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Perry, James Richard (American politician)
American politician who was the longest-serving governor of Texas (2000– ). He sought the Republican nomination for president in 2012....
Perry, Joe (American musician)
...(byname of Steven Tallarico; b. March 26, 1948New York, N.Y., U.S.), lead guitarist Joe Perry (b. Sept. 10, 1950Boston, Mass.), guitarist Brad......
Perry, Joe (American football player)
Jan. 22, 1927Stephens, Ark.April 25, 2011Tempe, Ariz.American football player who possessed tremendous speed and an uncanny ability to find holes in the defensive line as the powerful fullback (1948–60 and 1963) for the San Francisco 49ers of the All-America Football Conference (from...
Perry, Lee “Scratch” (Jamaican musician)
Jamaican producer, songwriter, singer, and disc jockey who helped reshape reggae music. He was among the first Jamaican producer-musicians to use the studio as an instrument, and he pioneered the reggae instrumental form known as dub, in which sections of a rhythm track were removed and others emphasized t...
Perry, Lilla Cabot (American artist)
American artist who emulated the innovations of French Impressionism in her own art. She was also a major promoter of Impressionism in the United States....
Perry, Mary Antoinette (American actress and director)
American actress and director in whose honour the American theatre’s Tony Awards are named....
Perry, Matthew C. (United States naval officer)
U.S. naval officer who headed an expedition that forced Japan in 1853–54 to enter into trade and diplomatic relations with the West after more than two centuries of isolation. Through his efforts the United States became an equal power with Britain, France, and Russia in the economic exploitation of ...
Perry, Matthew Calbraith (United States naval officer)
U.S. naval officer who headed an expedition that forced Japan in 1853–54 to enter into trade and diplomatic relations with the West after more than two centuries of isolation. Through his efforts the United States became an equal power with Britain, France, and Russia in the economic exploitation of ...
Perry, Matthew James, Jr. (American lawyer and judge)
Aug. 3, 1921Columbia, S.C.July 29, 2011ColumbiaAmerican lawyer and judge who worked tirelessly to advance the legal status of African Americans during the civil rights moveme...
Perry Mesa Tradition (archaeology)
...including stone pueblos. The ruins of those pueblos, which date to between approximately 1250 and 1450 ce, were inhabited by several thousand people whom archaeologists refer to as the Perry Mesa Tradition. Some of the stone pueblos balanced on steep canyon edges contain 100 or more rooms. It is thought that the people began to abandon the site in about 1500. Later, Yavapai and......
Perry, Nora (American journalist and poet)
American journalist, poet, and children’s author whose sentimental works were favourites in her day....
Perry, Oliver Hazard (United States naval officer)
U.S. naval officer who became a national hero when he defeated a British squadron in the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812....
Perry, Rainford Hugh (Jamaican musician)
Jamaican producer, songwriter, singer, and disc jockey who helped reshape reggae music. He was among the first Jamaican producer-musicians to use the studio as an instrument, and he pioneered the reggae instrumental form known as dub, in which sections of a rhythm track were removed and others emphasized t...
Perry, Ralph Barton (American philosopher)
American educator and philosopher noted as the founder of the school of new realism in American pragmatic philosophy....
Perry, Rick (American politician)
American politician who was the longest-serving governor of Texas (2000– ). He sought the Republican nomination for president in 2012....
Perry, Scratch (Jamaican musician)
Jamaican producer, songwriter, singer, and disc jockey who helped reshape reggae music. He was among the first Jamaican producer-musicians to use the studio as an instrument, and he pioneered the reggae instrumental form known as dub, in which sections of a rhythm track were removed and others emphasized t...
Perry, Tyler (American playwright, actor, screenwriter, producer, and director)
American playwright, actor, screenwriter, producer, and director whose works—in which he often portrayed the character Madea, an outspoken grandmother—combined humour, religious wisdom, and personal triumph....
Perry, W. J. (British geographer and anthropologist)
British geographer and anthropologist noted for his diffusionist theory of cultural development. Perry believed that Egypt of 4000 bc was the original and sole source of agriculture, pottery, basketry, domestic animals, houses, and towns and that these then spread throughout the world. He explained all cultural differences and similarities by migrations and additions, losses, and com...
