palm: Distribution: In the Amazon estuary Raphia taedigera covers extensive areas; other species of the raffia palm dominate similar habitats in West Africa. The raffia palm occurs in nearly pure stands between marsh and dicotyledonous swamp forests along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Costa Rica, and Mauritia flexuosa is found…

columbiform: Annotated classification: Family Raphidae (dodoes and solitaires) Extinct but with no fossil record. Flightless, with much reduced furculum and wing, fused coracoid and scapula and no basipterygoid processes. Large; weight probably exceeded 10 kg (22 pounds). Limited to Mascarene Islands. 3 species.

dumb cane: …with stinging crystals, known as raphides, that are composed of calcium oxalate. If chewed or ingested, the raphides and sap of the plant can irritate the mucous membranes and cause swelling and inflammation of the tongue and throat. The plant is considered to be toxic to cats, though ingestion is…

snakefly, (order Raphidiodea or Raphidioptera), any of more than 175 species of insects that are easily recognized by their small head and long, slender “neck,” which is actually the elongated prothorax. The snakefly, about 15 mm (0.6 inch) long, has two pairs of similar, net-veined wings, long

snakefly, (order Raphidiodea or Raphidioptera), any of more than 175 species of insects that are easily recognized by their small head and long, slender “neck,” which is actually the elongated prothorax. The snakefly, about 15 mm (0.6 inch) long, has two pairs of similar, net-veined wings, long

algae: Annotated classification: Class Raphidophyceae (Chloromonadophyceae) Flagellates with mucocysts (mucilage-releasing bodies) occasionally found in freshwater or marine environments; fewer than 50 species; includes Chattonella, Gonyostomum, Heterosigma, Psammamonas, and Vacuolaria. Class Synurophyceae

dodo, (Raphus cucullatus), extinct flightless bird of Mauritius (an island of the Indian Ocean), one of the three species that constituted the family Raphidae, usually placed with pigeons in the order Columbiformes but sometimes separated as an order (Raphiformes). The other two species, also found

dodo: …Ocean, were the solitaires (Raphus solitarius of Réunion and Pezophaps solitaria of Rodrigues). The birds were first seen by Portuguese sailors about 1507 and were exterminated by humans and their introduced animals. The dodo was extinct by 1681, the Réunion solitaire by 1746, and the Rodrigues solitaire by about

information system: Internal information systems development: In various RAD methodologies a prototype—a preliminary working version of an application—is built quickly and inexpensively, albeit imperfectly. This prototype is turned over to the users, their reactions are collected, suggested modifications are incorporated, and successive prototype versions eventually evolve into the complete system. Formal processes for…

Rapid City, city, seat (1877) of Pennington county, western South Dakota, U.S. It lies at the eastern edge of the Black Hills on Rapid Creek, from which it derived its name. It was settled in 1876 during the Black Hills gold rush. In the beginning the community grew slowly, and there was often

REM sleep, one of two phases in the sleep cycle, in which a person experiences dreams, atonia (reduced muscle tone), irregular closed eye movements, and elevated levels of brain activity. The other phase of the human sleep cycle is known as non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. A single sleep cycle,

wastewater treatment: Land treatment: In the rapid infiltration method, the wastewater is stored in large ponds called recharge basins. Most of it percolates to the groundwater, and very little is absorbed by vegetation. For this method to work, soils must be highly permeable. In overland flow, wastewater is sprayed onto an…

chemical element: Neutron capture: …be distinguished: the r -process, rapid neutron capture; and the s -process, slow neutron capture. If neutrons are added to a stable nucleus, it is not long before the product nucleus becomes unstable and the neutron is converted into a proton. Outside a nucleus, a neutron decays into a proton…

syphilis test: Nontreponemal tests include the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) test and the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test, both of which are based on the detection in the blood of syphilis reagin (a type of serum antibody). Treponemal tests include the Treponema pallidum hemagglutination assay (TPHA; or T. pallidum particle

chemical element: Neutron capture: …be distinguished: the r -process, rapid neutron capture; and the s -process, slow neutron capture. If neutrons are added to a stable nucleus, it is not long before the product nucleus becomes unstable and the neutron is converted into a proton. Outside a nucleus, a neutron decays into a proton…

Evelyn Wood: …a widely used system of high-speed reading.

