Matthias Grünewald
Grünewald, Matthias (c.1475–1528), German painter who, with his contemporary Albrecht Dürer, is considered one of the 2 great masters of the German Renaissance.
21st Century Webster's Family Encyclopedia - Grand Rapids to Hadron
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids (pop. 181,800), city (inc. 1850), in western Michigan, on the Grand River; seat of Kent County.
Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park, created 1929 in the Rocky Mountains in northwestern Wyoming.
Grand unified theories
Grand unified theories (GUT's), theories that attempt to explain the physical universe by a unified concept of 3 of the 4 fundamental forces: the weak nuclear force, which controls radioactive decay of atomic nuclei; electromagnetism, which secures the electrons to the nucleus; and the strong nuclear force, which ties the nucleus together.
National Grange
Grange, National, U.S. agrarian organization, officially the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry.
Red Grange
Grange, Red (1930–91), U.S. football player.
Granger cases
Granger cases, 5 Supreme Court cases in 1877 that established a state's right, “Granger laws,” to regulate privately owned services affecting the public interest.
Granite
Granite, coarse-grained rock, composed chiefly of feldspar (orthoclase and microcline) and quartz.
Cary Grant
Grant, Cary (Archibald Leach; 1904–86), English born U.S. actor.
(Hiram) Ulysses Simpson Grant
Grant, (Hiram) Ulysses Simpson (1822–85), 18th president of the United States. Grant led the Union forces to victory in the Civil War, but the qualities that made him a military hero did not make him a great president. Although Grant was a man of outstanding personal integrity, his administration was riddled with corruption and mismanagement. In 1838 Grant entered the U.S. military academy …
Grape
Grape, shrub and its fruit, of the family Vitaceae, native to tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions.
Grapefruit
Grapefruit, evergreen tree (Citrus paradisi) of the rue family, and its citrus fruit, which weigh from 1–5 lb (0.45–2.27 kg).
Graph
Graph, diagram showing the relations between quantities.
Graphic arts
Graphic arts, techniques of drawing and engraving words and pictures, including block printing, etching, lithography, silk-screening, and engraving.
Graphite
Graphite, also known as carbon plumbago or black lead, mineral that is the crystalline form of carbon.
Graphology
Graphology, the study of handwriting, particularly for information about the character of the writer.
Grass
Grass, any plant of the family Gramineae.
Günter Wilhelm Grass
Grass, Günter Wilhelm (1927– ), German novelist and playwright.
François Joseph Paul Grasse Comte de
Grasse, François Joseph Paul, Comte de (1722–88), French naval commander whose fleet made possible Washington's decisive victory over the British at the siege of Yorktown (1781).
Grasshopper
Grasshopper, plant-eating, winged insect of the order Orthoptera, with powerful hind legs for jumping and springing to flight.
Grassland
Grassland, land whose predominant vegetation consists of grasses and forage plants; excellent for cultivation.
Ella Tambussi Grasso
Grasso, Ella Tambussi (1919–81), first U.S. woman governor (Connecticut, 1975–81) elected in her own right, not in succession to a husband.
Grave Creek Mound
Grave Creek Mound See: Mound Builders.
Morris Cole Graves
Graves, Morris Cole (1910– ), U.S. painter.
Robert Ranke Graves
Graves, Robert Ranke (1895–1985), English poet and novelist, best known for his novels set in imperial Rome: I, Claudius and Claudius the God (both, 1934).
Gravitation
Gravitation, one of the fundamental forces of nature, the force of attraction existing between all matter.
Center of Gravity
Gravity, Center of, in physics, point within an object where gravitational forces appear to act, and where the mass can be considered concentrated.
Asa Gray
Gray, Asa (1810–88), U.S. botanist.
Elisha Gray
Gray, Elisha (1835–1901), U.S. inventor.
Gray fox
Gray fox See: Fox.
Gray Panthers
Gray Panthers, national group organized in 1970 to fight discriminatory practices against senior citizens.
Robert Gray
Gray, Robert (1755–1806), first American sea captain to circumnavigate the world, 1787–90.
Thomas Gray
Gray, Thomas (1716–71), English poet.
Grayling
Grayling, freshwater game fish (genus Thymallus) whose flesh is regarded as a delicacy.
Graz
Graz (pop. 237,800), second largest city in Austria, capital of the province of Styria, located on the Mur River.