Perry, William James (British geographer and anthropologist)
British geographer and anthropologist noted for his diffusionist theory of cultural development. Perry believed that Egypt of 4000 bc was the original and sole source of agriculture, pottery, basketry, domestic animals, houses, and towns and that these then spread throughout the world. He explained all cultural differences and similarities by migrations and additions, losses, and com...
Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial (monument, Ohio, United States)
...an American flotilla. The event is commemorated by a towering 352-foot (107-metre) shaft topped by an open-air promenade and surrounded by a 25-acre (10-hectare) national area. This monument (Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, completed 1915) is just outside the village, near the Canadian line, and also commemorates the international peace between Canada and the United......
Perryville (Kentucky, United States)
...an American flotilla. The event is commemorated by a towering 352-foot (107-metre) shaft topped by an open-air promenade and surrounded by a 25-acre (10-hectare) national area. This monument (Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, completed 1915) is just outside the village, near the Canadian line, and also commemorates the international peace between Canada and the United.......
Perryville, Battle of (United States history)
(October 8, 1862), in the American Civil War, engagement of Union and Confederate troops as General Braxton Bragg was leading the Confederates in an advance on Louisville, Kentucky, from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Union troops, under General Don Carlos Buell, were marching from Louisville when they unexpectedly encountered the Confederate army....
Perryville Battlefield State Shrine (monument, Danville, Kentucky, United States)
...horses. Printing is an important component of the economy; manufactures include appliances, furniture, and shoes. Herrington Lake, impounded on the Dix River, lies 5 miles (8 km) to the northeast. Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site, scene of Kentucky’s bloodiest battle (October 8, 1862) of the American Civil War, is located 10 miles (16 km) west of the city. Inc. town, 1789; city...
Persaeus (Greek philosopher)
...the founder of Stoicism. He had been taught by him in Athens and in 276 invited him to his court in Pella in Macedonia. The philosopher, however, did not come and instead sent two of his students, Persaeus and the Theban Philonides. Persaeus wrote a treatise on kingship, was the mentor of Halcyoneus, the son of Antigonus, and became commandant of Corinth in 244. When Zeno died in 263 the King.....
“Persai” (play by Aeschylus)
one of a trilogy of unconnected tragedies presented in 472 bce by Aeschylus. Persians is unique among surviving ancient Greek tragedies in that it dramatizes recent history rather than events from the distant age of mythical heroes. The play treats the decisive repulse of the Persians from Greece in 480, in particular their defeat at the Battle of S...
Persarmenia (historical region, Armenia)
The dissatisfaction of the nakharars with Arshak II led to the division of Armenia into two sections, Byzantine Armenia and Persarmenia (c. 390). The former, comprising about one-fifth of Armenia, was rapidly absorbed into the Byzantine state, to which the Armenians came to contribute many emperors and generals. Persarmenia continued to be ruled by an.....
Persatuan Perdjuangan (Indonesian coalition)
...power against Indonesian president Sukarno. Sukarno, however, outmanoeuvred Tan Malaka by bringing Sutan Sjahrir to power as prime minister. Tan Malaka responded by creating a coalition, called the Persatuan Perdjuangan (United Struggle), to oppose any negotiated settlement with the Dutch, which Sjahrir favoured. When Sjahrir resigned in February 1946, Tan Malaka was asked to form a Cabinet.......
Perse, Saint-John (French poet)
French poet and diplomat who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1960 “for the soaring flight and evocative imagery of his poetry.”...
Persea (plant genus)
...Litsea has more than 400 species in Asia, Australasia, and America; Cryptocarya and Cinnamomum (the source of camphor and the spice cinnamon) contain about 350 species each; Persea (including the avocado plant) has about 200 species; and Beilschmiedia contains about 250 species throughout many tropical regions as well as Australia and New Zealand. ......
Persea americana (fruit)
fruit of Persea americana of the family Lauraceae, a tree native to the Western Hemisphere from Mexico south to the Andean regions. The tree, tall or spreading, has leaves elliptic to egg-shaped in form and 100–300 mm (4–12 inches) in length. The small, greenish flowers, borne in dense racemes, are devoid...