Victoria and Albert Museum: …pioneered a program of so-called rapid response collecting, wherein the museum promptly acquired objects from significant moments in recent history. Pieces include the pussyhat, a knitted pink hat worn by participants in the 2017 Women’s March, and an Xbox adaptive controller, a device released in 2018 to improve the accessibility…

Bob Feller was an American professional baseball player, a right-handed pitcher whose fastball made him a frequent leader in games won and strikeouts during his 18-year career with the Cleveland Indians (now the Cleveland Guardians) of the American League (AL). Feller made his major league debut at

water supply system: Filtration: …are in use: slow and rapid. Slow filters require much more surface area than rapid filters and are difficult to clean. Most modern water-treatment plants now use rapid dual-media filters following coagulation and sedimentation. A dual-media filter consists of a layer of anthracite coal above a layer of fine sand.…

rapid transit, system of railways, usually electric, that is used for local transit in a metropolitan area. A rapid transit line may run underground (subway), above street level (elevated transit line), or at street level. Rapid transit is distinguished from other forms of mass transit by its

World War I: Technology of war in 1914: …the machine gun and the rapid-fire field artillery gun. The modern machine gun, which had been developed in the 1880s and ’90s, was a reliable belt-fed gun capable of sustained rates of extremely rapid fire; it could fire 600 bullets per minute with a range of more than 1,000 yards…

cement: Types of portland cement: … (Type I), modified (Type II), high-early-strength (Type III), low-heat (Type IV), and sulfate-resistant (Type V). In other countries Type II is omitted, and Type III is called rapid-hardening. Type V is known in some European countries as Ferrari cement.

waterfall: …in channel gradient are called rapids.

sword: …his weapon, and the thrust-and-parry rapier came into use.

rocket and missile system: Surface-to-air: …Soviet systems was the British Rapier, a short-range, semimobile system intended primarily for airfield defense. The Rapier missile was fired from a small, rotating launcher that was transported by trailer. In the initial version, deployed in the early 1970s and used with some success in 1982 in the Falklands conflict,…

rapier loom, a shuttleless weaving loom in which the filling yarn is carried through the shed of warp yarns to the other side of the loom by fingerlike carriers called rapiers. One type has a single long rapier that reaches across the loom’s width to carry the filling to the other side. Another

James T. Rapier was a Black planter and labor organizer who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama during Reconstruction. Born in affluence—his father was a wealthy planter—Rapier was educated by private tutors and later studied at Montreal College (Canada), the University

James T. Rapier was a Black planter and labor organizer who was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Alabama during Reconstruction. Born in affluence—his father was a wealthy planter—Rapier was educated by private tutors and later studied at Montreal College (Canada), the University

pastoral literature: …in the pastoral convention by René Rapin, whose shepherds were figures of uncomplicated virtue in a simple scene. The “modern” pastoral, deriving from Bernard de Fontenelle, dwelled on the innocence of the contemporary rustic (though not on his miseries). In England the controversy was reflected in a quarrel between Alexander…

Marrucini: …from an inscription, the “Bronze of Rapino” (c. 250 bc). It is written in the Latin alphabet but in a dialect of the Northern Oscan group, which included the Paeligni and Vestini.

Megan Rapinoe is a former football (soccer) player who is regarded as one of the sport’s legendary athletes, known for her play on the field and her activism off it. A leading winger, she helped the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) win two Women’s World Cups (2015 and 2019) as well as a gold

Megan Rapinoe is a former football (soccer) player who is regarded as one of the sport’s legendary athletes, known for her play on the field and her activism off it. A leading winger, she helped the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) win two Women’s World Cups (2015 and 2019) as well as a gold

Rapithwin, in Zoroastrianism, personification of summer and noonday, the time of the midday meal. The New Year festival, Noruz, is celebrated in Rapithwin’s honor as a solemn and joyful celebration of new life in nature and the anticipated resurrection of the body at the end of

RAPP, association formed in the Soviet Union in 1928 out of various groups of proletarian writers who were dedicated to defining a truly proletarian literature and to eliminating writers whose works were not thoroughly imbued with Communist ideology. Under the leadership of Leopold Averbakh, RAPP

George Rapp was a German-born American ascetic who founded the Rappites (Harmonists), a Pietist sect that formed communes in the United States. A linen weaver and a lay preacher, “Father” Rapp emigrated to the United States in 1803 to escape persecution. He was joined by about 600 disciples, and by