Greasewood
Greasewood, any of various spiny shrubs of the alkaline soils of southwestern deserts and semideserts, especially Sarcobatus vermiculatus.
Great Awakening
Great Awakening, intense and widespread religious revival in 18th-century North America, forming part of the international evangelical revival.
Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef, series of massive coral reefs off the northeast coast of Australia, extending for about 1,250 mi (2,000 km).
Great Basin
Great Basin, desert region in the western region of the United States between the Wasatch and Sierra Nevada mountains, in Nevada, Utah, and parts of adjacent states.
Great Bear Lake
Great Bear Lake, largest lake in Canada and fourth largest in North America.
Great Britain
Great Britain See: United Kingdom.
Great-circle route
Great-circle route, route on the earth's surface based on the great circle, any circle that divides a sphere into equal halves.
Great Dane
Great Dane, large, strong dog developed in Germany in the 1500s and originally used as a boarhound and a guard dog.
Great Depression
Great Depression, period of U.S. and world economic depression during the 1930s that was immediately precipitated by the disastrous stockmarket collapse on Wall Street on Black Friday, Oct. 29, 1929.
Great Divide
Great Divide, or Continental Divide, mountain points in North America that separate the waters ultimately flowing into the Atlantic Ocean from those flowing ultimately into the Pacific.
Great Falls
Great Falls (pop. 77,691), largest city in Montana and seat of Cascade County.
Great Lakes
Great Lakes, chain of 5 large freshwater lakes in North America, forming the largest lake group in the world and covering an area of 95,170 sq mi (246,490 sq km).
Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Seaway
Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence Seaway See: Saint Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway.
Great laurel
Great laurel See: Rhododendron.
Great Plains
Great Plains, large plateau in the western region of central North America, extending for over 1,500 mi (2,400 km) from the Saskatchewan River in northwest Canada to the Rio Grande in Mexico and the Gulf coastal plain in the southern part of the United States.
Great Purge
Great Purge See: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
Great Pyrenees
Great Pyrenees, breed of sheepdog originating in the Pyrenees Mountains.
Great Rift Valley
Great Rift Valley, large geological depression extending more than 3,000 mi (4,800 km) from southeast Africa to northern Syria.
Great Salt Lake
Great Salt Lake, shallow saline inland sea in the northwestern region of Utah, about 5 mi (8 km) northwest of Salt Lake City.
Great Salt Lake Desert
Great Salt Lake Desert, part of a flat low area in northwest Utah, about 140 mi (225 km) by 80 mi (130 km), bordering Great Salt Lake to the northeast.
Great Schism
Great Schism, 2 divisions in the Christian Church.
Great Seal of the United States
Great Seal of the United States, symbol of the sovereignty of the nation, adopted by the government in 1782.
Great Slave Lake
Great Slave Lake, located in Canada's Northwest Territories, 250 mi (400 km) east of the Rocky Mountains.
Great Smoky Mountains
Great Smoky Mountains, range of the Appalachian Mountains forming the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, park situated in the Great Smoky Mountains, on the Tennessee-North Carolina boundary, established in 1930.
Great Society
Great Society See: Johnson, Lyndon Baines.
Great Victoria Desert
Great Victoria Desert, large area of shifting sand dunes in southwestern Australia, south of Gibson Desert and north of the Nullarbor Plain.
Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China, world's longest wall fortification, in northern China.
Grebe
Grebe, group of highly specialized aquatic birds of the family Podicipedidae, of which 6 species are found in North America.
El Greco
Greco, El (Domenikos Theotokopoulos; 1541–1614), Greek-born Spanish painter.
José Greco
Greco, José (1918– ), world renowned dancer.
Greece
Greece, independent country in southeast Europe, occupying the southern part of the Balkan peninsula and many surrounding islands in the Ionian, Mediterranean, and Aegean seas. Greece is bordered by Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria on the north, by Turkey and the Aegean Sea on the east, by the Ionian Sea on the west, and by the Mediterranean Sea on the south. The capital and largest city is Athens.…
Ancient Greece
Greece, Ancient, independent cities and states of classical times occupying the Balkan peninsula and the surrounding islands.
Greek
Greek, language of ancient and modern Greece, one of the oldest Indo-European languages.
Greek Church
Greek Church See: Eastern Orthodox Church; Greece.