Persea drymifolia (fruit)
Horticulturally, avocados are divided into the Mexican, West Indian, and Guatemalan races. The Mexican, considered a distinct species, Persea drymifolia, by some botanists, is native to Mexico and is characterized by the anise-like odour of the leaves and by small (90–240 g [3–8 ounces]), thin-skinned fruits of rich flavour and excellent quality. Mexican avocados are the......
persecution
The Mamlūk period is also important in Egyptian religious history. With few and therefore notable exceptions, the Muslim rulers of Egypt had seldom interfered with the lives of their Christian and Jewish subjects so long as these groups paid the special taxes (known as jizyah) levied on them in exchange for state protection. Indeed, both Copts and......
“Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade” (play by Weiss)
play in two acts by German dramatist Peter Weiss, published and performed in West Berlin (now part of Berlin) in 1964 under the title Die Verfolgung und Ermordung Jean Paul Marats, dargestellt durch die Schauspielgruppe des Hospiz...
perseguidor, El (work by Cortázar)
...“Secret Weapons”). Some of those stories were translated into English as End of the Game, and Other Stories (1967). The main character of El perseguidor (“The Pursuer”), one of the stories in Las armas secretas, embodies many of the traits of Cortázar’s later characters. The met...
Perseid meteor shower (astronomy)
...Hesperia. Five years later he demonstrated that meteor swarms have orbits similar to certain comets and concluded that the swarms are the remnants of comets. In particular, he calculated that the Perseid meteors are remnants of Comet 1862 III and the Leonids of Comet 1866 I. He also observed double stars and made extensive studies of Mercury, Venus, and Mars....
Persephone (Greek goddess)
in Greek religion, daughter of Zeus, the chief god, and Demeter, the goddess of agriculture; she was the wife of Hades, king of the underworld. In the Homeric “Hymn to Demeter,” the story is told of how Persephone was gathering flowers in the Vale of Nysa when she was seize...
Persephone (work by Stravinsky)
...an overtly sacred work that is based on biblical texts. Religious feeling is also evident in the ballets Apollon musagète (1928) and in Persephone (1934). The Russian element in Stravinsky’s music occasionally reemerged during this period: the ballet The Fairy’s Kiss (1928) is based on music...
Persephone, sanctuary of (ancient site, Italy)
Excavations in 1889–90, and resumed in 1954, disclosed a Doric temple, a sanctuary of Persephone, and numerous 5th-century-bc terra-cotta native plaques (pinakes). The discovery of prehistoric objects confirmed the accounts by Thucydides and Polybius that the Greeks were not the first settlers....
Persepolis (ancient city, Iran)
an ancient capital of the kings of the Achaemenian dynasty of Iran (Persia), located about 30 miles (50 km) northeast of Shīrāz in the Fars region of southwestern Iran. The site lies near the confluence of the Pulvār (Sīvand) and Kor rivers. In 1979 the ruins were designated a UNESCO...
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return (work by Satrapi)
Persepolis 3 and Persepolis 4 were published in France in 2002 and 2003, respectively, and were translated together into English as Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return in 2004. Persepolis 2 begins where Persepolis ends, with Satrapi living in Europe. The family friend with whom Satrapi was intended to live instead shuffles her to a boarding house, and her life......
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (work by Satrapi)
Satrapi published the books Persepolis 1 (2000) and Persepolis 2 (2001) in France; they were combined as Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood when translated into English in 2003. In Persepolis she used a stripped-down visual style that shows the influence of German Expressionism to tell the story of her childhood in Tehrān. It is a story that Western readers......
Perses (Mithraic god)
The initiates were organized in seven grades: corax, Raven; nymphus, Bridegroom; miles, Soldier; leo, Lion; Perses, Persian; heliodromus, Courier of (and to) the Sun; pater, Father. To each rank belonged a particular mask (Raven, Persian, Lion) or dress (Bridegroom). The rising of the Mithraist in grade prefigured the ascent of the soul after......
Perseus (king of Macedonia)
the last king of Macedonia (179–168), whose attempts to dominate Greece brought on the final defeat of Macedonia by the Romans, leading to annexation of the region....