George Rapp was a German-born American ascetic who founded the Rappites (Harmonists), a Pietist sect that formed communes in the United States. A linen weaver and a lay preacher, “Father” Rapp emigrated to the United States in 1803 to escape persecution. He was joined by about 600 disciples, and by

Rappaccini’s Daughter, allegorical short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, first published in United States Magazine and Democratic Review (December 1844) and collected in Mosses from an Old Manse (1846). Rappaccini, a scholar-scientist in Padua, grows only poisonous plants in his lush garden. His

Rappahannock River, river flowing entirely through Virginia, U.S. It rises near Chester Gap in the Blue Ridge Mountains east of Front Royal and flows southeastward past Fredericksburg (head of navigation and of tidewater) to enter Chesapeake Bay after a course of 212 miles (341 km). Its chief

anthropology: Environmental and ecological studies in anthropology: …works in ecological anthropology is Roy Rappaport’s study of the Tsembaga Maring of highland New Guinea. In it he argued that Tsembaga ritual regulated pig husbandry and the incidence of warfare and thereby responded to environmental “feedback” by adjusting human population densities, work effort, food production, and a host of…

rapparee, any of the dispossessed native Irish who employed guerrilla methods to resist the English from the time of the English Civil Wars (1642–51) and more especially after the regular Irish army had surrendered in the Jacobite war (1689–91) in Ireland. They were termed rapparees after their

snuff: Rappee (French râpé, “grated”) is the name later given to a coarse, pungent snuff made from dark tobacco. Snuff takers carried graters with them. Early 18th-century graters made of ivory and other materials still exist, as do elaborate snuffboxes.

mountaineering: Techniques: …rope in the technique called rappelling. The rope, one end being firmly held or secured, is wrapped around the climber’s body in such a way that it can be fed out by one hand slowly or quickly as desired to lower the body gradually down the face of the rock.

the Sugarhill Gang: …recorded their first song, “Rapper’s Delight,” in the summer of 1979 in one take. At nearly 15 minutes, the “long version” of the single featured the three group members taking turns rapping over a danceable hip-hop track. The song’s chorus, performed by Wonder Mike, opens the recording. Its playful…

Irving Rapper was a British-born American director from Hollywood’s “golden age” who was best known for his literary adaptations, especially Now, Voyager (1942), Deception (1946), and The Corn Is Green (1945), all of which starred Bette Davis. Rapper moved with his family to New York City in the

Rappite, a member of a religious communal group founded in the United States in the early 19th century by about 600 German Pietists under the leadership of George Rapp, a farmer and vine grower. Protesting the growing rationalism of Lutheranism, the group decided to leave Germany for America. Rapp

Maria Ressa: …a Filipino-American journalist who, through Rappler, the Manila-based digital media company for investigative journalism that she co-founded, became known for detailing the weaponization of social media and for exposing government corruption and human rights violations. Her reporting led to a backlash from the Philippine government, and Ressa, who holds dual…

Chicago style: …the Friar’s Society Orchestra, including Leon Rappolo, Paul Mares, George Brunis, and others), a white New Orleans band playing at Chicago’s Friar’s Society.

Ribeauvillé, town, Haut-Rhin département, Grand Est région, northeastern France. It lies below the Vosges Mountains, at the entrance to the valley of the Strengbach stream, 33 miles (53 km) southwest of Strasbourg. Rappoltsweiler, known in the 8th century as Rathaldovilare, passed from the bishops

S. Ansky was a Russian Jewish writer and folklorist best known for his play The Dybbuk. Ansky was educated in a Ḥasidic environment and as a young man was attracted to the Jewish Enlightenment (Haskala) and to the populist doctrines of the Narodniki, a group of socialist revolutionaries. For a time

Catulle Mendès: Rapport sur le mouvement poétique français de 1867–1900 (1902; “Thoughts on the French Poetic Movement of 1867–1900”) is a critical work.

rapporteur, in French civil law, a judge who furnishes a written report on the case at hand to other judges of the court, in which he sets forth the arguments of the parties, specifies the questions of fact and of law raised in the dispute, and lists the evidence on the issue. The position

Pierre-Jean-Georges Cabanis: …philosopher and physiologist noted for Rapports du physique et du moral de l’homme (1802; “Relations of the Physical and the Moral in Man”), which explained all of reality, including the psychic, mental, and moral aspects of man, in terms of a mechanistic Materialism.