Greek fire
Greek fire, liquid mixture of unknown composition that tookfire when wet, invented by a Syrian refugee in Constantinople in the 7th century A.D. and used by the Byzantine Empire and others for the next 800 years.
Greek games
Greek games See: Olympic Games.
Greek gods
Greek gods See: Mythology.
Greek literature
Greek literature, earliest and most important literature known to the Western world. It is completely original and natural in that there were no earlier literary models that the Greeks could look to for guidance. The distinguishing characteristic of classical Greek literature is that it was oral, meant to be delivered by mouth and heard by the ears. Elegiac poetry, which is related to lyric poetry…
Greek mythology
Greek mythology See: Mythology.
Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church See: Eastern Orthodox Church.
Horace Greeley
Greeley, Horace (1811–72), U.S. journalist and reformer, founder and editor of the New York Tribune (1841).
Green almond
Green almond See: Pistachio nut.
Green Bay
Green Bay (pop. 194,594), city in northeastern Wisconsin and seat of Brown County.
Green Berets
Green Berets, elite Unit of Special Forces in the U.S.
Green Mountain Boys
Green Mountain Boys, group of armed fighters from Vermont who fought in the American Revolution.
Green Mountain State
Green Mountain State See: Vermont.
Green Mountains
Green Mountains, mountain range covering most of Vermont, extending about 160 mi (260 km) northward into Canada and southward into Massachusetts and Connecticut.
Green Revolution
Green Revolution, recent agricultural trend that has greatly increased crop production in India, Pakistan, and Turkey.
William Green
Green, William (1873–1952), U.S. labor leader.
Kate Greenaway
Greenaway, Kate (1846–1901), English children's book illustrator.
Greenback Party
Greenback Party, U.S. political group active between 1876 and 1884.
Greenbrier
Greenbrier, horse brier, or catbrier, any of a genus (Smilax) of common thorny vines of the lily family.
Graham Greene
Greene, Graham (1904–91), British novelist, best known for The Ministry of Fear (1943), Our Man in Havana (1958), and the screenplay for The Third Man (1950).
Nathanael Greene
Greene, Nathanael (1742–86), American military commander in the Revolutionary War.
Greenfield Village
Greenfield Village, group of about 100 historic buildings in Dearborn, Mich.
Greenhouse
Greenhouse, structure, built mainly of glass, for the cultivation and protection of young or delicate plants.
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse effect, phenomenon whereby the earth's surface becomes hotter.
Greenland
Greenland (officially Kalâtdlit Nunât), world's largest island that is not considered a continent, located mainly north of the Arctic circle, in the North Atlantic. Greenland is a province of Denmark with its own 16-member legislature. An ice cap covers four-fifths of the island and reaches a thickness of about 3 mi (4.8 km). Along the coasts mountain peaks penetrate the ice. …
Horatio Greenough
Greenough, Horatio (1805–52), U.S. neoclassical sculptor and art critic who spent most of his working life in Italy.
Greenpeace
Greenpeace, international organization of environmental activists, particularly protesting against nuclear and atomic testing and waste.
Greensboro
Greensboro (pop. 942,091), second largest city in North Carolina, seat of Guilford County.
Alan Greenspan
Greenspan, Alan (1926– ), U.S. economist.
Greenwich Meridian
Greenwich Meridian, also called the prime meridian, the longitude line passing through the London country of Greenwich, labelled 0° longitude.
Germaine Greer
Greer, Germaine (1939– ), Australian-born feminist author.
Gregorian calendar
Gregorian calendar, system of measuring years used by most of the world today.
Gregory
Gregory, name of 16 popes. Saint Gregory I (540–604), called Gregory the Great, was pope from 590 to 604. His papacy laid the foundation for the political and moral authority of the medieval papacy. He reorganized the vast papal estates scattered all over Italy, providing an economic foundation for the Church's power. In 596 he sent St. Augustine to Britain, beginning its conversion …
Lady Gregory
Gregory, Lady (1859–1932), Irish dramatist and director, responsible for the production of Yeats's and Synge's plays at the famous Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
Grenada
Grenada, island country in the West Indies, one of the smallest independent countries in the Western Hemisphere. Its area is 133 sq mi (345 sq km). The island of Grenada is the southernmost of the Windward Islands, 90 mi (145 km) north of Trinidad. The state consists of the main island, which is mountainous, and the southern group of the Grenadine islands. The climate is semitropical. The populati…
Grenade
Grenade, small explosive device used in warfare.