Perseus (Greek mythology)
in Greek mythology, the slayer of the Gorgon Medusa and the rescuer of Andromeda from a sea monster. Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danaë, the daughter of Acrisius of Argos. As an infant he was cast into the sea in a chest with his mother by Acrisius, to whom it had been prophesied that he would b...
Perseus (constellation)
constellation in the northern sky at about 4 hours right ascension and 40° north in declination. With a magnitude of 1.8, its brightest star is Mirfak (from the Arabic for “the elbow”), which is also known as Algenib (from the Arabic for “the side”). This constellation ...
Perseus (sculpture by Cellini)
...Cellini left Paris precipitately and returned to Florence, where he was welcomed by Cosimo de’ Medici and entrusted with the commissions for his best known sculpture, the bronze Perseus in Florence’s Loggia dei Lanzi, where it still stands, and for a colossal bust of the Grand Duke of Tuscany (Bargello, Florence). Fleeing to Venice in 1546 to escape cha...
Perseus and Andromeda (painting by Titian)
The Perseus and Andromeda was intended to be a companion to Medea and Jason, according to Titian’s letter, but for some reason the second picture was never carried out. Andromeda, bound to the rock at the left, awaits deliverance as Perseus descends from the sky to slay the monster. Her powerful physique reflects Titian’s famili...
Pershing, John J. (United States general)
U.S. Army general who commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe during World War I....
Pershing, John Joseph (United States general)
U.S. Army general who commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe during World War I....
Pershing missile (weaponry)
After moving to Huntsville, Ala., in 1952, Braun became technical director (later chief) of the U.S. Army ballistic-weapon program. Under his leadership, the Redstone, Jupiter-C, Juno, and Pershing missiles were developed. In 1955 he became a U.S. citizen and, characteristically, accepted citizenship wholeheartedly. During the 1950s Braun became a national and international focal point for the......
Pershing tank (armoured vehicle)
...divisions should confine themselves to exploitation of infantry breakthroughs and did not, therefore, need powerfully armed tanks. Only toward the end of the war did the U.S. Army introduce a few M26 Pershing heavy tanks with a 90-mm gun comparable to that of the original German Tiger. Similarly, the British Army introduced the prototypes of the Centurion tank with a 76-mm gun comparable to......
Pershore (England, United Kingdom)
...baths, said to be 10 times saltier than seawater. Evesham, in southeastern Wychavon, has a Tudor Round House (a large building with elaborate woodwork) and a town hall (built 1586; remodeled 1885). Pershore, west of Evesham, has a 17th-century bridge across the Avon and a 1,000-year-old Norman abbey. Light industries include canneries at Evesham for locally grown fruits and vegetables. Area 257...
Persia (historical region, Asia)
historic region of southwestern Asia associated with the area that is now modern Iran. The term Persia was used for centuries and originated from a region of southern Iran formerly known as Persis, alternatively as Pārs or Parsa, modern Fārs. The use of the name was gradually extended by the ancient Greeks and other peoples to ...
Persian (breed of cat)
breed of domestic cat noted for its long, soft, flowing coat. Long-haired cats were originally known as Persians, or Angoras. These names were later discarded in favour of the name longhair, although the cats are still commonly called Persians in the United States. The longhair, a medium-sized or large cat...
Persian (Mithraic god)
The initiates were organized in seven grades: corax, Raven; nymphus, Bridegroom; miles, Soldier; leo, Lion; Perses, Persian; heliodromus, Courier of (and to) the Sun; pater, Father. To each rank belonged a particular mask (Raven, Persian, Lion) or dress (Bridegroom). The rising of the Mithraist in grade prefigured the ascent of the soul after......
Persian (people)
predominant ethnic group of Iran, (formerly known as Persia) and a significant minority community in western Afghanistan. Although of diverse ancestry, the Persian people are united by their language, Persian (Farsi), which belongs to the In...
Persian alphabet
writing system of the Persian people from the 2nd century bce until the advent of Islam (7th century ce); the Zoroastrian sacred book, the Avesta, is written in a variant of Pahlavi called Avestan....
Persian archer (coin)
...Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens, which was fought, with occasional pauses, over the latter decades of the 5th century bc. The situation was ripe for exploitation by the famous “Persian archers,” the gold coins of the Achaemenids that depicted an archer on their obverse and that were used with considerable skill by the Persians in bribing first one Greek s...