Jean-Marc-Gaspard Itard: …le sauvage de l’Aveyron (1807; Reports on the Savage of Aveyron), he explained the methods that he used (1801–05) in trying to train and educate an unsocialized 11-year-old boy who had been found in a forest in Aveyron, south of Paris.

Western music: Cantata and oratorio: …anima e di corpo (The Representation of the Soul and the Body). Produced in Rome in 1600, this work, unlike true oratorio, used actors and costumes. Carissimi and Alessandro Scarlatti were the chief Italian Baroque composers of oratorio, and Heinrich Schütz, a pupil of both Giovanni Gabrieli and Monteverdi…

Ghaghara River: Rapti, and the Little Gandak rivers—all flow into the Ghaghara from the mountains to the north. Together with the Ganges and its tributaries, it has helped form the vast alluvial plain of northern Uttar Pradesh. Along its lower course it is also called the Sarju…

Boeing Company: History of Boeing Company: …the aircraft was named the F-22 Raptor and was first flown in 1997. In 1996 Boeing and Lockheed Martin received U.S. defense contracts to build competitive technology demonstrators for the Joint Strike Fighter, intended as an affordable, next-generation, multirole fighter for the armed services of the United States and Britain.…

falconiform, (order Falconiformes), any of the group of swift, graceful birds known for their predatory skill as raptors. Included are eagles, condors, buzzards, kites, caracaras, ospreys, harriers, accipiters, vultures, secretary birds, falcons, hawks, and bateleurs. Although seldom abundant,

bird of prey, any bird that pursues other animals for food; it is a famous apex predator (meaning without a natural predator or enemy). Birds of prey are classified in two orders: Falconiformes and Strigiformes. All birds of prey have hook-tipped beaks and sharp curved claws called talons (in

dromaeosaur, (family Dromaeosauridae), any of a group of small to medium-sized carnivorous dinosaurs that flourished in Asia and North America during the Cretaceous Period (145.5 million to 65.5 million years ago). Agile, lightly built, and fast-running, these theropods were among the most

tyrannosaur: Classification: …of earlier and smaller tyrannosaurs, Raptorex kriegsteini, is based on a single specimen from the Early Cretaceous of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. It stood roughly 3 metres (10 feet) tall, and its weight was roughly 40 to 70 kg (90 to 150 pounds), about one-hundredth the weight of Tyrannosaurus.…

Carol Ann Duffy: … (1990), The World’s Wife (1999), Rapture (2005), and Sincerity (2018). During this time she also authored such plays as Take My Husband (1982) and Little Women, Big Boys (1986). At the beginning of the 21st century, much of her work was written for children, including the picture books Underwater Farmyard…

Anita Baker: …producer of her next album, Rapture (1986), which won two Grammy Awards, sold more than five million copies, and spawned two hit singles—“Sweet Love” and “You Bring Me Joy.” The album Giving You the Best That I’ve Got and a three-month tour with Luther Vandross followed in 1988, and Compositions…

Blondie: …audiences with the single “Rapture.” The Hunter (1982) represented a downturn in record sales. After Stein became seriously ill that year, Blondie disbanded.

the Rapture, in Christianity, the eschatological (concerned with the last things and Endtime) belief that both living and dead believers will ascend into heaven to meet Jesus Christ at the Second Coming (Parousia). The belief in the Rapture emerged from the anticipation that Jesus would return to

Claudian: …minor contains the mythological epic Raptus Proserpinae (“The Rape of Proserpine”), on which Claudian’s medieval fame largely depended. The second book of the epic has an elegiac epistle addressed to Florentinus, the city prefect, and reflects Claudian’s interest in the Eleusinian mysteries.