Grenadines
Grenadines, group of about 600 small islands, part of the Windward Islands in the West Indies, between Grenada and St.
Grendel
Grendel See: Beowulf.
Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell
Grenfell, Sir Wilfred Thomason (1865–1940), English physician, missionary, and author.
Grenoble
Grenoble (pop. 159,900), city in eastern France, located in a valley of the French Alps.
Sir Richard Grenville
Grenville, Sir Richard (1542–91), English naval hero.
Gresham's Law
Gresham's Law, economic principle (attributed to Sir Thomas Gresham) that “bad money drives out good.” This means that when coins of the same face value but of different market value circulate together, the coins of higher market value will disappear from circulation to be hoarded or used as an open-market commodity.
Gretna Green
Gretna Green, village in Scotland.
Wayne Gretzky
Gretzky, Wayne (1961– ), Canadian-born National Hockey League (NHL) center.
Joseph Clark Grew
Grew, Joseph Clark (1880–1965), U.S. diplomat.
Charles Grey d Earl Grey (2n)
Grey, Charles, 2nd Earl Grey (1764–1835), English prime minister (1830–34) responsible for the passage of the Reform Bill (1832), which extended the vote to the middle classes.
Grey Cup
Grey Cup, trophy awarded to the playoff winner in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Lady Jane Grey
Grey, Lady Jane (1537–54), queen of England for 9 day sin 1553.
Zane Grey
Grey, Zane (1875–1939), U.S. author of sagas about the American West.
Greyhound
Greyhound, breed of dog used widely in racing.
Edvard Hagerup Grieg
Grieg, Edvard Hagerup (1843–1907), Norwegian composer who based much of his work on traditional national folk music.
Griffin
Griffin, mythological animal having the head and wings of an eagle and the body and hindquarters of a lion.
Arthur Griffith
Griffith, Arthur (1872–1922), Irish nationalist who founded Sinn Féin, a major force in Ireland's struggle for independence from England.
D(avid) W(ark) Griffith
Griffith, D(avid) W(ark) (1875–1948), U.S. silent-film director and producer, often considered the father of modern cinema.
Angelina Emily Grimké
Grimké, Angelina Emily (1805–79) and Sarah Moore (1792–1873), sisters, U.S. abolitionists and women's rights crusaders.
Jakob Ludwig Grimm brothers
Grimm brothers, Jakob Ludwig (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Karl (1786–1859), German folklorists and philologists who compiled a collection of popular fairy tales.
Grimm's fairy tales
Grimm's fairy tales, stories by two brothers, Jakob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859) Grimm, who collected folk tales from friends and acquaintances in and around Kassel, 1807–14.
Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen
Grimmelshausen, Hans Jakob Christoffel von (1625?–76), German novelist.
Grinding and polishing
Grinding and polishing, finishing of metal and other surfaces by the use of abrasive materials.
Juan Gris
Gris, Juan (José Victoriano González; 1887–1927), Spanish cubist painter.
Grison
Grison, weasel-like animal (genus Galictis), also known as huron.
Gus Grissom
Grissom, Gus (1926–67), U.S. astronaut.
Grizzly bear
Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), one of the largest of the North American brown bears.
Ferde Grofé
Grofé, Ferde (1892–1972), U.S. composer and pianist.
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko
Gromyko, Andrei Andreyevich (1909–89), Soviet politician and diplomat.
Walter Gropius
Gropius, Walter (1883–1969), German architect and teacher.
Gros Ventre
Gros Ventre (French: “big belly”), 2 Native American tribes, the Atsina and the Hidatsa, of the northern Great Plains.
Grosbeak
Grosbeak, name of various finches having a strong conical bill for cracking seeds.
Gross national product
Gross national product (GNP), total value of goods and services produced by a national economy before any deduction has been made for depreciation (net national product).
George Grosz
Grosz, George (1893–1959), German American satirical artist, a Dadaist.
Hugo Grotius
Grotius, Hugo (1583–1645), Dutch jurist, considered the founder of international law.
Ground effect machine
Ground effect machine See: Air cushion vehicle.
Ground hog
Ground hog See: Woodchuck.
Ground pine
Ground pine See: Club moss.
Ground sloth
Ground sloth (genus Megatherium), prehistoric member of the sloth family, about the size of an elephant.