Persian buttercup (plant)
The turban, or Persian buttercup (Ranunculus asiaticus), is the florist’s ranunculus; usually the double-flowered form R. asiaticus, cultivar Superbissimus, is grown for the winter trade. Among the many wild species are the tall meadow buttercup (R. acris), native to Eurasia but widely introduced elsewhere; the swamp buttercup (R. septentrionalis) of eastern Nort...
Persian carpet
ʿAbbās’ reign also marks a peak of Persian artistic achievement. Under his patronage, carpet weaving became a major industry, and fine Persian rugs began to appear in the homes of wealthy European burghers. Another profitable export was textiles, which included brocades and damasks of unparalleled richness. The production and sale of silk was made a monopoly of the crown. In t...
Persian Church (Christian sect)
member of a Christian sect originating in Asia Minor and Syria out of the condemnation of Nestorius and his teachings by the councils of Ephesus (ad 431) and Chalcedon (ad 451). Nestorians stressed the independence of the divine and human natures of Christ and, in effect, suggest...
Persian Cossack Brigade (Iranian cavalry unit)
cavalry unit founded in Iran in 1879 and modeled after Russian Cossack formations. It began as a regiment and was enlarged within a few months to a brigade and later, during World War I, into a division....
Persian Cuneiform Inscription at Behistun (work by Rawlinson)
...Required to leave the country because of friction between Iran and Britain, Rawlinson was nevertheless able to return in 1844 to obtain impressions of the Babylonian script. As a result, his Persian Cuneiform Inscription at Behistun appeared (1846–51); it contained a complete translation, analysis of the grammar, and notes—altogether an achievement yielding valuable......
Persian deer (mammal)
fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) of western Asia. The maral, an Asiatic red deer, also is often called Persian deer. See fallow deer....
Persian Empire (historical empire from about 550 BC-640 AD)
fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) of western Asia. The maral, an Asiatic red deer, also is often called Persian deer. See fallow deer.......
Persian fallow deer (mammal)
fallow deer (Dama mesopotamica) of western Asia. The maral, an Asiatic red deer, also is often called Persian deer. See fallow deer....
Persian Gulf (gulf, Middle East)
shallow marginal sea of the Indian Ocean that lies between the Arabian Peninsula and southwestern Iran. The sea has an area of about 93,000 square miles (241,000 square km). Its length is some 615 miles (990 km), and its width varies from a maximum of about 210 miles (340 km) to a minimum of 35 miles (55 km...
Persian Gulf War (1991)
(1990–91), international conflict that was triggered by Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Iraq’s leader, Ṣaddām Ḥussein, ordered the invasion and occupation of Kuwait with the apparent aim of acquiring that nation’s large oil reserves, canceling a large debt Iraq ...
Persian Gulf War, Second (2003)
conflict in Iraq beginning in 2003 and consisting of two phases. The first of these was a brief, conventionally fought war (March–April 2003), in which a combined force of troops from the United States and Great Britain (with smaller contingents from several other countries) invaded Iraq and rapidly defeated Iraqi military and paramil...
Persian Iraq (ancient region, Middle East)
...traditionally considered to mark the border between these two entities. The second region, lying to the east of Arabian Iraq and separated from it by the Zagros Mountains, was called foreign (i.e., Persian) Iraq (ʿIrāq ʿAjamī) and was more or less identical with ancient Media or the Umayyad and ʿAbbāsid province of...
Persian knot (carpet-making)
...around the warp yarn. The Turkish, or symmetrical, knot is used mainly in Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Iran (formerly Persia), and Europe. This knot was also formerly known as the Ghiordes knot. The Persian, or asymmetrical, knot is used principally in Iran, India, China, and Egypt. This knot was formerly known as the Senneh (Sehna) knot. The Spanish knot, used mainly in Spain, differs from the......
Persian lamb (animal product)
sheep breed of central or west Asian origin, raised chiefly for the skins of very young lambs, which are covered with glossy, tightly curled black coats and are called Persian lamb in the fur trade. The wool of mature Karakul sheep, classified as carpet wool, is a mixture of coarse and fine fibres, from 6 to 10 inches (15 to 25 cm) long, of colours varying from black to various shades of brown......