Al-Raqqah, town, northern Syria, on the Euphrates River just west of its confluence with the Balīkh River. Al-Raqqah is on the site of an ancient Greek city, Nicephorium, and a later Roman fortress and market town, Callinicus. It flourished again in early Arab times when the ʿAbbāsid caliph Hārūn

Raqqah ware, type of Islamic lustreware produced at Al-Raqqah, Syria, between the 9th and 14th centuries. The body of the ware, which is white tending to buff, is coated with a siliceous glaze. Designs, sometimes in relief, tend to be bold. Decoration includes brown lustre and blue and black

Al-Raqqah, town, northern Syria, on the Euphrates River just west of its confluence with the Balīkh River. Al-Raqqah is on the site of an ancient Greek city, Nicephorium, and a later Roman fortress and market town, Callinicus. It flourished again in early Arab times when the ʿAbbāsid caliph Hārūn

Al-Raqqah, town, northern Syria, on the Euphrates River just west of its confluence with the Balīkh River. Al-Raqqah is on the site of an ancient Greek city, Nicephorium, and a later Roman fortress and market town, Callinicus. It flourished again in early Arab times when the ʿAbbāsid caliph Hārūn

dance: Music: In the Middle Eastern raqṣ sharqī, the song or music establishes the mood or narrative situation of the dance, which the performer then interprets through movement. In the Indian bharata natyam the dancer is accompanied by a singer, who marks the movements with a tiny pair of cymbals while…

Vicente García de la Huerta: …and critic whose Neoclassical tragedy Raquel (1778) was once considered the most distinguished tragic drama of 18th-century Spain.

Eduardo Kac: …Kac created another telepresence work, Rara Avis, which consisted of a robotic bird with a camera inside that was positioned in an aviary with live zebra finches. Visitors to the exhibit could don a headset connected to the camera and experience the view inside the aviary.

Tarahumara, Middle American Indians of Barranca de Cobre (“Copper Canyon”), southwestern Chihuahua state, in northern Mexico. Their language, which belongs to the Sonoran division of the Uto-Aztecan family, is most closely related to those of the Yaqui and Mayo. Culturally the Tarahumara show

Antarctica: National rivalries and claims: Ronne Antarctic Research Expedition (RARE) in 1947–48 to the old U.S. Antarctic Service East Base camp on Marguerite Bay, the peninsula protagonists—British, Argentine, and Chilean—became concerned that the United States might restore its claims.

Explore other Botanize! episodes and read about conservation and endangered species. Melissa Petruzzello: Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica’s Botanize! I’m your host, Melissa Petruzzello, Britannica’s plant and environmental science editor. As you may know, there are some plants that are found

therapeutics: Indications for use: A rare disease presents a unique problem in treatment because the number of patients with the disease is so small that it is not worthwhile for companies to go through the lengthy and expensive process required for approval and marketing. In the United States, drugs produced…

It’s amazing how much they impact modern life.The topic of rare earth metals (or rare earth elements) may not be the hottest on Wall Street, but it seems to be popping up with greater frequency in the post-pandemic economy. The reason is simple: Rare earths are critical to the production of

noble gas, any of the seven chemical elements that make up Group 18 (VIIIa) of the periodic table. The elements are helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), radon (Rn), and oganesson (Og). The noble gases are colourless, odourless, tasteless, nonflammable gases. They

rare-earth element, any member of the group of chemical elements consisting of three elements in Group 3 (scandium [Sc], yttrium [Y], and lanthanum [La]) and the first extended row of elements below the main body of the periodic table (cerium [Ce] through lutetium [Lu]). The elements cerium through

rare-earth element, any member of the group of chemical elements consisting of three elements in Group 3 (scandium [Sc], yttrium [Y], and lanthanum [La]) and the first extended row of elements below the main body of the periodic table (cerium [Ce] through lutetium [Lu]). The elements cerium through

mineral deposit: Pegmatite deposits: Such small igneous bodies, called rare-metal pegmatites, are sometimes exceedingly coarse-grained, with individual grains of mica, feldspar, and beryl up to one metre across. Pegmatites have been discovered on all continents, providing an important fraction of the world’s lithium, beryllium, cesium, niobium, and tantalum. Pegmatites also are the major source…

rarefaction, in the physics of sound, segment of one cycle of a longitudinal wave during its travel or motion, the other segment being compression. If the prong of a tuning fork vibrates in the air, for example, the layer of air adjacent to the prong undergoes compression when the prong moves so as

longitudinal wave, wave consisting of a periodic disturbance or vibration that takes place in the same direction as the advance of the wave. A coiled spring that is compressed at one end and then released experiences a wave of compression that travels its length, followed by a stretching; a point