Ground squirrel
Ground squirrel, any of various small burrowing rodents (genus Citellus) of the squirrel family.
Ground water
Ground water, water accumulated beneath the earth's surface in the pores of rocks, spaces, cracks, etc.
Groundnut
Groundnut See: Peanut.
Group dynamics
Group dynamics, in sociology, study of the behavior and interactions of people as members of groups.
Group of Seven
Group of Seven, group of seven 20th-century Canadian painters known primarily for their colorful landscapes.
Group therapy
Group therapy See: Psychotherapy.
Grouper
Grouper, sea fish of the sea bass family with large mouth and sharp teeth, mainly of tropical seas.
Grouse
Grouse, family (Tetraonidae) of chicken-like game birds usually brown, gray, or black in plumage, native to cool regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Growth
Growth, increase in the size of an organism, reflecting an increase in the number of its cells, an increase in its protoplasmic material, or both. Cell number and protoplasmic content do not always increase together. Cell division can occur without any increase in protoplasm, thus giving a larger number of smaller cells. Alternatively, protoplasm can be synthesized with no cell division so that th…
Grub
Grub, wormlike larva of insects.
Leroy Grumman
Grumman, Leroy (1895–1982), U.S. businessman and manufacturer who founded the Grumman Aircraft Corporation (now Grumman Corporation) in 1929 and served as its chairman of the board.
Grunion
Grunion (Leuresthes tenuis), small fish whose breeding habits have become a tourist attraction in California.
Grunt
Grunt, colorful marine fish (family Pomadasidae) found in warm waters.
Guacharo
Guacharo See: Oilbird.
Guadalajara
Guadalajara (pop. 1,628,600), second-largest city in Mexico and capital of the state of Jalisco.
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal, largest of the Solomon Islands, in the South Pacific.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Guadalupe Hidalgo, Treaty of, peace treaty signed by the United States and Mexico in 1848 to end the Mexican War.
Guadalupe Mountains National Park
Guadalupe Mountains National Park, established 1966, covers 129 sq mi (334 sq km) of Texas east of El Paso.
Guam
Guam, largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands, in the Pacific Ocean 6,000 mi (9,656 km) west of San Francisco.
Guan
Guan, tropical Central and South American game bird of the family Cracidae, resembling small or medium-sized turkeys.
Guanaco
Guanaco, wool-bearing member of the camel family, found on the mountains or plains of South America.
Guangzhou
Guangzhou (pop. 3,580,000), called Canton by Westerners, largest city in southern China and one of China's most important ports.
Guantánamo
Guantánamo (pop. 200,400), city in southeast Cuba, about 20 mi (30 km) inland from Guantánamo Bay, the location of a U.S. naval base established in 1903.
Guar
Guar, tough legume (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) of the pea family, often grown to enrich worn-out soil.
Guaraní
Guaraní, group of South American tribes, linked by language, who once lived in an area now included in Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina.
Guarneri
Guarneri, family of violin makers of Cremona, Italy.
Guatemala
Guatemala (Republic of), northernmost republic of Central America, bordered by Mexico on the north and west, Belize and the Caribbean Sea on the east, Honduras and El Salvador on the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean on the southwest. The capital is Guatemala City. Guatemala is a mountainous country composed largely of volcanic highland. The eastern and western highlands are not very fertile. To th…
Guatemala City
Guatemala City (pop. 1,132,000), capital and largest city of Guatemala, in Central America.
Guava
Guava, small tree (genus Psidium, especially P. guajava) with thick leaves and white flowers, cultivated for its red or yellow fruit.
Guayaquil
Guayaquil (pop. 1,058,300), Ecuador's largest city, main port, and industrial center, located 40 mi (64 km) from the Pacific Ocean on the Guayas River.
Guayule
Guayule, desert shrub (Parthenium argentatum) of the composite family containing rubber that can be accessed only by crushing the top of the plant.
Guelphs and Ghibellines
Guelphs and Ghibellines, opposing political and warring factions in 13th to 15th-century Italy.
Guenon
Guenon, any of approximately twenty species of monkeys of the family Cercopithecidae living in Africa south of the Sahara Desert.
Guernsey
Guernsey See: Cattle.
Guernsey
Guernsey, second-largest of the Channel Islands at the west end of the English Channel, 30 mi (48 km) west of Normandy, France.