Persian language
member of the Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian language family. It is the official language of Iran, and two varieties of Persian known as Dari and Tajik are official languages in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, respectively. Modern Persian is most closely related to Middl...
Persian Letters (work by Montesquieu)
In 1721 he surprised all but a few close friends by publishing his Lettres persanes (Persian Letters, 1722), in which he gave a brilliant satirical portrait of French and particularly Parisian civilization, supposedly seen through the eyes of two Persian travellers. This exceedingly successful work mocks the reign of Louis XIV, which had only recently ended; pokes fun at all......
Persian lilac (Syringa persica)
The weaker-stemmed Persian lilac (S. persica), ranging from Iran to China, droops over, reaching about 2 metres in height. Its flowers usually are pale lavender, but there are darker and even white varieties....
Persian lilac (Melia azedarach)
...Most members of the family have large compound leaves, with the leaflets arranged in the form of a feather, and branched flower clusters. The fruit is fleshy and coloured or a leathery capsule. The China tree (Melia azedarach), also called chinaberry, bead tree, and Persian lilac, is an ornamental Asian tree with round yellow fruits, often cultivated in many tropical and warm......
Persian literature
body of writings in New Persian (also called Modern Persian), the form of the Persian language written since the 9th century with a slightly extended form of the Arabic alphabet and with many Arabic loanwords. The literary form of New...
Persian lynx (mammal)
(Felis caracal), short-tailed cat (family Felidae) found in hills, deserts, and plains of Africa, the Middle East, and central and southwestern Asia. The caracal is a sleek, short-haired cat with a reddish brown-coat and long tufts of black hair...
Persian religion
diverse beliefs and practices of the culturally and linguistically related group of ancient peoples who inhabited the Iranian Plateau and its borderlands, as well as areas of Central Asia from the Black Sea to Khotan (modern Ho-tʾien, China). The northern Iranians (referred to generally as Scythians [Saka] in classica...
Persian Royal Road (ancient road, Asia)
ancient road running from Susa, the ancient capital of Persia, across Anatolia to the Aegean Sea, a distance of more than 1,500 miles (2,400 km). Royal messengers, who, according to the Greek historian Herodotus, were stopped by “neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night,” traversed the entire road in...
Persian rug
ʿAbbās’ reign also marks a peak of Persian artistic achievement. Under his patronage, carpet weaving became a major industry, and fine Persian rugs began to appear in the homes of wealthy European burghers. Another profitable export was textiles, which included brocades and damasks of unparalleled richness. The production and sale of silk was made a monopoly of the crown. In t...
Persian stonecress (plant)
...areas of the Mediterranean region, with a few species in eastern Asia. Stonecresses are grown as rock garden or border plants for their narrow leaves and four-petaled pink, lilac, or white flowers. Persian stonecress (A. grandiflorum), a perennial with rosy-lavender flowers, grows to over 30 cm (1 foot). Lebanon stonecress (A. cordifolium) has rose-pink flowers on 10- to 25-cm (4-...
Persian walnut (tree)
...clusters on the same tree; the twigs contain a many-chambered pith; and the fruit is a woody nut enclosed in a thick husk. Black walnut (J. nigra) of eastern North America and English, or Persian, walnut (J. regia), native to Iran, are valuable timber trees that produce edible nuts. The butternut (J. cinerea) of eastern North America also produces an edible......
Persian Wars (492–449 BC)
(492–449 bc), a series of wars fought by Greek states and Persia over a period of almost half a century. The fighting was most intense during two invasions that Persia launched against mainland Greece between 490 and 479. Although the Persian empire was at the peak of its strength, the collective defense mounted by the Greeks overcame seemingly impossible odds and even succeed...
Persian wheel (water-supply system)
mechanical device used to raise water from wells or pits. A sakia consists of buckets fastened to a vertical wheel or to a rope belt about the wheel, which is itself attached by a shaft to a horizontal wheel turned by horses, oxen, or asses....