Murshidabad: …surrounding region consists of the Rarh, a high, undulating continuation of the Chota Nagpur plateau to the west, and the Bagri, a fertile, low-lying alluvial tract, part of the Ganges (Ganga)-Brahmaputra delta, to the east. Rice, jute, legumes, oilseeds, wheat, barley, and mangoes are the chief crops in the east;…

Raritan River, largest stream lying wholly within New Jersey, U.S., formed by the confluence of the North Branch Raritan and the South Branch Raritan rivers in western Somerset county. It flows about 75 miles (120 km) generally southeast past Somerville, Bound Brook, and New Brunswick into Raritan

Edison, township (town), northern Middlesex county, New Jersey, U.S., just northeast of New Brunswick. It is the site of Menlo Park, where the inventor Thomas A. Edison established his research laboratory in 1876. Part of Woodbridge and Piscataway townships before 1870, it was known as Raritan

Toggenburg Succession: …countship was assigned to the lords of Raron (in distant Valais); but the dependencies nearest to Lake Zürich and a tract to the east of them were promptly invaded by the men of Schwyz—to the fierce resentment of Zürich, which wanted at least to control the shore of the lake.…

Rarotonga, largest island in the southern group of the Cook Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean about 2,100 miles (3,400 km) northeast of New Zealand. The island is volcanic in origin and has a rugged interior rising to 2,139 feet (652 metres) at Te Manga. Surrounding its mountainous core is a

Cook Islands: Plant and animal life: The kakerori, or Rarotongan flycatcher, an attractive tiny bird unique to Rarotonga, had been reduced by the early 1990s to about 30 breeding pairs. By the early 21st century, however, efforts by a small group of conservationists and landowners had succeeded in increasing the kakerori population…

Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), British scientific society founded in 1820 to promote astronomical research. Its headquarters are located in Burlington House, near Piccadilly Circus, London, England. First named the Astronomical Society of London, it received its royal charter on March 7, 1831.

Ras al-Khaimah: …most significant urban settlement is Ras al-Khaimah city.

Ras al-Khaimah, constituent emirate of the United Arab Emirates (formerly Trucial States, or Trucial Oman). It consists of two irregularly shaped tracts on the Musandam Peninsula, oriented north-south. The northern section shares the Ruʾūs al-Jibāl peninsula with the sultanate of Oman and has a

Ras Algethi, red supergiant star, whose diameter is nearly twice that of Earth’s orbit. It lies in the constellation Hercules and is of about third magnitude, its brightness varying by about a magnitude every 128 days. It is 380 light-years from Earth. The name comes from an Arabic phrase meaning

Amhara Plateau: The highest point is Ras Dejen (or Dashen; 14,872 feet [4,533 metres])—the highest peak in Ethiopia—which is situated within the Simien National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage site). The plateau is drained westward by the Tekezē and Blue Nile rivers and their tributaries.

Amhara Plateau: The highest point is Ras Dejen (or Dashen; 14,872 feet [4,533 metres])—the highest peak in Ethiopia—which is situated within the Simien National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage site). The plateau is drained westward by the Tekezē and Blue Nile rivers and their tributaries.

Amhara Plateau: The highest point is Ras Dejen (or Dashen; 14,872 feet [4,533 metres])—the highest peak in Ethiopia—which is situated within the Simien National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage site). The plateau is drained westward by the Tekezē and Blue Nile rivers and their tributaries.

oncogene: , MYC and RAS). The origin or location of the gene is indicated by the prefix of “v-” for virus or “c-” for cell or chromosome; additional prefixes, suffixes, and superscripts provide further delineation. More than 70 human oncogenes have been identified. Breast cancer has been linked to…

Ugarit, ancient city lying in a large artificial mound called Ras Shamra (Raʾs Shamrah), 6 miles (10 km) north of Latakia (Al-Lādhiqiyyah) on the Mediterranean coast of northern Syria. Its ruins, about half a mile from the shore, were first uncovered by the plow of a peasant at Al-Bayḍā Bay.

Rastafari, religious and political movement, begun in Jamaica in the 1930s and adopted by many groups around the globe, that combines Protestant Christianity, mysticism, and a pan-African political consciousness. Rastas, as members of the movement are called, see their past, present, and future in

Haile Selassie I was the emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974 who sought to modernize his country and who steered it into the mainstream of post-World War II African politics. He brought Ethiopia into the League of Nations and the United Nations and made Addis Ababa the major centre for the