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare, warfare waged by irregular forces in generally small-scale operations, often in enemy-held territory. The term (Spanish: “little war”) originally applied to the tactics of Spanish-Portuguese irregulars in the Napoleonic Wars. Traditionally, guerrilla warfare has been waged against larger and better-equipped conventional forces, as in the Viet Cong forces opposing t…
Ché Guevara
Guevara, Ché (Ernesto Guevara de la Serna; 1928–67), Argentinean-born Cuban communist revolutionary and guerrilla leader who helped organize Fidel Castro's coup in 1959.
Guggenheim
Guggenheim, name of a family of U.S. industrialists and philanthropists.
Guggenheim Museum
Guggenheim Museum, major gallery of modern art, noted above all for its building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and completed in 1959, Wright's final work and his only one in New York City.
Guiana
Guiana, region in northern South America that includes the states of French Guiana, Suriname, and Guyana.
Guided missile
Guided missile, flying weapon that can alter its course during flight toward a target.
Guild
Guild, economic and social association of merchants or craftspeople in the same trade or craft to protect the interests of its members.
Guillemot
Guillemot, seabird of the auk family (genera Uria and Cepphus).
Guinea
Guinea (Republic), independent country in West Africa, bordered by Guinea-Bissau and Mali on the north, Mali and the Ivory Coast on the east, Liberia and Sierra Leone on the south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. The capital is Conakry, located on Tombo Island. Guinea is tropical and humid, with cooler conditions and greater temperature ranges in the inland highlands. The rainy season is from …
Guinea
Guinea, region with indistinct boundaries on Africa's west coast.
Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau (formerly Portuguese Guinea), republic in West Africa between Senegal to the north and the Republic of Guinea to the east and west, with various coastal islands and an offshore archipelago in the Atlantic.
Guinea fowl
Guinea fowl (Numida meleagris), bird that resembles a turkey and has been domesticated since Roman times.
Guinea pig
Guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), domestic pet related to the cavies, South American rodents.
Sir Alec Guinness
Guinness, Sir Alec (1914– ), English stage and screen actor, remarkable for his versatility in both comic and serious roles.
Guitar
Guitar, stringed musical instrument, related to the lute, played by plucking.
François Pierre Guillaume Guizot
Guizot, François Pierre Guillaume (1787–1874), French statesman and historian.
Gulf of California
Gulf of California, 700-mi (1,100-km) arm of the Pacific Ocean separating Baja (Lower) California, Mexico, from the Mexican states of Sonora and Sinaloa to the east.
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, system of navigable waterways, both natural and artificial, running about 1,100 mi (1,770 km) along the Gulf of Mexico from Apalachee Bay, Fla., to Brownsville, Tex.
Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico, arm of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by the southeastern United States, Mexico, and Cuba.
Gulf of Saint Lawrence
Gulf of Saint Lawrence, almost landlocked body of water, opening into the Atlantic Ocean in eastern Canada.
Gulf Stream
Gulf Stream, warm ocean current flowing north, then northeast, off the east coast of the United States.
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, resolution put before the U.S.
Luther Halsey Gulick
Gulick, Luther Halsey (1865–1918), U.S. physical education teacher and physician who spent much of his life promoting physical fitness.
Gull
Gull, strong seabird forming the subfamily Larinae.
Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels, satire published in London in 1726 as Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, under the name of Lemuel Gulliver, supposedly a ship's surgeon.
Gum
Gum, sticky substance from plants that hardens when dry.
Gum resin
Gum resin, vegetable substance obtained by making an incision in a plant and allowing the juice that flows out to solidify.
Gum tree
Gum tree, popular name for the eucalyptus tree.
Gun
Gun, weapon of destruction able to project a missile at a distant target.
Gun control
Gun control, laws aimed at governing ownership of firearms.
Guncotton
Guncotton, form of cellulose nitrate resembling cotton, used in explosives and propellants.
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, or black powder, low explosive, the only one known in the West from the 13th century until the mid-19th century.
Gunpowder Plot
Gunpowder Plot, conspiracy of a group of English Roman Catholics to blow up King James I, his family, and Parliament on Nov. 5, 1605.
Guppy
Guppy (Poecilia reticulata), small fish of northern South America and the Caribbean named for the Reverend Thomas Guppy, who discovered it in Trinidad in 1866.
Gupta dynasty
Gupta dynasty, North Indian dynasty that ruled from A.D. 320 to 550, a period that produced some of the finest Indian art and literature.
