career as lord of the city of Wāsiṭ in

  • Sayf al-Dawlah Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥamdān (Ḥamdānid ruler)

    Sayf al-Dawlah was the ruler of northern Syria who was the founder and the most prominent prince of the Arab Ḥamdānid dynasty of Aleppo. He was famous for his patronage of scholars and for his military struggles against the Greeks. Sayf al-Dawlah began his career as lord of the city of Wāsiṭ in

  • Sayf Allāh (Arab Muslim general)

    Khālid ibn al-Walīd was one of the two generals (with ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ) of the enormously successful Islamic expansion under the Prophet Muhammad and his immediate successors, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. Although he fought against Muhammad at Uḥud (625), Khālid was later converted (627/629) and joined

  • Sayf dynasty (African history)

    Kanem-Bornu: …trading empire ruled by the Sef (Sayf) dynasty that controlled the area around Lake Chad from the 9th to the 19th century. Its territory at various times included what is now southern Chad, northern Cameroon, northeastern Nigeria, eastern Niger, and southern Libya.

  • Sayf ibn Sulṭān (imam of Oman)

    eastern Africa: The Portuguese invasion: …Portuguese stronghold finally fell to Sayf ibn Sulṭān in December 1698. A few years later Zanzibar, the last of Portugal’s allies in Eastern Africa, also fell to the imam.

  • Sayfo

    Assyrian: History from the 19th century: …World War I and the Assyrian Genocide, or Sayfo (Aramaic: “sword”), shattered the cultural coherence and political unity that the community had strived to achieve in the decades before the war. Estimates vary, but upwards of 250,000 Assyrians were killed during World War I. This number does not consider the…

  • Sayida (Lebanon)

    Sidon, ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon and the administrative centre of al-Janūb (South Lebanon) muḥāfaẓah (governorate). A fishing, trade, and market centre for an agricultural hinterland, it has also served as the Mediterranean terminus of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline, 1,069

  • Sayings and Doings (work by Hook)

    Theodore Edward Hook: …success in 1824 of his Sayings and Doings, tales with a fashionable setting, each illustrating a proverb, was such that he extended their three volumes to nine in 1828. From 1824 to 1841 he wrote a series of fictional works in a similar style, notably Maxwell (1830), Gilbert Gurney (1836),…

  • sayl al-ʿarim (Islam)

    Maʾrib: …the “flood of Arim” (Arabic sayl al-ʿarim), it is mentioned in the Qurʾān (Koran); sometimes translated “the flood of the dike” or the “bursting of the dike,” it is a favourite topic in Islamic myth and legend.

  • Sayle, Alexei (British comedian)

    stand-up comedy: The British tradition and the spread of stand-up comedy: …rush of younger comics, including Alexei Sayle, emcee of the influential Comic Strip club that was a hothouse for new comedy stars in the ’80s; the comedy team of Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, the latter of whom starred in the situation comedy Absolutely Fabulous; and, a bit later, Eddie…

  • Sayle, William (British governor of Bermuda)

    The Bahamas: British colonization: William Sayle, who had twice been governor of Bermuda, took the leadership of an enterprise to seek an island upon which dissidents could worship as they pleased. In July of that year the Company of Eleutherian Adventurers was formed in London “for the Plantation of…

  • Sayles, John (American director, screenwriter, and actor)

    John Sayles is an American motion-picture director, screenwriter, novelist, and actor who since the 1980s has been among the most prominent independent filmmakers in the United States. Parlaying his fees as a screenwriter of mainstream Hollywood films into funding for his own ambitious filmmaking

  • Sayles, Thelma Lucille (American poet)

    Lucille Clifton was an American poet whose works examine family life, racism, and gender. Born of a family that was descended from slaves, she attended Howard University from 1953 to 1955 and graduated from Fredonia State Teachers College (now State University of New York College at Fredonia) in

  • Sayn-Wittgenstein, Princess Carolyne (mistress of Liszt)

    Franz Liszt: Compositions at Weimar: …February 1847 Liszt met the princess Carolyne Sayn-Wittgenstein at Kiev and later spent some time at her estate in Poland. She quickly persuaded him to give up his career as a virtuoso and to concentrate on composition. He gave his final concert at Yelizavetgrad (Kirovograd) in September of that year.…

  • Säynätsalo (Finland)

    Alvar Aalto: Mature style: …mature style is perhaps the Säynätsalo town hall group. Modest in scale in its forest setting, it nonetheless asserts a quiet force. Its simple forms are in red brick, wood, and copper, all traditional materials of Finland. Viewing it, a person feels the achievement of a perfect building, in that…

  • Sayonara (film by Logan [1957])

    Joshua Logan: Films and plays of the 1940s and ’50s: Even better received was Sayonara (1957), a story of interracial love and institutional bigotry involving U.S. soldiers on leave in Japan during the Korean War. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, Logan was nominated for best director, Marlon Brando was nominated for best actor,…

  • Sayornis (bird)

    phoebe, (genus Sayornis), any of three species of New World birds in the genus Sayornis of the family Tyrannidae (order Passeriformes). Phoebes are found from northern Alaska south to the mountains of northern Argentina. All phoebes have the habit of twitching their tails when perching. In North

  • Sayornis nigricans (bird)

    phoebe: …most widely distributed is the black phoebe (S. nigricans), which is found near water from the southwestern United States to Argentina. Measuring 16 cm (6.3 inches) long, S. nigricans is slightly smaller than S. phoebe, and it is dark above with a contrasting white belly.