Persians (play by Aeschylus)
one of a trilogy of unconnected tragedies presented in 472 bce by Aeschylus. Persians is unique among surviving ancient Greek tragedies in that it dramatizes recent history rather than events from the distant age of mythical heroes. The play treats the decisive repulse of the Persians from Greece in 480, in particular their defeat at the Battle of S...
Persica (work by Ctesias)
Ctesias returned to Greece in 398 and began writing his Persica, a history of Assyria-Babylonia in 23 books. Books I–VI included a history of Assyria and the Medes, and the last 10 books were a more detailed account from the death of Xerxes (465) to 398. Although Ctesias claimed that his history was based on Persian archives and state records and therefore was far superior to.....
Persica (work by Choerilus)
Greek epic poet of the Aegean island of Samos, author of a lost verse chronicle, the Persica, which probably related the story of the Persian wars as narrated in prose by the historian Herodotus. Because Choerilus’s work treated recent historical events, it represented a notable innovation in epic poetry; earlier epics derived their subject matter from Greek mythology. According to t...
Persichetti, Vincent (American composer)
American composer noted for his succinct polyphonic style (based on interwoven melodic lines), forceful rhythms, and generally diatonic melodies (moving stepwise; not atonal or highly chromatic)....
Persigny, Jean-Gilbert-Victor Fialin, duc de (French statesman)
French statesman who helped pave the way for Louis-Napoléon’s rise to power as the emperor Napoleon III....
persimmon (plant)
either of two trees of the genus Diospyros (family Ebenaceae) and their globular, edible fruits. The Oriental persimmon (D. kaki), an important and extensively grown fruit in China and Japan, where it is known as kaki, was introduced into France and other Mediterranean countries in the 19th century and grown to a limited extent there. Int...
Persis (ancient region, Iran)
ancient country in the southwestern part of Iran, roughly coextensive with the modern region of Fārs. Its name was derived from the Iranian tribe of the Parsua (Parsuash; Parsumash; Persians), who settled there in the 7th century bc. Herodotus lists the leading Persian tribes as the Pasargadae, to which the Achaemenians, the royal family of Persia, belonged;...
persistence (meteorology)
Persistence (warm summers follow warm springs) or anti-persistence (cold springs follow warm winters) also were used, even though, strictly speaking, most forecasters consider persistence forecasts “no-skill” forecasts. Yet, they too have had limited success....
persistence of force, law of (philosophy)
...his whole scheme was in fact suggested to him by the evolution of biological species. In First Principles he argued that there is a fundamental law of matter, which he called the law of the persistence of force, from which it follows that nothing homogeneous can remain as such if it is acted upon, because any external force must affect some part of it differently from other parts and......
Persistence of Memory, The (painting by Dalí)
...painfully realistic detail and usually placed them within bleak, sunlit landscapes that were reminiscent of his Catalonian homeland. Perhaps the most famous of these enigmatic images is “The Persistence of Memory” (1931), in which limp, melting watches rest in an eerily calm landscape. With the Spanish director Luis Buñuel, Dalí also made two Surrealistic......
persistence of vision (physiology)
...working to create conversation pieces for Victorian parlours or new sensations for the touring magic-lantern shows, which were a popular form of entertainment, discovered the principle of persistence of vision. If drawings of the stages of an action were shown in fast succession, the human eye would perceive them as a continuous movement. One of the first commercially successful......
persistent ductus arteriosus (pathology)
congenital heart defect characterized by the persistence of the ductus arteriosus, a channel that shunts blood between the pulmonary artery and the aorta. Normally, after birth the pulmonary artery carries blood depleted of oxygen and laden with carbon dioxide from the right ven...
Persistent Economic Slump, The (economic growth)
In 2010, two years after the financial meltdown of 2008, the Great Recession continued to reverberate throughout the world. One by one, many European Union countries faced possible bankruptcy. There were indications that a currency war might have begun, with the U.S. and China the key combatants. Americans learned that the price of keeping the international fi...
Persius (Roman poet)
Stoic poet whose Latin satires reached a higher moral tone than those of other classical Latin poets (excepting Juvenal)....
Perske, Betty Joan (American actress)
American motion-picture and stage actress known for her portrayals of provocative women who hid their soft core underneath a layer of hard-edged pragmatism....