Gurnard
Gurnard, common name for tropical fish of the family Dactylopteridae.
Gustavus
Gustavus, name of 6 kings of Sweden. Gustavus I Vasa (1496?–1560) was founder of the modern Swedish nation. A Swedish noble, he led the successful revolt against the Danes (1520–23) and was elected king. Instrumental in the establishment of Lutheranism and the growth of the economy, he took firm control of the country and established an hereditary monarchy. Gustavus II Adolphus (1594…
GUT's
GUT's See: Grand unified theories.
Johannes Gutenberg
Gutenberg, Johannes (c.1400–68), German printer, usually considered the inventor of printing from separately cast metal types, used for movable type.
Woody Guthrie
Guthrie, Woody (Woodrow Wilson Guthrie; 1912–67), U.S. folksinger whose compositions and guitar style have shaped modern folk music.
José Angel Gutiérrez
Gutiérrez, José Angel (1944– ), proponent of Mexican-American civil rights and founder of La Raza Unida, a political party that ran Mexican-American candidates for public office.
Guyana
Guyana, republic on the northern coast of South America, largest of the three countries of the Guiana region. Guyana is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the north, Suriname on the east, Brazil on the south, and Venezuela and Brazil on the west. The capital is Georgetown. Most of the population lives along the coastal plain. The interior is hilly and heavily forested. The main ethnic groups are Ea…
Button Gwinnett
Gwinnett, Button (1735?–77), representative to the Georgia Assembly (1769) and to the Continental Congress (1776–77); signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Györ
Györ (pop. 130,300; German: Raab), capital city of Györ-Sopron county, northwest Hungary.
Gymnastics
Gymnastics, sport and system of exercise designed to maintain and improve the physique.
Gymnosperm
Gymnosperm, smaller of the 2 main classes of seed-bearing plants, the other being the angiosperm.
Gynecology
Gynecology, branch of medicine and surgery specializing in disorders of the female reproductive tract; often linked with obstetrics, which specializes in pregnancy and childbirth.
Gypsum
Gypsum, common soft white mineral, a hydrate of calcium sulfate (CaSO42H2O), used to make plaster.
Gypsy
Gypsy, member of a nomadic people of Europe, Asia, and North America.
Gypsy moth
Gypsy moth (Porthetria dispar), winged insect originating in Europe and later introduced to North America.
Gyropilot
Gyropilot, or automatic pilot, automatic device for keeping a ship or airplane on a given course using signals from a gyroscopic reference.
Gyroscope
Gyroscope, heavy spinning disk mounted so that its axis is free to adopt any orientation.
H
H, eighth letter of the English alphabet, derived from the Semitic letter cheth, which represents a similar but more guttural sound.
Haakon VII
Haakon VII (1872–1957), king of Norway from 1905.
Book of Habakkuk
Habakkuk, Book of, book of the Old Testament, eighth of the Minor Prophets.
La Habana
Habana, La See: Havana.
Habeas corpus
Habeas corpus, in common law, a writ ordering that a person held in custody or under arrest be brought before a court to determine whether the dentention is lawful.
Haber-Bosch process
Haber-Bosch process See: Haber process.
Haber process
Haber process, main commercial method of manufacturing ammonia.
Habit
Habit, learned stimulus-response sequence.
Habitat
Habitat, environment of an animal or plant.
House of Habsburg
Habsburg, House of, European family from which came rulers of Austria (1282–1918), the Holy Roman Empire (1438–1806), Spain (1516–1700), Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, and other countries.
Hackberry
Hackberry, any of various trees (genus Celtis) of the elm family.
Hackmatack
Hackmatack See: Larch.
Hadassah
Hadassah, U.S.
Haddock
Haddock, North Atlantic fish (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) resembling a cod, distinguished by its 3 dorsal fins and the dark patch just behind the gills, known as St.
Hades
Hades, in Greek mythology, the realm of the dead.
Hadj
Hadj See: Hajj.
Hadrian
Hadrian, (Publius Aelius Hadrianus; 76–138 B.C.), Roman emperor from 117 to his death, successor of Trajan.
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall, ancient Roman fortification built by the emperor Hadrian (c.122–126) and lengthened about a hundred years later by the emperor Severus.
Hadron
Hadron, name for two of the four basic classes of subatomic particles.